*I was absolutely engaged by Victoria's story during this week's lecture (despite having read the story many times before, in many different forms) and am going to focus this journal entry on the traits of a good storyteller.
We discussed this a little bit in the lecture and talked about how a good storyteller:
- Embellishes the story, to make it seem larger than life.
- Varies their voice (pitch/tone/volume/range/pauses) to engage the audience.
- Makes the story their own - puts their own spin on it.
- Connects directly with the audience, by being aware of the audience's reactions and telling the story accordingly, and also by embroidering the story with facts relevant to the audience (eg. he had two younger brothers, just like you).
We also discussed, in the lecture, how there is more than one way to tell a great story. So, some storytellers vary their volume a lot, instantly engaging the audience, whereas other equally brilliant storytellers consistently use a very quiet voice, weaving the story around their audience like a fine, silvery net.
We were then were treated to Victoria telling us the story of the selkie woman. What particularly struck me about Victoria's stoytelling was the way she used body-language to enhance her voice. She paced back and forwards across the classroom, or sat down and stood up to mimic the actions and emotions of the characters. When she paused the storytelling, she also paused in her movements, which greatly increased the suspense and tension. And she gave us details of the characters not just in the story, but in her movements and stance (for example, the singing and dancing of the selkie **). All of this greatly enhanced the storytelling.
However, this is not to say that all good storytelling must utilize vibrant body-language. Some of the best stories I have ever heard came via The Moth, which records true stories told live. As I don't live in America I unfortunately have not been able to hear any of their stories live and instead have listened to their podcast. These stories are all absolutely engaging, and are spoken but not seen. I can't see the storytellers and I have no idea what body language they are using***.
However, this is not to say that all good storytelling must utilize vibrant body-language. Some of the best stories I have ever heard came via The Moth, which records true stories told live. As I don't live in America I unfortunately have not been able to hear any of their stories live and instead have listened to their podcast. These stories are all absolutely engaging, and are spoken but not seen. I can't see the storytellers and I have no idea what body language they are using***.
We were also encouraged, during the lecture, to think about good storytellers we know, and to talk about what makes them so engaging. The storyteller in my family is definitely my father. When I was a child he would regale with me with stories about magic paintbrushes, talking cars and aliens (which I believe he made up on the spot). He used all the 'standard' storytelling tricks - varying his voice, pausing to create suspense and embellishing details to make the story more personal.
But I believe I found him so engaging because the stories were tailored specifically for me. He wasn't telling the stories because he had a story he wanted other people to hear - he was telling the stories because he wanted to engage me in a fictional world.****
One final note about storytelling. I did a quick google before writing this post, to see if I could find any guides for good storytelling. While I didn't actually find what I was looking for, I did discover that there is a world storytelling day, and I also found that there is a NSW branch of the Australian Storyteller's Guild, which has a list of storytelling resources.
* I've added paintings of storytellers to this post to make it less text-heavy. I found the images via google search. I specifically only chose paintings that looked at least a hundred years old, to avoid copyright issues. Isn't it interesting that in all of these paintings, the storyteller is male...
** Interesting side-story. I did my prac at Concord West, where I saw Ms. Ryan teach a drama lesson, after undergoing professional experience at Sydney Uni. The drama lesson was focused around the selkie legend and, during the lesson, I saw the students dance exactly in a certain specific way. It was only during the storytelling lecture that I realized that Victoria may have been the one to run the professional experience as the students danced in the same way that she did. Clearly this combination of movement and song struck a chord with them!
***It is interesting to note that since I was not a member of the original audience, the storytelling does not connect directly with me - but I still find these stories fascinating. Yet all the other storytelling I have experienced connected directly with me, as a part of the audience, and most definitions I have found of storytelling seem to define it as something that must occur face-to-face, so there is a direct link between the audience and the storyteller (eg. see the definition on the homepage of the NSW storyteller's guild). So do recorded stories still count as storytelling?
****In comparison to my dad, my mum is a terrible storyteller. Her pacing is hopeless, there's no sense of tension, and everything she says is incredibly boring. And I think the main reason why she's such a bad storyteller is because she doesn't have this link with the audience. Whenever she tells a story, it's because she's got something burning inside her that she just has to share with anyone nearby, whether or not they want to listen. Her storytelling is not focused around the audience, or the link between the audience and the storyteller. Instead her storytelling is primarily focused around something she finds interesting.
***It is interesting to note that since I was not a member of the original audience, the storytelling does not connect directly with me - but I still find these stories fascinating. Yet all the other storytelling I have experienced connected directly with me, as a part of the audience, and most definitions I have found of storytelling seem to define it as something that must occur face-to-face, so there is a direct link between the audience and the storyteller (eg. see the definition on the homepage of the NSW storyteller's guild). So do recorded stories still count as storytelling?
****In comparison to my dad, my mum is a terrible storyteller. Her pacing is hopeless, there's no sense of tension, and everything she says is incredibly boring. And I think the main reason why she's such a bad storyteller is because she doesn't have this link with the audience. Whenever she tells a story, it's because she's got something burning inside her that she just has to share with anyone nearby, whether or not they want to listen. Her storytelling is not focused around the audience, or the link between the audience and the storyteller. Instead her storytelling is primarily focused around something she finds interesting.
