Find Your Story - And Success
Kudos to our own Kindra Hall, storyteller, trainer and now author! Kindra started telling in school and went on to tell at the NSN Conference and also at the National Storytelling Festival in Jonesboro, TN. She has told (and won 1st place) at several of the Arizona Republic's Live Storytelling events. She has presented keynotes and programs on storytelling, and coached many corporate clients.
Kindra has just published Finding Your Story, an E-book available from Amazon (only $2.99!). In this book, she shares her insights on beginning the personal story-finding process. If you have ever considered using story in your business, in your personal branding, or in your family, this book will ensure you get off to a successful start.
She's featured this month in Success Magazine (the one with Harrison Ford on the cover) and gives a small taste of some strategies that are in the book. Congratulations Kindra!
AZ Republic Live Storytelling Thursday - April 18th
April's theme is – Big Ideas, Big Lessons: Stories of entrepreneurship, and the sacrifices, failures and tough moments that visionaries overcome on their way to success. This month’s event will be at the CO+HOOTS, 10th Street & Washington.
Tellers include: Ty Largo of Salt; Tanya Moushi of Greater Than Coffee; Chris Petroff of Seed Spot; Kate Milliken of Milligrace; Alan Earl of Local One; Gabe Williams at Uber Phoenix and Kelsey Wong of CO+HOOTS.
Going Native - Savoring the Southwest
"Going Native" Storytelling Concert at Community Christian Church in Tempe Friday, April 19that 7pm
Tickets are $5 at the door
Environmental Activists, Writers and Foodies help us explore our place in the Sonoran Desert through the art of storytelling.
“We are tasting the desert’s essence—the challenges of being green in a water-stavfed land…” --Gary Paul Nabhan
The Storytellers will be:
Gary Paul Nabhan, Nature Writer, Native Seed Search Founder & Food Activist
Freddie Bitsoie, Navajo Chef
Paul Schwennesen, Citizen Rancher
Jesús Garcia, Naturalist and Educator
Kimber Lanning, Local First Activist
Lori Riddle, O’odham Edler and Environmental Activist
Tell Your Story at the Kitchen Table
One of the best places to tell your story is at the kitchen table. . .to a friend.
I recently coached a storyteller who was a good teller, but got nervous when telling to a large audience. She began telling her story to me in the coaching session. She had little energy and seemed to be searching for the right words. I stopped her and had her relax and breathe. Then I asked her to imagine that she was at her kitchen table (a familiar and comfortable place), with a friend, just sitting down to talk.
I said, "Show me how excited you are about the news you want to share with her." Her face lit up, her eyes opened wide, she leaned forward with anticipation. Immediately, I barked, "Tell the story to her!" Now the story came out and flowed. She had energy and confidence. She was focusing on what she wanted her friend to know, and on communicating her excitement about the subject.
The client was amazed at how merely imagining her friend in front of her could change the way she told.
I have used this and a similar technique with youth tellers that are fearful of telling in front of a large audience. I have them invite one friend to our session and have them tell directly to their friend. Then they invite another friend to join us and they tell the story to both friends. This process of adding more people continues until the teller is comfortable with a larger number of listeners.
Also, when they tell in front of the class for the first time, I have the "friends" sit down front where the teller can see them, and connect with them.
Remember, like crafting a story, overcoming fears and nervousness is a step-by-step process.
Where to Find It
People often ask me where they can find information on certain stories, tellers, or techniques. The Internet is, of course, a great place to start. But it has TONS of data/information. Way too much to assimilate, even if you sat at your computer day-in-and-day-out, which is what I sometimes feel like I do! There is help out there though.
Google it! My first choice when looking for specific information. You may have to massage your search words, or use commas and quotes to find what you are specifically looking for. Here's a tip when searching: don't just stop at the first page and list. click on the NEXT arrow. You may have to go 2, 3, or more pages deeper until you find a gem. And sometimes, you have to click on a link that connects with a page that connects to something else, etc. until you find what you are looking for, or what you can use.
Storyteller.net - Sean Buvala's massive website that was one of the first on the net! There are lists of tellers, articles, podcasts and much more. Sean has been doing this for a long time, and has some great archived material, in addition to new postings all the time. PLUS, you can get listed on the site yourself! Many folks go there to find local tellers, so it's a no-brainer to be listed. Check out all the parts: storyteller.net.
Scoop.It! - I've mentioned this before. Karen Dietz has a great site where she curates articles on storytelling and business storytelling. What's great about this site is that Karen has done all the work for you! She finds great articles, then puts together comments about why she likes it, and posts the link. It couldn't be easier. It's searchable, and you can sign up to get new posts too. It's a great resource! Here's the link: http://www.scoop.it/t/just-story-it
Don't forget the one you love - me!
Go to the resources page on this site. There are links to other storytelling sites that have lots of information. In addition, through this newsletter, I try to post new and interesting articles that I find along the way.
For Example: I recently found two articles on a site for film makers, but the articles are extremely relevant to storytelling. The site is TheScriptLab.com.
The first article lists the Top Ten Themes in Film. If you are crafting any kind of story, look here for proven themes that already work. New Link to PDF with full article
The second article delineates the Top Ten Rules About Your Hero. Things you need to know and/or do with the protagonist in your story. LINK
- National Storytelling Network? You should be.
Google it! My first choice when looking for specific information. You may have to massage your search words, or use commas and quotes to find what you are specifically looking for. Here's a tip when searching: don't just stop at the first page and list. click on the NEXT arrow. You may have to go 2, 3, or more pages deeper until you find a gem. And sometimes, you have to click on a link that connects with a page that connects to something else, etc. until you find what you are looking for, or what you can use.
Storyteller.net - Sean Buvala's massive website that was one of the first on the net! There are lists of tellers, articles, podcasts and much more. Sean has been doing this for a long time, and has some great archived material, in addition to new postings all the time. PLUS, you can get listed on the site yourself! Many folks go there to find local tellers, so it's a no-brainer to be listed. Check out all the parts: 
Scoop.It! - I've mentioned this before. Karen Dietz has a great site where she curates articles on storytelling and business storytelling. What's great about this site is that Karen has done all the work for you! She finds great articles, then puts together comments about why she likes it, and posts the link. It couldn't be easier. It's searchable, and you can sign up to get new posts too. It's a great resource! Here's the link: 
Don't forget the one you love - me!
