Good tellers are always aware of the “golden triangle” relationship between the teller, story and audience. We always stress that one should attempt to meet the needs of the audience. But there is a fourth entity that creeps in from time to time. This is the “organizer”. Certainly, when we are paid, part of our responsibility is to adhere to the wishes of the producer/organizer. But what if something doesn’t feel right?
A colleague shared recently that an organizer asked her to tell “A story about building relationships that would make people cry.” The hairs on the back of my once-therapist neck stood straight up! Inside my brain I am asking "Why?"
Here is where a dialogue is clearly mandated.
I think when a request such as this is made; it behooves the teller to go deeper (which the colleague did). WHY did they want people to cry? Crying is only one possible outcome of strong emotions, but one can make people cry with many different techniques. Two people can hear the same story and one be moved to sadness and tears; the other may be moved to laughter, smiles, feelings of triumph and the realization that they are valuable…all without tears.
More than the outcome of people “crying” I need to know what the organizers hope to accomplish. What do they want the audience to hopefully experience or feel? Do they want them to move to some sort of action, and if so, what? What is the makeup of the group; kids; adults; mixed? Are they from a specified group? What is the purpose of the gathering?
We often say that we must meet the needs of our audience. But I believe it is our responsibility to educate the organizers when we assess that they may not be clear about their goals, or what can or should be an appropriate goal in storytelling. If an organizer told me to “scare the pants off” of a group of small children around a campfire, I would not only balk, I would, most likely, say a polite but emphatic "NO!"
So when you speak to the organizer and get a request that makes you cock your head in disbelief, or makes the hairs on your neck stand up, it’s time to ask some questions...maybe a LOT of questions.
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Thursday, JUNE 26th
