Storytelling

Learning your Story

  1. Read or tell your story out loud over & over again.
  2. Make a pictorial outline or story map to help you visualize the sequence of images & events. Then practice telling your story with your pictorial outline or story map.
  3. If you have a tape recorder, tell or read your story into it, then listen to it over & over again. Listen to your voice for expression, pacing & pauses.
  4. You must learn the plot of your story so that you feel very comfortable telling it. We encourage you to tell the story in your own words. Just be sure to choose simple, powerful language that has the same feeling as the style of the story. You may want to memorize the first & last lines of your story so you can begin & end the story with confidence.
  5. Character study:
    1. What images take shape in your mind when you try to imagine your characters?
      1. How do they look?
      2. How do they speak?
      3. How do different characters interact with each other?
    2. Studying characters does not mean you will talk more about them or give more description than is included in your story. But it will give you a better understanding of the characters, so that what you do, say & the movements you make will be more revealing.
  6. Some stories may be perfect for audience participation. For example, there may be a song or verse which is repeated several times, such as, "I'll huff & I'll puff & I'll blow your house down," from the "The Three Little Pigs." Younger children especially love to participate in a story. If you want the audience to help, encourage them by saying, for example, "Please join in on this part." Or "Let's try that together."
  7. Summary of ways of practicing:
    1. Try telling with an imaginary audience - look all around the room & don't stop during the telling.
    2. You might find telling your story into a mirror is helpful. This lets you see yourself as others see you. It also gives you a distraction; you are looking at someone as you tell the story.
    3. Tell your story whenever you get a chance & to anyone who will listen. The more you tell it, the more it will become a part of you. Telling is the only way to discover the places in your story where your memory fails you. Telling your story to listeners will show you other places where you'll want to work to improve your telling. Ask listeners to point out nervous habits or any other movements that distract them from the story.
  8. Over learn your story! Think it through anytime you have a spare minute - while riding the bus, or walking to school, or taking out the garbage. The story will become a part of you, & you will feel confident when you get up in front of the group to tell it. Practice your story at least 3 times a day until you know it, & then once a day to keep it fresh in your mind.

Revised from Martha Hamilton & Mitch WeissBeauty & the Beast Storytellers. Children Tell Stories: A Teaching Guide. Richard C. Owen Publishers, Inc., Katonah, New York.