By Syd Lieberman A good interview begins with making your interviewee comfortable. Let him pick the place where the interview will take place and where he wants to sit. Some people feel nervous about being interviewed. If so, have your interviewee do an activity, such as cooking. Not looking at you helps relieve some people’s […]
Be Thoughtful and Real: The Keys to a Successful Interview Details »
by Mary Jo Huff The storyteller has arrived and the children are getting ready for a special treat. Sitting on the floor with their legs twisted like a pretzel, eyes wide and fidgety fingers the pre-schoolers are all ready for storytime. Enter the storyteller dressed for the occasion. As a visiting storyteller I wear a
Puppet Play: Engaging children’s imaginations Details »
by Megan Hicks One of my storyteller friends told me I should write about how to make fairy tales interesting enough for adults to enjoy. Here’s my quick and dirty recipe for success: Leave the story alone and tell it straight. No “voices.” No theatrics. No punches pulled. …Because the fact of the matter is,
Fairy Tales for Grownups Details »
by Leeny Del Seamonds “Live the Story!” That’s been my motto for 24+ years. This catchphrase is throughout my website and is part of my signature. I strive to apply it to my body of work as a performer and teaching artist. As a story coach, I often observe new students concentrating so hard on
Live the Story! Breathing Life into Tales Details »
By Slash Coleman From the Series: Finding Your Business Comfort Zone My friend owns a comedy club where she occasionally performs. One night, thinking I’d be a “shoe-in” for funny, she pulled me on stage as part of her act. Had she known that I’m an extroverted-introvert she probably would have reconsidered. What does it
Hiding in Plain Site: The Storyteller as an Introvert Details »
By Linda Goodman Personal and family stories fascinate me. Why are they so special? First, they preserve family heritage. Family gatherings produce treasure troves of stories to be passed along from generation to generation. When my family gets together, storytelling is the main event. These stories make me feel like I intimately know relatives that
Your Story – Pass it Along! Details »
by Rafe Martin For tellers today, traditional tales are like a form of classical music. The patterns are known and resonant. In so many ways our work will naturally – whether we know it or not—reflect back to these oldies and goldies. Forty years ago when I was training as a mythopoeic literary critic I
Traditional Tales and the Modern Teller Details »
by Michael Reno Harrell I’ve been singing songs and telling stories to audiences longer than seems possible; and making a living at it which has at times has seemed impossible. Traveling in these two worlds, music and storytelling, I find little crossover, but many things in common. For one thing, being a performing artist means
Storytelling House Concerts? Details »
By Antonio Rocha I am a teller who comes from a silent tradition. Once, all I did was tell through body language as a mime artist. One of the most important aspects of this silence performing art form is the transition. The ability to transition well from one part of the mime piece onto another
Transitions in Eloquence Details »
by Lyn Ford A young student in a story-sharing / story-writing workshop that had been organized specifically for “gifted and talented” students hung back from those who rushed to their lunches. He never looked directly at me; he shuffled his feet and watched his shoes, and nervously glanced up at me as he spoke. He
Front-Porch "Twitter": The Importance of Face-to-Face Story-Sharing Details »
