subject: How To Improve Your Storytelling Skills [print this page] Storytelling requires a different set of skills altogether. While people tell stories to colleagues, family members or strangers on a regular basis, even if it is more specifically a grudge or gossip, it is still considered a story nonetheless. However, storytelling in its stricter sense means narrating story to a person or a group of people. Storytelling, whether your purpose is to put the child to sleep, convey a message or enhance a presentation, requires the same set of skills that you use when you tell stories to your friends.
First of all, tell stories that spark your interest as well as the interest of your audience. This way, it will be a lot easier and it will be more natural for you to narrate these stories. If your story is something that does not interest you, it will likely show and will may affect how you relay the story.
By using a story that you like, you will be able to speak naturally. The whole story becomes more interesting because the tone of your voice and your actions will reflect your enthusiasm. By speaking naturally, you can get to engage your audience to listen to you more closely because they will feel that it is as if you are telling the story from your own words and from your heart.
Maintain eye contact with your audience. If your audience is just one person, maintain eye contact for most of the time. If you have a large audience or if you have a classroom full of kids, sweep your gaze across everyone from time to time. By keeping eye contact, you can be sure that the audience is still engaged and is listening to you, and at the same time, the audience gets to know that you are mindful of them and that the connection is always there. The only time to break eye contact is when you are acting out a characters role or occasionally when gesturing.
Use repetition of words, phrases, or catch phrases as people, especially kids, will appreciate it if they feel they can follow along by easily knowing or predicting what you will say next.
You can also act out parts of the story and encourage interaction especially if it is a longer story than usual. Be mindful of your body language and avoid yawning or fidgeting around. These might show boredom or disinterest in the story, which will cause you to lose connection with the audience.
Rehearse before you tell the actual story. The practice will allow you to smooth out the presentation. Most story tellers practice before they deliver their story as it strengthens the familiarity of the story in their minds and allows them to iron out any bumps in the presentation.
Storytelling is not a lost art and we all have to be good at storytelling at one point or another. Practice makes perfect so you should pay attention to every performance and listen to other peoples comments and criticism so you can improve your craft. Ultimately, the reason why you are telling a story is for you to get a specific message across, and you can only do this with the proper skills, confidence, and lots of practice.
