Once upon a time. How many times have we heard the above phrase?
I remember when I used to be a kid and I was sitting next to my grandmother. She would look at me with her kind, big eyes and she would smile. Then she would open her mouth and tell me the most beautiful and the most terrifying stories. She would tell me stories about people who lived in far away lands, stories from when she was still young and stories about some girl dressed in red. So many years have passed and I no longer remember what the stories were about but I *do* remember her captivating figure: Sitting in her armchair, tucked with blankets and always but always smiling.
When the stage curtains are back down, when the smoke of feelings stirred by the story is gone, the story itself is forgotten and all that still remains in the mind of the listener is a mysterious image and a captivating gesture: That of the story teller looking at you. Stories and fairy tales come from the past and from our roots, to meet us at this highly technological time and age. They are around since humans spoke their first word. And they have been serving humanity with the same intensity and with the same passion that a mother talks to her kids before they go to sleep.
Telling stories is the best way to stir feelings and pass personal information to another person. We use them to make friends, we use them to seduce and we use them to teach: They are everywhere. And as all forms of art it can be practiced and it can be improved. There are many types of stories. But the most interesting in terms of frequency and use are the everyday stories that YOU use to transmit YOUR experiences.
How do you write a story about your self - the lazy way.
Find a subject to talk about: This will be the heart of your story, it can be true or it can be imaginary. Either way you must know *well* the facts - one by one.
Find the values you want to project about yourself: If it is for seduction, you must project values that stir the listener towards that direction. No story is innocent. When you say a story, chances are, you have an end outcome you want to achieve. Know who you are talking to and know what do you want to prove about yourself. Do it indirectly. Don't say for example: "I was so damn good at that job." People will not believe you. Say instead: "My boss was very satisfied with me and gave me a raise."
Find the small but sweet handicaps of your character that will make the listener find you more human and closer to him: "I knew that I was just an amateur and a beginner but that would soon change..."
Put some sensory information inside: Visual, Auditory information: Anything. "She was sooo blond and smelled so sweet....."
Start with a hook: Say something that will make your listener WANT to listen at your story, like: "Have you ever been awaken, in the middle of the night, from a STRANGE phone call?"
Add a punchline at the end. The listener must know that your story came to an end. You must guide him to a crescendo and then you must liberate him/her: "THEN I understood that I had succeeded".
Add feelings; "I was so happy ... I was so scared".
Decide which information you will pass as In-the-moment: "The guy looks at me, open his mouth and I take a step back while I pull my sword out".
Decide which information you will pass as General and Out-of-The-moment: "He used to be president of the X company and I used to be his horse whisperer".
Speak slowly. 140 words per minute will do the trick.
Look as many members of the audience as you can. Hold your eye contact.
Practice your stories before you deliver them. Use a camera, Use a mirror, or Use the eyes of a pretty girl: When you see a glimmer you know you are good to go.
Be shorter that ten minutes. Practice. Practice and then practice again.
Deploy your stories
Go to as much social gatherings you can
Write as many stories as you can.
Build a panoply of stories that will be ready to be used in any occasion
After some times you will no longer need to write the stories down. They will come up automatically. You will have becomed a natural storyteller. ;)
*We Speak England Very Best* Disclaimer
We may write in English but no one in this site is a native English speaker.Hey Jim? How do you spell New York, Jim?
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