STORYTELLING: WHAT MAKES AN EFFECTIVE STORYTELLER?

Story - an account of imaginary or real people and events told for entertainment.

Telling – revealing in detail; making known.

Story telling – is the art of using language, vocalization, and or physical movement and gesture to reveal the documents and images of a story to a specific live audiences.

Stories are used to share

Values

Experien-ces

Attitudes

Wisdom

Beliefs

Habits

They have been present in every culture everywhere to:

EntertainInformPersuadeInstill moral valuesTransmit cultureInspire

Elements or tools of Good stories:

Setting• shows the listeners where the story is taking place

Characters• perform the actions and make the story happen

Plot• tells in chrono-logical order, what happens in the story

Conflict• provides the contro-versy in the story

• makes the story more interes-ting

Theme• indicates what the story is all about.

• could include finding one's happiness friendship love etc.

Three preliminary steps to become an effective story teller:  

1. Finding the correct stories 

`You have to consider the following: 

Appropriateness to the topicLength and complexity of the storyTime and availability, materials available 

1. Know your audience Here are some considerations: 

Age of your learnersVocabulary ability of your learnersSize of the audience

 

1. Pre-reading Here are some guidelines: 

Read and re-read the story.Analyze where the major/interesting part of the story are.Decide where to stop or pause for effect.Identify with the characters in the story.

 

Reasons why the teachers need to use Pre-reading:

Assess students’ background knowledge of the topic and linguistic content of the text.

Give students the background knowledge necessary for comprehension of the text, or activate the existing knowledge that the students possess.

Clarify any cultural information which may be necessary to comprehend the passage.

Make students aware of the type of text they will be reading and the purpose(s) for reading.

Provide opportunities for group or collaborative work and for class discussion activities.

Some strategies for Pre-reading:Anticipation – allow the reader to make predictions about the text that will be read by eliminating possibilities that are unlikely.

Motive questions – questions given prior to telling the story.

Opinionnaires/Questionnaires – are useful tools for helping readers examine their own values, attitudes, opinions or related experiences before they interact with book characters.

Concept Mapping/ Mind Mapping – a type of brainstorming where you place the title/subject of the story as the main idea and gather the students’ ideas around it.

KWL chart – a chart divided into 3 columns ( What I Know?, What I Want to Know? And What I have Learned?).

Essential delivery Elements accdg. to Barry McWilliams

Sincerity and whole-heartedness - storytellers should deliver the story honestly and earnestly. Credits must be given to the author , illustrator and publisher.

Enthusiasm - storytellers should show geniune excitement in the story. This will make the listeners feel how great a story is.

Animation - storytellers are animated beings. They put together gestures, body language, eye contact, facial expressions and projection of the voice to deliver their story well.

Oral Storytelling skills by McWilliams

Emphasis – when telling a story, one should know when to stress a word, a phrase or an entire dialogue for effect.Repetition – sometimes, words and lines must repeated in order to get the desired feeling and emotions.Transition – this is the transfer from one part of the story to another. Pause – storytellers stop for a while at any point in the story for effect or to check for understanding by asking questions.Proportion – this refers to the bulk of information presented in a part of the story.

Strategies to keep the listeners in tuneActive involvements of the listeners – use the audience to read a part of the story or yell out the words or dialogues, do some actions and answer some questions.Shifts and projection of the voice – a sudden change in the pitch, tone and volume of the storyteller’s voice can sustain and regain the attention of the listeners.An expected twist in the narration – this keeps the listeners anticipating what will happen next.Constant animation – this keeps the listeners glued to the storyteller’s every move, gesture, facial expressions and body language.

THE END!