Category: Growing as a Storyteller

  • Heart-Lifting for Disheartening Times – Storytelling is Satisfying WORK

    Heart-Lifting for Disheartening Times – Storytelling is Satisfying WORK

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    It’s all so overwhelming and it seems everyone is tired, discouraged, maybe angry or cynical or depressed, maybe confused or disheartened…just weary. Each day during this April A-Z Blogging Challenge I’ll offer a short musing on an aspect or two of the many ways the ancient-yet-very-contemporary experience of storytelling – both listening…

  • Practice Makes Perfect?

    Practice Makes Perfect?

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    Over and over again I’ve read the advice from writers that the most important thing to do, if you wish to improve your writing, be a writer, write… …the most important thing to do is to write every day. Some advise to set a daily length-target (so many words or…

  • I Wuz Robbed! – A Story

    I Wuz Robbed! – A Story

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    Let me tell you a story… November 21, 2014 – It was my first Moth story slam. The Moth! The storied, premier story slam event! I’d heard tell of it for a long time. Every now and then I’d caught “The Moth Radio Hour” on my public radio station. And…

  • 6 Ways TEACHING Storytelling Helps One be a Better Storyteller

    6 Ways TEACHING Storytelling Helps One be a Better Storyteller

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    The Set-Up I recently had a whirlwind gig: Designing and giving a one-hour training to 350 museum volunteers, to equip them to tell pre-selected traditional stories as part of the Denver Museum of Nature and Science’s upcoming “Mythic Creatures” exhibit.

  • Story Slams Making Waves (Part 3) – Diving In Head First

    Story Slams Making Waves (Part 3) – Diving In Head First

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    It was my first-ever story slam! Not sure if “wow” or “hm” is my primary response…Wow. Hm. That was the gist of my Facebook post that night after I got home; and I started planning a 3-part blog series reflecting on story slams. Then… OHMIGOSH OHMIGOSH!!! I just got home…

  • Week…Just 1 Until the Rocky Mountain Storytelling Conference

    Week…Just 1 Until the Rocky Mountain Storytelling Conference

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    The Rocky Mountain Storytelling 2014 Conference is one week away! Storytelling conferences are always a fantastic opportunity to connect, to learn from others (previous blog post!), to learn by doing, to network – and of course to have fun! Rocky Mountain Storytelling holds its annual Colorado conference, “Storytelling: Craft & Connection,” next…

  • Stance – for Storytellers and Other Speakers!

    Stance – for Storytellers and Other Speakers!

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    Sometimes one of the biggest challenges for novice storytellers, it seems, is to learn to stand on their own two feet!    😉 Seriously – whether it’s nervousness, uncertainty about how to begin the story, or an established posture-habit – very often there’s a tendency to stand uncertainly, even awkwardly,…

  • Questions – Ask Questions; They Will Lead You Forward

    Questions – Ask Questions; They Will Lead You Forward

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    Questions are KEY to the story-choosing/ story-preparation / storytelling process! To really explore “questions” in storytelling would make a very long post indeed – which I’m going to avoid. To that end, for today I’m going to just list here a few of the questions that can be so useful.

  • Others – Learn from Them!

    Others – Learn from Them!

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    When someone asks me for advice on how to get started with storytelling, I always answer, “Two things:” 1) “Tell as much and as often as you can” – you learn about yourself, about stories you like, about how to be in front of people…and 2) “Listen as much and…