Story Telling Tips

Whether it’s a family get-together, a casual evening out with friends, or a session with your hairstylist, being able to tell an entertaining story seems like a great way both to pass the time and impress your audience. It seems that for many of us, the art of story-telling seems to be just beyond our grasp.

You certainly know what it’s like when someone’s story-telling skills are unbearably deficient. The minutes seem to drag on forever, and at your first opportunity, you start planning your getaway.

These guidelines should help your stories be well-received by others:

Set the context: You know what happened in a given situation and where your story is going, but your listener does not.

The very first words should introduce such details that a good reporter would include, namely who, what, why, where, and how.

Avoid unimportant details: It’s easy to get lost in your own details especially if you have a mind that tends to wander and isn’t that good at editing your thoughts. As fascinating as they may seem to you, these sidebars will only distract and perhaps frustrate your audience.

Be aware of your audience: Stories that have a possibly offensive theme or content should be edited or not told at all. For example, there’s no point in making your listener feel bad because she doesn’t have the money or the means to shop at the expensive store that was the setting of your story of how you paid too much for a scarf.

Embellish a little, but not too much: The more often we tell a story, the more little details we tend to add, and as we do, those stories drift further and further away from the truth of what actually happened. Eventually, you may end up describing something that never occurred at all.

Rehearse what you want to say before you start: You don’t have to read out a script every time you tell your story, but you might want to run it through in your mind. It’s especially important to anticipate the ending because this will allow you to follow a more direct path through the story from beginning to middle all the way until the final, climactic scene.

Pay attention to the impact you’re having on others: Listeners can become disturbed by hearing a story about a difficult experience, especially when those negative stories become repeated over time. If you have a truly sad story to tell, be sure that you’ve prepared your listener and also that you don’t go on for so long and in such detail that you’re putting stress on that listener.