Training onSTORYTELLING

the art of using language, vocalization, and/or physical movement and gesture to reveal the elements and images of a story to a specific, live audience.

its reliance on the audience to develop specific visual imagery and detail to complete and co-create the story.

What is the core of storytelling?

a narrative account of a real or imagined event or events.

a specific structure of narrative with a specific style and set of characters and which includes a sense of completeness

What is a story

Through this sharing of experience we use stories to pass on accumulated wisdom, beliefs, and values.

Through stories we explain how things are, why they are, and our role and purpose.

Stories are the building blocks of knowledge, the foundation of memory and learning.

Stories connect us with our humanness and link past, present, and future by teaching us to anticipate the possible consequences of our actions.

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It is the live, person-to-person oral and physical presentation of a story to an audience.

"Telling" involves direct contact between teller and listener. It mandates the direct presentation of the story by the teller.

What is a telling?

The teller's role is to prepare and present the necessary language, vocalization, and physicality to effectively and efficiently communicate the images of a story.

The listener's role is to actively create the vivid, multi-sensory images, actions, characters, and events---the reality---of the story in their mind based on the performance by the teller, and on their past experiences, beliefs, and understandings.

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an interactive performance art form. , by design, a co-creative process by its nature, personal, interpretive,

and uniquely human. a process, a medium for sharing,

interpreting, offering the content and meaning of a story to an audience

So, story telling is:

We are born as storytellers Storytelling is one of the most basic ways of

sharing knowledge, of making sense of experiences, and of seeing oneself in relation to others. In the classroom, storytelling is an important activity with strong links to literacy.

Stories fill every comer of our lives People are natural storytellers and stories are a

natural way to initiate children into the world of literacy

They tell the special events of human’s life

Continue..

Storytelling had its origin in play activities, with gifted but ordinary folk entertaining their particular social group informally.

Gradually these activities were included in religious rituals, historical recitations and educational functions.

Purposes of Storytelling

The origins of storytelling, including: (1.)That it grew out of the playful, self-entertainment needs of

humans; (2.)That it satisfied the need to explain the surrounding

physical world. (3.)That it came about because of an intrinsic religious need in

humans to honor or propitiate the supernatural force(s) believed to be present in the world.

(4.) That it evolved from the human need to communicate experience to other humans.

(5.) That it fulfilled an aesthetic need for beauty, regularity, and form through expressive language and music.

(6.) That it stemmed from the desire to record the actions or qualities of one's ancestors, in the hope that this would give them a kind of immortality.

Proofs:

Records of storytelling have been found in many languages, including Sanskrit, Old German, Latin, Chinese, Greek, Latin, Icelandic and Old Slavonic.

The origins of storytelling, however, are ancient. One of the earliest surviving records is found in the Westcar Papyrus of the Egyptians in which the sons of Cheops (the pyramid builder) entertained their father with stories. The epic tale, Gilgamesh, which relates the story of a Sumerian king, is frequently cited in history texts as our oldest, surviving epic tale. As Shakespeare wrote in King Richard II, "For God's sake, let us sit upon the ground and tell sad stories of the death of Kings.“

History of Storytelling

1. Sequential, stories tell of events occurring over time

2. Narrative "particularity," meaning that stories focus on particular events and individuals

3. Characters' "intentionality." That is, they not only describe characters' actions, they also show us the intentions that motivate those actions or that arise in response to events

4. "canonicity and breach" --exploring and making comprehensible events that deviate (breach) from standard or "canonical" occurrences

Four features of a story (stories)

Here are some basic assumptions about storytelling. • We all tell stories all the time. When someone asks you how your day went, that’s an invitation for a story. We allow the listener to participate in our lives by sharing interesting highlights of events we experience. • The first is the worst. Storytelling is a skill that improves with

practice. The scariest part is starting. How did you learn to swim? By drowning for a while. How did you learn to ride a bike? By falling many times. To tell a story well, you need to practice. The more you practice the better you get. • The audience looking at you wants one thing: Take us away! The members of the audience are there to go on a story journey, and the storyteller is there to lead them. Don’t be afraid, the audience wants to get lost in the tale!

Some basic assumptions

◦ Initial Incident◦ Complications◦ Crisis◦ Climax◦ Denouement

Basic Plot Structure

Storytelling is not like math. A storyteller must be loose, expressive, and even goofy at times.

Some students love storytelling, and some hate it. But because the ability to speak with comfort and conviction in front of people is important to success in this world, students must be encouraged to practice these skills.

Tell Well Exercises

Step 1– Getting Started • Select a story, read it, and memorize the

sequence of events. • Visualize the scenes: Who are the people in

each scene? What do they look like? How do they talk, move, and stand?

• Imagine the action in the story. • Use your imagination to add to the story if

necessary. As stories come together, students can begin to share them in pairs or small groups.

The Tell Well Storytelling System

Step 2 – Mime •Mime is awkward and difficult for most

people, but it’s important. Bad storytelling is often static and word- based. Children respond to physical movement and it enlivens the tales. Mime forces the story-teller to start learning scenes and to visualize the story.

• Have students find a private spot. Students should close their eyes and begin to mime the story. Students should become the characters and wordlessly explore the different scenes.

Step 3 – Sound Effects • Add sound effects to the mime. Make

noises, but not words. Explore. Some effects are loud, some are silent.

• Encourage students to experiment with different sounds.

Step 4 – Words • Without giving up the physical

movements and sound effects, add words to the story.

• Have students pair up. Students should tell their stories with mime, sound effects, and words.

Step 5 – Listener Feedback • The listener needs to ask questions about

or retell the parts that are difficult to visualize. If the listener isn’t able to see who is speaking or what’s going on, the story is not succeeding.

• Have students tell the story again with a different partner.

• Teacher feedback helps when students are having difficulties with this step.

Step 6 – Character Voices, Faces, and Placement

This is a dramatic device to keep the audience informed, and it eliminates the need to say things like “then the bear said . . .” The audience can see that it’s the bear speaking.

model voice inflections and facial and body gestures.

• Example: A bear is big and slow, and his face sags. The bear speaks slowly with a deep voice looking down on a boy to his right. The boy is small, has big eyes, and is afraid but gutsy. He has a high voice and speaks looking up at the bear to his left.

Step 7 – Eye Contact • Practice using the eyes to hook the

audience into the story. Storytellers talk directly to the audience. When they use eye contact, the audience feels their energy.

Step 8 – Five Senses • Good storytellers paint a picture with

words – keep it short and colorful, as there is generally only enough time to give essential, provocative details.

• Challenge students to include not just what is done and said, but how things look and feel, including colors, scents, textures, and tastes. They should try to use three to five sensory descriptions in their stories.

Step 9 – Surfing the Story • The feel of the story must be appropriate to

the energy of the tale and the teller. Consider a song. It has different speeds and feelings and an overall mood. A well told story is told like a song. Pacing, flow, the musical dynamics of fast and slow, loud and soft, big and small.

• Encourage students to not just tell the story, but to surf it! Play it! Sing it! Have fun telling it. Give the story life through you, the storyteller, and let it live in you.

Some story tellers

Reading is unavoidable Experiences Travelling Etc.

Resources

Cinderella Native American Storytelling Jamilah Aini PM Toh Teaching Storytelling Lazy Jack Audio Lazy Jack Storytelling (Ethan)

Sample 1

Choose a story Mime Produce sound Words Character’s voices, faces and placement Eye contact Five senses Surf the story

Exercises