Story Telling

Storytelling
“Storytelling begins with the notion that in
the not too distant future, sharing one’s
stories through the multiple mediums of
digital imagery, text, voice, sound , music,
video and animation will be the principle
hobby of the world’s people.”
-Anonymous

07/23/08 Maggie Veres

Contents
 What makes a good storyteller?

 Seven Elements

 Performance Tips

 Helpful Web Sites

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 WHAT MAKES A GOOD
STORYTELLER?
 GESTURES

 SURPRISE

 REPITITION

 HUMOUR

 TRUE STORY

 POINT OF VIEW

 SOUNDS

 PROPS

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Seven Elements
 A Point of View
 A Dramatic Question
 Emotional Content
 The Gift of Your Voice
 The Power of Props
 Economy
 Pacing

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A Point of View
 All stories are told to make a point.
 You, as the author, need to figure out
what you intend the viewer to “get.”
What message are you trying to
convey? In other words, what is the
theme?

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A Dramatic Question
 A good story has a “hook” that will hold
the attention of the audience until the
story is over.

 Many stories end dramatically with a

“Punchline”

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Emotional Content
 A story that deals with our emotions,
- such as loss, love, loneliness,
courage, acceptance, rejection,
hardship, etc. - will help the audience
maintain their attention.

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Your Voice
 The way you use your voice can impact the
story you tell.
 Tone of Voice: Slow, Fast, Loud, Soft
The tone of the storyteller’s voice provides
the drama and sets the mood, while
engaging the reader. It draws the reader
into the plot development through the use
of story elements.
 Caution: You don’t want your final project to
sound like you are reading your paper.
Practice!
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The Power of Props
 Music can set the mood.
The goal is to match the music to the story.

 Use simple props, like a hat, glasses, a wand.

They help keep the audience’s attention.

 You can also use visual content; pictures, a

presentation, to help tell the story.

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Economy
 Use the least amount of images / words
required to tell the story.
 Your selection of pictures and words
should illustrate the theme without
becoming a distraction.
 Too little is BETTER THAN too much

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The Last Tip

THERE IS NO ONE WAY!

RULES ARE MEANT TO BE

BROKEN!

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Pacing
 Changing the pace of the story can be
very effective. The narrative can have
pauses, the music can change tempo,
and the images can be set to enter at
different rates of speed.
 Changing pace allows the audience to
concentrate, think, and maintain
interest.

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Presentation
 Quicktime Movie (iMovie, MovieMaker)
 PowerPoint
 Flash
 HyperStudio
 Keynote (Apple)
 Advanced Movie Editors (Casablanca,
Final Cut Pro)

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Websites

 Digitales
 Center for Digital Storytelling
 A Collection of Sites

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