Crafting Traditional Tales, Lee-Ellen Marvin

How to find, personalize, and respectfully perform traditional tales

Drawing from her work as both a storyteller and a scholar, Lee-Ellen Marvin introduces the rich, diverse world of narrated folklore, from jokes and pourquoi tales to legends and religious stories. She suggests how to begin to  navigate the sea of published and on-line sources to find a story to tell and then begin to internalize it and make it one’s own, developing personal images and language along the way. Consolidating the lesson on how to act with respect for tradition while using creative license, she lays out the example of how she herself developed her original version of a well-known tale, “The Tailor’s Coat.”

Crafting Personal Stories, Elisa Pearmain

How to identify and develop personal experiences into meaningful stories

Professional storyteller Elisa Pearmain calls on 35 years of experience to share strategies for developing personal stories.  She presents a step-by-step process for crafting a story, beginning by introducing ways to unearth images through visualization using all five senses, as well as other techniques for brainstorming and bringing to the surface memories that could be crafted into tellable tales. She moves on to identify methods for transforming these recollections into meaningful stories with depth, emotion, movement, and character. In addition, Pearmain emphasizes the importance of finding good listeners  as sounding boards to help evaluate whether a personal story is coherent, accessible and appropriate for a variety of audiences.

Story Structure, Elizabeth Ellis

Developing a clear narrative line for your stories.

“As a storyteller, one of the things you most want to develop is a good strong sense of what makes a story great for telling.” Beginning here, storyteller and author Elizabeth Ellis lays out the case for the central importance of a clear, easy to follow narrative line. Structure makes tellability, she tells us. She concisely shares secrets on crisply setting the scene, drawing listeners in, succinctly introducing sympathetic characters, systematically laying out the plot, setting up conflict, managing your own and the audience’s energy level through to the climax and resolution, and then sending listeners away with care, satisfied.

Knowing Yourself, Knowing Your Audience, Valerie Tutson

Exploring the relationships of storyteller and audience

In an important reflection on overlapping identities and the intersection of cultures, Valerie Tutson calls upon us to carefully consider the time, the place, the purpose, and who is gathered together for any storytelling occasion, especially in schools. Is the storyteller part of the community, or are they being invited in? Are they there to educate about their own culture, or is their role to help their audience feel more seen or understood? She encourages that we dive deep into the stories that speak to us, or that spoke to us at certain ages, to discern what might also speak to those in front of us, and how we might best serve them.

Embodying the Story, Jackson Gillman

Using your body and voice to tell your stories

Jackson Gillman marshals a background in mime to show how stories can be enriched through more effective, natural use of our bodies. Beginning with a workmanlike telling of a traditional tale, he then demonstrates how the performance could be made more compelling by fully inhabiting the story, through clearly defining characters, more dynamically differentiating characterization and straight narration, and fully occupying the stage available. He gives helpful tips on using the physicality of characters to find their voices, on how to become more kinesthetically engaged by the act of believing our stories, and on how being present in our bodies can help us avoid having our delivery become rote or stale.

The Voice of the Storyteller, Cris Riedel

Developing your voice for volume and flexibility

Storyteller and professional voice coach Cris Riedel presents a practical, detailed, and engaging guide to the fundamental elements of voice work. An initial series of creative exercises addresses posture, breathing, and making sound. Beyond these basics, she introduces techniques to develop breath-supported volume and to increase the crucial musculature of the diaphragm, and teaches the use of tongue-twisters to improve articulation. Focusing on issues particularly significant to storytellers, Riedel recommends ways to warm up before a performance and presents many useful tips (including how to speak – if absolutely necessary– with a sore throat). A comprehensive lesson in the care of your vocal instrument.

Creating Living Images, Antonio Rocha

Bringing your story’s images to life

Antonio Rocha teaches techniques to accomplish the most important work of a storyteller: placing the images of the story in the imagination of the listener. He demonstrates ways to make stories focused, economical, and engaging, including the expressive use of the eyes, economy of words and movement, and the creative functions of silence. He shows effective transitions between narration and action and provides helpful tips on avoiding the kinds of excess that can weaken a story. Drawing on decades of performance experience, Rocha provides advice about practicing a story, learning how to improve a story by sharing it with listeners, and adapting to the limitations of online performances.

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Access to all 7 videos from the Storytelling Basics Video Series: