ABOUT STORYTELLING
San Francisco, New York City, Jonesborough, Tennessee, and Tucson, Arizona.
What do these places have in common? They all are home to storytelling events that entertain, educate, touch, and amuse - the audience and the teller. You could call it the newest addition to the spoken word scene or a compelling form of personal communication as ancient as language itself. Or both.
What these storytelling events share is a devotion to the art of the personal story. Odyssey Storytelling Series creates a safe space where people feel comfortable telling their stories.
If you want to tell a story consider these tips:
~
Tell a true (personal) story. Choose a story that has meaning to you.
~ Organize your story with a beginning, middle, ending ~ and a point.
~ Know your first and last line.
~
You can start in the action (middle) and set up the stakes
~ Make the story succinct and have the point be obvious – but your method of
getting to the point may be surprising and have punch.
~
Add lots of details so that listeners can picture themselves in the story.
~
Get your body and emotions into the story.
~
Don't worry about being funny or serious or both; just be yourself. A good time to
get serious is right after a laugh.
~
Don't memorize, just remember an outline, your beginning, ending and a few lines
of plot; storytelling is an oral art, not a literary recital
~
Stick to the 10 minute time limit. There will be reminders when you need to start
wrapping up and when it’s time to stop.
~
Don't rant; this is a place for stories, not lectures or diatribes.
~
Relax, breathe, play.
~
Take time to finish. Look at people, smile, and enjoy their appreciation -- it's
their chance to give you something back.
Odyssey Storytelling Series schedules a rehearsal for each month's storytellers the week before the event. The rehearsal lasts about two hours and is an opportunity to run through the stories, get feedback, and to meet the other storytellers.
More information about storytelling can be found at
Porchlight
(San Francisco),
Stoop Storytelling
(Baltimore),
The Moth
(New York),
National Storytelling Festival
(Jonesborough),
Storyteller.net
and
Fray
(international storytelling organization).
Do you have a good story for one of our upcoming themes?
Learn about being a guest curator one month!
Contact: Penelope Starr 520-730-4112
Penelope@Odysseystorytelling.com
"Doesn't the telling of something always become a story? . . . Isn't telling about something - using words . . . - already something of an invention? Isn't just looking upon this world already something of an invention?"
~Yann Martel, Life of Pi