Voice--A Storyteller's Lifestyle

Celebrating 100: Top 10 Storytelling Posts Over the Years

2010-11-01T16:28:00.000-07:00

Reaching 100--whether as an age or the action of doing something that many times--is an accomplishment.

You are reading my 100th post on "Voice--A Storyteller's Lifestyle".

This blog started on August 17, 2006 with roughly two posts a month since that time. The articles here have ranged from storytelling techniques, tips, opinions, insights, and interviews.

Out of these 100 posts, the top 10 were determined by the number of times viewed or based on personal preference.

So drum roll please...

Top 10 Storytelling Posts:

10. Microphone Manners: Loud & Clear Ways for Pros (1/15/08)

As the microphone rests on the stand, waiting for you to grab it, confidence swells because you know the show will be successful.

9. Today's Bards & Seanachies: Irish Wisdom in Storytelling Techniques (3/15/09)

Having the "gift of gab" by kissing the Blarney stone is not enough to be a storyteller.

8. Storytelling Games: Never too old to Play (10/1/07)

Adults seem to shy away from playing storytelling games to improve their skills as storytellers. (Plus game examples)

7. Grant Writing for Storytellers: Art of Success (6/15/07)

You have a fantastic project in mind and everything is coming together . . .except for the funding.

6. Mythical Storytelling Network: Dreams of Reality (8/15/08)

Our dream ideas as storytellers to further the art in the minds of the general public are often hindered by our working within the boundaries--whether drawn by us or others. (Reflections from 2008 National Storytelling Conference Brain Trust Session led by David Novak)

5. Losing Your Voice & Finding it for Showtime (11/1/07)

Once I was told that my voice would be confiscated. ( (tips to care for throat)

4. Stage Fever: How to Make a Portable Backdrop (12/15/06)

The stage beckons many of us storytellers and often we wish we could always count on having a stage.

3. Story & Poetry Slams: 5-Step Evolution of Art (11/16/06)

Storytelling and poetry have existed for centuries and now these art forms have evolved into something more intense and lively.

2. That Fairy Tale called Childhood, Mr. Glodowski, and Lifelong Learning (10/15/10)

When our eyes glaze over and a goofy grin appears on our face, we might have entered that fairy tale called childhood.

1. 5 Ways How Adopting a Story is like Adopting a Child (1/15/10)

My husband and I have always wanted children. (adoption process of a story)

You may know how the #1 post got its position. That is personal preference as my husband and I are going through the adoption process. You can see our adoption profile here or see my "Year of the Adopted Family" storytelling project here.

What has been your favorite storytelling post?

Or, if this is your first time here, what drew you to this blog?

Your comments, as always, are welcomed.

Who knows? Maybe THIS post is your favorite.

Until we tell again,

Rachel Hedman

Professional Storyteller

Tel: (801) 870-5799
Email: info@rachelhedman.com

URL: http://www.rachelhedman.com/

How-To Blog: http://storytellingadventures.blogspot.com/

Family Famine Series Site: http://www.familyfamine.com/

Year of the Adopted Family Project: http://www.yearofthefamily.com
Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/rachelfans
Other places to find me: Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, Professional Storyteller

That Fairy Tale called Childhood, Mr. Glodowski, and Lifelong Learning

2010-10-15T11:27:00.000-07:00

When our eyes glaze over and a goofy grin appears on our face, we might have entered that fairy tale called childhood.

Nothing could go wrong...or at least not for long...as memories conjure images of learning how to bike ride and then traveling farther than told to go, hanging around the basketball court and wondering when it would be your turn to shoot the ball, playing a night game of hide-and-go-seek and on and on.

Sparkles and rainbows often accompany the reflections as if anything we touched in those times were full of magic.

Then came the stormy fortress and villains within our life story. A few of us may have called this place "school".

Creativity was set aside so we could learn what all parents wanted their children to know: reading, writing, and arithmetic.

This scholastic kingdom divided its subjects into castes that could not invade another. Tall fences and barricades prevented Social Studies from invading Math and inhibited Science from merging with English.

Fortunately, I had a 5th grade science teacher named Mr. Glodowski.

He was a balding man with a few flicks of hair that gave his head a soft look when the light slipped through the large classroom blinds. His glasses were geometric in nature and magnified his eyes so that he could see what anyone was doing at any one time...like when I wrote stories while he taught.

I slipped my writing notebook under my science notebook when I felt a glance my way. But it was too late. I was caught. I could tell by the way Mr. Glodowski prolonged his gaze in my direction.

Instead of calling my name in front of the class at that time, he walked to my desk when the bell rang.

While stuffing my backpack, I kept my head down as if to thwart any lecture of my creative writing during his class.

Then I heard it.

"Rachel?"

Mr. Glodowski's tone had an edge of amusement to it. I was not expecting that.

"Y-y-yes?"

Mr. Glodowski's eyes sparkled and he continued, "I could not help but notice that you are a writer."

"Y-y-yes?"

"Could I take a look at your work?"

I hadn't shown anyone my writing notebook before. Not even in English class. But when you're caught, you're caught. I lifted the bright pink notebook by one edge so that the other half drooped.

Mr. Glodowski carefully took the notebook into his hands and delicately read page after page.

"Hmmm." And then another, "Hmmm."

He looked at me.

"What if I had a special spot in my file cabinet for your writing? You could add your stories. I expect the folder to be thick with your stories."

I scrunched my face in surprise. "Yes, but, Mr. Glodowski, you're a Science teacher. What does writing have to do with Science?"

"Pffaw! Since when is Science Science and English English. So will you continue writing or not?"

A few moments of silence until out of my mouth, "Sure, Mr. Glodowski. Sure."

And so it happened. Story was part of my Science classroom.

I paid attention to what Mr. Glodowski taught. I noticed that he used more and more stories from past and present Science experiments of failures and successes. Sometimes folklore mixed with his lessons.

One time, while studying the constellations, he announced, "I want each of you to create a constellation out of a current star chart."

While addressing the whole class, he smiled at me and said, "I want each of you to write a story behind that constellation. Be creative as you like for, after all, this is a Science class. Science encompasses the world, and the world is full of stories."

That day I knew: storytelling was the action form of learning.

Storytelling still is the key to lifelong learning.

Then it happened one day.

I had a new story to place into Mr. Glodowski's file box. It was about time travel to dinosaur days through the pop of a bubble.

When I looked for Mr. Glodowski, all I found was an empty desk.

One of my classmates walked to me with serious expression on his face.

"I heard Mr. Glodowski died of a heart attack last night. We're getting a substitute."

I scanned the room as if I could find Mr. Glodowski shake his head at such nonsense.

But it was true.

The viewing and funeral was scheduled. I brought my Mom.

We got in line to share our condolences to the Glodowski family.

For the first time, I met Mr. Glodowski's wife. I had no idea what to tell her. Nothing seemed like the right words. I had to say something though.

So I told her about the file cabinet and how he inspired me to write.

She smiled through her tears. She thanked me and took my hand in hers.

When the school yearbooks were distributed at the end of my 5th grade year, I saw that I was not the only one who Mr. Glodowski inspired to write.

One of my classmates, Ka Xiong, had written a poem in his honor.

Here is a part of Ka's poem:

Pencils are wood, A square has an angle.

There I stood, Looking at you as if you were an angel.

Mr. Glodowski's stories are part of my being as they are for others he taught.

All stories become part of our being.

That fairy tale called childhood does not have to end.

Teachers and students alike could take part in a collaborative story that builds and grows with each passing day in the classroom.

As we graduate, that time with story continues in our minds until we achieve what our teachers had wanted to instill in us: lifelong learning.

So go forth and tell, and we will listen.

Every story adds to our education.

Until we tell again,

Rachel Hedman

info@rachelhedman.com

(801) 870-5799

http://www.familyfamine.com

About the Author:

Rachel Hedman is a family folklore expert and youth storytelling advocate who had several teachers like Mr. Gladowski who inspired the creative spirit she has today. She promotes positive communication and relationships through the Family Famine Series, a story synergy experience with fellow storytellers, musicians, and other performing artists. Rachel will publish "Year of the Adopted Family: 12 folktales to place in your home and value the process today" in November 2010 as part of National Adoption Month.

Story in its Simplicity

2010-10-01T21:33:00.000-07:00

Beauty surrounds simplicity. Story can and often does encompass such beauty.

Storytelling could be reflected in the following words:

Listening
Sharing
Thinking

Listening

Before the performance, there could be the sound of energized buzzing. People enjoy the company of others while anticipating the stories to be told. When the emcee greets everyone, there might be a moment of silence—the waiting for the storyteller to get on stage.

In this short moment, imaginations warm up.

For those hearing stories at a family gathering, there may not be microphones to adjust. Instead a grandpa, aunt, or other relative may be sitting on the coach and shifts in the seat before sharing an experience.

Silence, once again, heightens the instance.

Applause welcomes the storyteller on stage. The story begins.

Sharing

The space shared with the storyteller and the audience allows more room for each story to spout forth.

A smile, a frown, or an excited look cues the storyteller on the reception of the story.

Characters are introduced. Settings are painted. Storyteller and audience alike feel like they know everyone involved . . . even if it is the first time hearing the story.

Thinking

When the story has impact, then the level of thought intensifies.

The reactions may vary from “Huh! Well, what do you know?” to “Now who did that remind me of?” to “What do I do now, after hearing that?”

At times, there could be the thought “When will this story be over with?”

Or the story is not thought of at all. Other things press into the mind like: what needs to be added to the grocery list, cleaned in the house, or completed by the ever-looming deadline?

Though most likely, your experience was one to think about again and again and again.

You find it looming in your mind until a story must be told and continue the cycle: listening, sharing, and thinking.

So go ahead.

Enjoy the simplicity of story.

Auditions: Judging Beyond the Story

2010-09-15T14:24:00.000-07:00

Listening to the stories at auditions energize me . . .until it comes to judging them. Certain elements are obvious to note such as the story launch, voice, body language, word choice, and story closure.

The story performance, though important, is only part of the storytelling audition process.

The teller on and off the stage inspire other elements to consider such as:

Audience Connection
Stage Presence
Respect the Committee

Audience Connection

While I am often on the judging side of storytelling, at times I am the one being judged. Several contests and auditions abound in my state.

During one particular contest, the judging committee announced my scores for the different categories. I had scored high, though my Audience Connection number was average. I was not surprised. It happened to be a story that I wrote, which then could lead me to sound frozen.

The story probably would have sounded the same with that audience than if there was no one else in the area.

From that experience, the following questions come to mind about Audience Connection:

Rather than a staged performance, does the teller give the feeling of talking with the audience? This does not mean direct audience participation, though this technique may be used.
Even if the piece is memorized, does the teller still seem to have a rapport with the audience?
Is the teller willing to be flexible depending on the audience feedback?

At some contests or auditions, as much as 20 points out of 100 may be for Audience Connection. All other elements, by comparison, have 5-10 points.

Every ballot differs. Some ballots ignore Audience Connection as a category.

Stage Presence

Every time I perform, butterflies abound in my stomach. The trick with Stage Presence is to look as if no insects are having a party with the nerves.

When I first competed in storytelling as a sophomore in high school, sometimes the butterflies wanted to fly out. . .along with my lunch.

During one of the breaks at the Wisconsin finals with about 100 tellers, I slipped away to find an unused classroom with a wastebasket with my name on it. Thankfully, my composure has improved.

A storyteller could improve stage presence simply by breathing deep before getting out of the car or entering the building of the auditions.

Perhaps a pre-recorded motivational CD with your mix of favorite songs or quotes will boost the confidence.

If I need to be energized, I listen to “Dancing Queen”. For a more serene composure, I play “Daydream Believer”. As for a moving quote, I learned this from Don Doyle: “Behind you infinite power. Before you limitless possibilities. Why should you fear?”

Carol Esterreicher taught me the “Circle of Excellence”, a neuro-linguistic technique of picturing an imaginary circle wherein you perform the perfect performance in the perfect setting with the perfect audience. Then you transfer these images upon the actual performance.

Keep in mind that the audition starts as soon as the storyteller enters the room. The audition continues as the judging committee calls the storyteller to the stage. Each footstep, arm swing, and shoulder erectness communicates either fear or confidence.

When judging, I watch to see if the storyteller accepts the applause. Too many rush off or fail to soak in the appreciation from the audience. A professional is poised from beginning to end.

Respect the Committee

This may seem like a strange category. Unfortunately, I added this category for the rare individuals who. . .come off the wrong way.

Before Audition: There are times when storytellers have felt entitled to be part of an event. Performing is a privilege. Sometimes a polished teller is not invited to give a chance to less experienced tellers who need a stage to grow. Consider your words in speech, telephone, or email. Are you too confident in being chosen?

During Audition: Did you arrive on time if a time slot was reserved? Are you pleasant when you turn in your application? Does your tone sound flustered, impatient, or annoyed? If you are a walk-in, do you understand that you might need to wait a while based on the number who came to audition?

After Audition: If chosen to be part of the event, do you continue to have good manners towards any and all people involved with the event? If not chosen, do you keep your anger in check? I like to write a personal letter to each person not chosen to tell. I share the positive as well as what could be improved to possibly be chosen the next year. Much time and thought go into these letters.

The good news is that most people receive full points for the Respect the Committee category.

So be outstanding at the next audition. You could be a star.

Until we tell again,

Rachel Hedman

Professional Storyteller

Tel: (801) 870-5799
Email: info@rachelhedman.com

URL: http://www.rachelhedman.com/

How-To Blog: http://storytellingadventures.blogspot.com/

Family Famine Series Site: http://www.familyfamine.com/

Year of the Family Book: http://www.yearofthefamily.com
Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/rachelfans
Other places to find me: Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, Professional Storyteller

Narrative Intelligence: 3 Ways to Stroll Memory Lane

2010-09-01T11:08:00.000-07:00

Inspired by East Tennessee State University

—Storytelling Masters Program

Much credit to Roger C. Schank

—Author of "Tell Me A Story: Narrative Intelligence"

as well as David Novak

—National Storyteller/ETSU Professor

Question: To what extent do you already know stories?

Answer: You know more stories than you think you do.

Activity:

List any stories that you could tell right now
List any stories that you could tell after one or two run-throughs
List any other stories that you know that would need two+ run-throughs

Wise Storyteller = right story at the right time and with many stories in the repertoire

Index Stories

We create indices/labels for stories so to tell stories effortlessly and unconsciously. You may also apply indexing to when interviewing others.

Index Construction & Understanding:

1. Match indices for story retrieval

Example: Creating themed storytelling performances

2. Add aspects of a new story to empty slots in an old one

Example: Love a story except for the ending

3. Seek further evidence for stories that were only tentatively held as having been correctly understood

Example: Feminist tales

Activity:

Take story from your repertoire and complete the right side of the table below--

Types of Indices	Story:
Theme/Topic
Goal/Intention
Plan to Reach Goal
Result/Ending
Lesson

Group Exercise:

Form circle or semi-circle as a group and pretend that there is a fire in the center.
One person says any word or phrase toward the imaginary fire. In no particular order, everyone can say what words come to mind. Some people may talk at the same time, which is fine because you are creating a bonfire of words. Whatever word was last heard is what a person connects to when tossing out a word. Try this activity with the eyes open and then with the eyes closed.

Shape Memories

The ability to remember an event/story increases with:

1. Immediacy of telling after event experienced/story learned

2. Frequency of telling

3. Uniqueness

4. Significance to you

The act of sharing a story with someone else creates its own memory. The more the story is shared, then the more memories connected to the story.

With every version of a story learned, your memory is changed. Every version blurs the details so it is easier to put your own spin to the story. You will have details that you cling to and you will have details that you drop. Finally, ask yourself “How is this story the story of my life?”

Example: Disney version of “The Little Mermaid” vs. H.C. Andersen version

Activity:

Tell a familiar tale backwards.
How has your viewpoint of the story changed

Understand and Share Stories

We may have stories that reflect different cultures but it does not mean we understand the stories completely. According to Schank’s book, if someone learned French and traveled to Paris, that person would struggle with the language. That person did not learn the life and speech genres such as the slang and proverbs so as to avoid embarrassing situations.

Insider Story Examples: personal tales, stories of your culture

Outsider Story Examples: multicultural tales, stories of another place or time

Activity:

Using your repertoire list, place an “I” next to your insider stories and an “O” next to your outsider stories.

Combinatorial--Questions to ask when feel like there is no story to tell:

1. What story do I know that relates to the incoming story?

2. Are there any events in my memory where I had a similar goal for a similar reason?

3. Do I have a story in memory where the main goal is the same as that being pursued in the story I am hearing?

Bibliography:

Schank, R. (1995). Tell Me A Story: Narrative and Intelligence. Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press.

ISBN: 0810113139

Yashinsky, D. (2006). Suddenly They Heard Footsteps: Storytelling for the Twenty-first Century. Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi.

ISBN-10: 1578069270

Suggested Reading:

Bavles, D. & Orland, T. (2001). Art & Fear. Santa Cruz, CA: Image Continuum Press.

ISBN: 0961454733

Coles, R. (1990). The Call Of Stories: Teaching and The Moral Imagination. Boston: Mariner Books.

ISBN: 039552815

Lakoff, G. & Johnson, M. (2003). Metaphors We Live By. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

ISBN: 0226468011

Rodenburg, P. (1993). The Need For Words: Voice and Text. New York City: Routledge.

ISBN: 0878300511

Rodenburg, P. (1993). The Right To Speak: Working With The Voice. New York City: Routledge.

ISBN: 0878300554

Sawyer, R. (1977). The Way of The Storyteller. London: Penguin.

ISBN: 0140044361

Simmons, A. (2002). The Story Factor: Inspiration, Influence and Persuasion Through The Art of Storytelling. New York City: Perseus Books Group.

ISBN: 0738206717

Smith, A. D. (2006). Letters to a Young Artist: Straight-up Advice on Making a Life in the Arts-For Actors, Performers, Writers, and Artists of Every Kind. New York City: Anchor.

ISBN-10: 1400032385

Zipes, J. (1995). Creative Storytelling; Building Community, Changing Lives. New York City: Routledge.

ISBN: 0415912725

Jackpot! 5 Ways to Boost Your School's Luck with Storytelling

2010-08-15T22:02:00.000-07:00

I am not a gambling person, but I am willing to bet that storytelling would make a difference in any school.

If the art is promoted and supported, then it may not be long before students experience higher test scores and. . .some major life skills.

5 Ways to Boost Your School's Luck with Storytelling:

Classroom, School, and District Level Events
Training Teachers to Merge Storytelling with Curriculum
Storytelling Residencies
Games
Schools Standards

Classroom, School, and District Level Events

Any state could be a strong youth storytelling state. One classroom could lead to one school and finally one school district who support the art.

In Utah, the following school districts promote storytelling the strongest: Alpine, Davis, Jordan, Morgan, Ogden, and Weber. The Canyons District is in progress to be added to this list. Private and charter schools are becoming more interested due to the Weber State University Storytelling Festival. In February 2010, there were 87 youth tellers invited to tell for the festival. This did not count the hundreds of students who had classroom, school, or district level showcases to determine the top tellers.

Did Utah become this way overnight? No.

Though if you would like a "fast-forward" approach, then nearby festivals need to extend invitations to schools. You may be surprised at who accepts the opportunity.

Training Teachers to Merge Storytelling with Curriculum

A one-time visit from a professional storyteller can have influence, but teachers are with their students on a daily basis. These teachers could take already-made lesson plans and merge storytelling in them.

A book called “Story Proof: The Science Behind the Startling Power of Story” by Kendall Haven shows that test scores do go up when students learn through story-based teaching. The brain seems to feed off stories and remembers facts much more quickly that way.

Storytelling Residencies

Schedule a professional storyteller for more than the "one moment" with the students. When there are 2-8 weeks dedicated to literacy and communication skills, then a storyteller could guide the course through stories.

The lessons linger longer. . .and so do the "happily ever afters".

Games

Any storytelling game could connect with the curriculum. Kids to adults love these activities. Games serve as a way to kick-off a new topic or section, to reinforce concepts, and to review.

Example Game: Mixed-Up Mayhem

Set aside a bowl for each of the following categories or create your own: Status, God of Choice, Daily Activity, Place, and Object. Note that these reflect social, political, religious, geographical and economical areas. On slips of paper, write a word and place in the appropriate bowl.

For a Greek game, here are ideas to put in each bowl—

a. Status—Rich, Middle Class, Poor, Slave

b. God of Choice—Zeus, Hera, Athena, Hephaestus, Ares

c. Daily Activity—Farming, Sailing, Hunting, Wrestling, Attending Wedding, Running Household, Going to School

d. Place—Athens, Sparta, Mediterranean Sea

e. Object—Lyre, Flute, Petasos (broad-rimmed hat), Metal Headband, Tunic, Hairpins, Rattle, Little Clay Animals, Yo-yo, Terra-cotta Dolls, Pet Goat, Pet Mice

Pull a paper from each of the bowls. Create individual or group stories that connect each of the items drawn. Be prepared for stories to go in any direction as long as all words are used.

School Standards

The Youth, Educators, and Storytellers Alliance has a one-page position statement that could guide states in how to review their school standards.

These standards are not in stone and chiseling the words "story" or "storytelling" into it does not have to be an impossible task.

So take a chance. . .roll the dice. . .and see if you can soon yell "Jackpot! There's storytelling in my school!"

Until we tell again,

Rachel Hedman

Professional Storyteller

Tel: (801) 870-5799
Email: info@rachelhedman.com

URL: http://www.rachelhedman.com/

How-To Blog: http://storytellingadventures.blogspot.com/

Family Famine Series Site: http://www.familyfamine.com/

Year of the Family Book: http://www.yearofthefamily.com
Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/rachelfans
Other places to find me: Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, Professional Storyteller

"Eat, Pray, Love"--A Teller who Traveled to Conference

2010-08-01T20:26:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Karen Rae Kraut, we have this picture (left to right): Rachel Hedman, Joel ben Izzy, and Willa Brigham. This was after we sung and danced "We love our hats!" at the 2010 National Storytelling Conference in Los Angeles. Consider it a jazzy thankful prayer.

Elizabeth Gilbert's memoir "Eat, Pray, Love" has had a resurgence of popularity with the movie hitting theaters.

Little did she know that those three words could also apply to anyone attending a storytelling conference. . .or any kind of conference.

I have had the privilege to attend six National Storytelling Conferences: 2004--Bellingham, WA; 2005--Oklahoma, OK; 2006--Pittsburgh, PA; 2007--St. Louis, MO; 2008--Gatlinburg, TN; 2010--Los Angeles, CA.

Here are some wisdom gained:

Eat

Whether the aroma of food or the word "free" in front of "lunch", people are drawn to meals. A storytelling conference revolves around food.

Focus groups. . .and eating.

Membership meetings. . .and eating.

Celebrations. . .and eating.

With so much food to be had, sometimes came the thought, "Boy, do I wish I would have asked the hotel if they had a small refrigerator!"

I smiled when the National Storytelling Network membership meeting merged with a free lunch for the Los Angeles Conference. More people seemed to linger and listen than at other conferences. As we relished in the one-minute stories of why people came to the art, the entertainment brought a satisfaction to our stomachs.

Eating does not consist only of that physical sustenance that calms the grumbling stomach.

There is plenty to feast upon while at a conference. There are workshops, intensives, concerts, fringes, keynotes, story swaps. . .and the list could go on. A conference attendee may be tempted to "taste it all".

I used to think I had to go to everything. Then, with conflicting sessions, decisions had to be made. I could rush everywhere and go crazy. Or, I could absorb whatever opportunity presented itself in the moment. Giving attention to one person in the hallway may be better than being counted among the hundreds.

As can be the case in eating too much, there is the risk to spew forth when too much is in the belly.

Allow time to digest and savor every flavor.

Pray

Singing naturally comes from my mouth. If I do not sing, then a hum is sure to pass my lips. All is like a prayer no matter the tempo or energy.

Some conferences have had talented musicians like Larry Brown, Joseph Sobol, or Willy Claflin to strum the guitar and inspire the people in group singing. For the Los Angeles Conference, I watched delightedly as my friend, Holly Robison, was asked to join Joseph and Willy on stage. She swayed with the music and added an angelic voice to the mix. Her wardrobe had a modern hippie look with her yellow loose slacks and long yellow scarf. Since the song was a parody of the classic "Get Together" by the Youngbloods on the changes for the National Storytelling Network, everything established the perfect mood.

Afterward I told Joseph, "You see why I love working with her?"

Holly and I sometimes do tandem telling/singing for the Family Famine Series. Electric guitarist Joshua Payne joined us for the "Family Famine: Hunger for Love" fringe while at the Conference.

On Sunday morning of the same conference, Victoria Burnett slipped on some white gloves and gave us a "tour" of the Black Baptist Church (B.B.C.) with music that could move any soul. With swaying and call-and-response, the hotel ballroom transformed into a spiritual place full of fervor.

Love

Even as a new conference attender, you could feel the urge to embrace when a Facebook friend or social network buddy becomes flesh for the first time.

Holly Robison, as one of these new attenders, said, "I've been telling people how generous and loving the storytelling community is. . .then at the conference, I saw that as I talked with people, they were genuinely interested in what I had to say."

If you are not the kind who gives--or receives--hugs, then you may at least give handshakes. The next step could be to place your hand on someone's shoulder.

I lost track of the number of hugs I gave or received during the Los Angeles Conference or any of the conferences. Many people relate conferences as family reunions, and who fails to hug at a reunion?

Laughter and tears are shared along with the hugs. As my husband and I are in the middle of the adoption process, several peopled asked for updates. Sometimes I did not know where to start except that "On January 20, 2010 we became 'visible'. Birth parents can find us online now." A smile spread across my face as I told people, "I am a vocal person. When there is something to report, you will know!"

So. . .Eat. . .Pray. . .Love!

You find it all no matter which storytelling gathering you attend.

Until we tell again,

Rachel Hedman

Professional Storyteller

Tel: (801) 870-5799
Email: info@rachelhedman.com

URL: http://www.rachelhedman.com/

How-To Blog: http://storytellingadventures.blogspot.com/

Family Famine Series Site: http://www.familyfamine.com/

Year of the Family Book: http://www.yearofthefamily.com
Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/rachelfans
Other places to find me: Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, Professional Storyteller

Creating a Youth Storytelling Community One Kid at a Time

2010-07-15T20:36:00.000-07:00

Most youth storytelling events are just that: events. Nothing may occur for another year. Until then, the youth have nowhere to express their talents.

This is assuming that you have at least one youth storytelling event in the area.

Even with intense organizational efforts, the youth may not feel like they were important to its success.

One youth teller stated in front of parents, teachers, and coaches, “No. This festival is not about me.”

For such a youth-centered event, the answer was devastating. The leaders vowed to change this perception.

To create a youth storytelling community, you will need to:

Build an Event for Youth
Develop Reunions and Gatherings
Promote Storytelling Games and Fun

Build an Event for Youth

Expand your mind as to what could be considered an event such as a: party, social gathering, house concert, library activity, school assembly, campus celebration, civic meeting, contest, festival, etc.

An all-youth storytelling event is preferable, though youth tellers could share the stage with adult tellers and performing artists. Some places encourage artists to come from the community, thus inviting amateurs and professionals. Adult and child levels could be supported.

A festival allows for more than one youth teller to participate in the program.

For the three-day Weber State University Storytelling Festival, 87 youth took part along with 4 national tellers and 30 Utah adult tellers.

Most events will not have as much opportunity to highlight that quantity of youth. If the audience leans towards about 50-100 people in the audience, then 3-5 youth might be able to join the other performers.

Having one youth teller as part of an event would still be one more teller than what normally occurs.

Develop Reunions and Gatherings

A parent exclaimed, “My child has been anxious for this reunion for months.”

After 14 years, the Weber State University Storytelling Festival endeavored to hold a Youth Teller Reunion. The idea could be one of the first of its kind.

During the 2010 February festival, each of the 87 youth tellers received a “Save the Date” postcard. At the beginning of June, letters and RSVP cards arrived to the youth’s homes. Inside the letter the youth were told, “You are officially part of the Festival Family and will be invited every year to this new tradition.”

Youth tellers from other festival years could join the reunion, but that would come from word-of-mouth. One year’s worth of youth would be a large enough group for the kick-off.

An event involving any number of youth inspires a reunion. Three youth would be enough to have an ice cream party or a retreat. Besides, it is easier to arrange smaller gatherings. These gatherings may evolve into something bigger like a reunion.

A reunion need not be an expensive affair.

The Youth Teller Reunion of the Weber State University Storytelling Festival was fortunate to have the Ogden Eccles Dinosaur Park waive its rental fee for the space. The park already generated excitement. The Park offered for the youth teller and one parent to attend for free while other family members paid the group rate.

Out of the 87 youth, 24 came. With parents and family members, the numbers reached 76 people.

To further the low-cost approach, the families brought their own lunches. The festival donated items like water bottles, Frisbees, storytelling CDs, and posters as door prizes.

About a week previous to the reunion, 12 names of youth tellers were drawn to determine fairly who would perform for the concert at the park. After the concert, the families could roam the dinosaur park for as long as they liked.

A reunion provides a story-filled day to energize the youth to continue in the art.

Promote Storytelling Games and Fun

While at the Youth Teller Reunion, parent-volunteers led the youth in games. Once taught, the youth could play the games and teach others . . .possibly other kids in their neighborhood.

Provide a copy of these games, possibly through email, to the youth. Give them freedom to adapt the ones on the list or to create their own games.

The youth may enjoy playing the games so much that they will wish to form a storytelling club. These clubs may be as informal as kids wandering into the same space and “talking stories”. Some organizations, like 4H, may sponsor the gatherings while some schools may opt the storytelling clubs as after-school activities.

For storytelling game ideas, check out the book “Raising Voices: Creating Youth Groups and Troupes”.

I also feature a storytelling game each month as part of my e-newsletter. You can go to http://www.rachelhedman.com to sign-up for this free resource.

So what are you waiting for?

Your youth storytelling community may have the population of one.

But one plus one plus one plus one. . .it adds up.

Until we tell again,

Rachel Hedman

Professional Storyteller

Tel: (801) 870-5799
Email: info@rachelhedman.com

URL: http://www.rachelhedman.com/

How-To Blog: http://storytellingadventures.blogspot.com/

Family Famine Series Site: http://www.familyfamine.com/

Year of the Family Book: http://www.yearofthefamily.com
Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/rachelfans
Other places to find me: Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, Professional Storyteller

When is a Folktale a Folktale? Today’s Changes to Yesterday’s Story of the People

2010-06-01T11:45:00.000-07:00

A folktale tends to conjure images of shrouded forests with country peasants, majestic mountains inhabited by isolated hermits, or dusty deserts pitched about by canvas tents of nomadic tribes.

A folktale is usually not thought of in a setting like New York City with its skyscrapers and bustling people.

Yet, a folktale, in all its simplicity, is a story of the people.

Time does not really factor into the folktale equation. We like to add the “long ago and far, far away” as probably a part of nostalgic and romantic notions.

New York City could be admitted to be as grand as any kingdom spoken of in classic folktales.

Universal themes are still the same from the past to the present. These themes provide the foundation for folktales.

There are three main areas that have changed:

Common Characters and Jobs
Self-Made Monsters and Disasters
Rural to Urban to Viral

Common Characters and Jobs

In the folktales of the “long ago and far, far away”, the main character or hero tended to start as a farmer. Oftentimes, some royalty made an appearance.

Today we continue to have our workers and our leaders, though we name them differently.

Jack’s mother may not be asking for her son to take a cow to town for some money (and have Jack bring back magic beans instead). Now Jack’s mother is asking for her son to take his college education and find a job in this high unemployment world. Jack is lucky to bring home some beans.

People like Jack and searching for the gold that would support their homes. Climbing the beanstalk is often the only way to do it. That could mean gaining further education or climbing the corporate ladder.

Folktales could center on the adventures of being a student. Passing final exams circulate as stories with the rituals and traditions involved.

Besides the perpetual student, we have occupations that did not exist to such a degree a hundred or more years ago.

Horse-drawn carriages have made way for automobiles. Sending letters by carrier have many times been sent through email. Books and programs could be placed on microchips and in software packages. Vaccines and cures have burst forth from healthcare research. And the list could go on.

Self-Made Monsters and Disasters

We still have killer crocs and devil pigs. We even have giants, though ours today go on to swallow fire and swords and become a finalist for “America’s Got Talent”.

One of the largest self-made monsters of the day: identity thieves.

So the idea of becoming someone stealing or becoming someone else is not new.

Consider the infamous folktale character “Master of Thieves”. If you delved into folktales from Iraq, it seems every other piece involves a man dressing as a woman or a woman dressing as a man so as to gain glory and gold or to avoid death and detection.

Now people are becoming other people without the clothes . . .only dressed in a social security number.

As for disasters, we live in a time when millions of gallons of oil could spill out from reckless offshore drilling and destroy coastline communities faster than any hurricane or flood. Though, not to be forgotten, these natural disasters still pound from the skies and the earth and compound the self-made disasters.

Stories of the past always involve battles, but now the bow and arrow and guns have made way for bombs. Earthquakes are not the only things that tremble the earth.

Rural to Urban to Viral

As we share the news of events with others, we can credit many words used to explain storytelling from country influences such as “spinning a tale” or “old wives’ tales”.

Whenever there was a barn raising or a celebration of some kind, the farmers and their wives would gather. The women had their area of their quilting bees and spinning wheels and would share stories and gossip while doing these repetitious tasks.

Then the printing press became more common and newspaper were born. Cities housed these machines and the stories disseminated mainly from these heavily populated places rather than the countryside.

Now we have the Internet. A person could zip a message to a friend on the other side of the world in seconds.

Our folktales and folklore are being chronicled mainly through Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.

Stories are continuously before our faces. The question becomes, “Do we value them?”

You are part of the people. The answer lies with you.

Until we tell again,

Rachel Hedman

Professional Storyteller

Tel: (801) 870-5799
Email: info@rachelhedman.com

URL: http://www.rachelhedman.com/

How-To Blog: http://storytellingadventures.blogspot.com/

Family Famine Series Site: http://www.familyfamine.com/

Year of the Family Book: http://www.yearofthefamily.com
Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/rachelfans
Other places to find me: Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, Professional Storyteller

The Story Seed Idea: 3 Ways to Grow More than One Version on the Vine

2010-05-15T12:20:00.000-07:00

Jack grew a beanstalk overnight from one bean. A storyteller plants one version of a story in mind and then cultivates a unique version that can be as impressive as mile-high vegetation.

Sometimes one version is all a storyteller can find after hours in the library. Certain stories are easier to find than others. When researching the classic King Midas story, I read 72 versions before exploring how to develop my voice to the tale.

Most stories do not offer so much material.

So what does a storyteller do when nothing can be found?

3 Ways To Grow More Than One Version Of A Story:

Culture
Current Events
Classifying through Aarne-Thompson System

Culture

Delving into the culture of a tale is most obvious for folktales, though any story has a culture connected to it. Keep in mind that culture could include a region, time period, religion, social group, gender, or generation.

A story tends to state its area of origin. A folktale could be told in general terms and lack any reference to the cultural elements despite being labeled as a “Cuban” or “Ojibwa” or “Vakishamba tribe in Africa”. The story might have a word or phrase of the language that provides flavor. Otherwise, the teller could add foreign words.

A storyteller may find benefit in learning the social traditions connected to birth, marriage, death, or other events and merge it with the original story.

Books from the juvenile literature section provide excellent pictures so that the storyteller could create a pretend map of the scenery for the folktale.

Current Events

The Internet, especially Facebook and Twitter, have expanded exponentially how people access the news.

Through Twitter, people could receive mini press releases with no more than 30 words. A website usually accompanies the post for more details. This tiny version of news makes it possible to scan headlines of 100+ stories in a few minutes. A storyteller could click on the tweet that relates closest to the story that the storyteller may be working on at the moment.

For example, in the Aboriginal Australian story “Gooloo the Magpie and the Wahroogah” a magpie-woman named Gooloo offers to watch over the tribe’s children while the fathers hunt and the mothers gather fruit amongst the trees. When the mothers return, the children are gone.

A storyteller might find a newspaper article or TV broadcast that focuses on a kidnapping. Though the cultures may be different, the news would share the heart wrenching feelings felt by the parents. A storyteller may gain inspiration on how to approach the Australian tale by merging with universal emotions and themes.

Classifying through Aarne-Thompson System

Librarians have the Dewy Decimal System to find books. Storytellers have the Aarne-Thompson System to find stories from the folk and fairy tale realm.

The Aarne-Thompson uses letters and numbers to divide categories and themes.

For the motif of “Conception and Birth”, a storyteller would find those stories from T500-T599. Within these numbers are related subcategories.

Consider some of the types found under T500-T599:

T511.1—Conception from eating a fruit
T511.1.1—Conception from eating apple
T511.2.0.1—Conception from eating root
T511.2.0.1.1.—Girl called Gatherer because she is best in tribe at knowing and getting plants
T511.2.0.2—Conception from eating leaves

Underneath the numbers, often one or more story is listed. Sometimes there are complete bibliographies. A storyteller searches for the recommended books and continues the research adventure.

“The Storyteller’s Sourcebook” is a fantastic book compiled by Margaret Read MacDonald with the Aarne-Thompson System as well as the ability to search by subject and title. Although out-of-print, many libraries have this book in their reference section.

Even when a storyteller develops a personal or historical piece, discovering folktales that have similar themes could be considered explorative research. Inspiration comes from everywhere.

Suddenly the one version a teller started with could branch into endless possibilities. . .as endless as that beanstalk that Jack climbed.

Do you have your story seed?

Let it grow!

Until we tell again,

Rachel Hedman

Professional Storyteller

Tel: (801) 870-5799
Email: info@rachelhedman.com

URL: http://www.rachelhedman.com/

How-To Blog: http://storytellingadventures.blogspot.com/

Family Famine Series Site: http://www.familyfamine.com/

Year of the Family Book: http://www.yearofthefamily.com
Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/rachelfans
Other places to find me: Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, Professional Storyteller

Mothering a Program: How to Give Birth to Story Success

2010-05-01T09:59:00.000-07:00

Most mothers are ready for their baby to come when ten months or so have passed. They have swallowed hundreds of pre-natal pills, stuffed and filled drawers and closets with baby clothes, and packed the suitcase for that urgent ride to the hospital for delivery.

A storyteller could learn from mothers on how to care for the mental, physical and emotional needs.

Mental

For the Story—

A mother does not expect to become pregnant and then deliver the baby the next day. She likely made a lot of to-do lists. Repainting a room for the nursery is probably a priority.

The story needs to be outlined in a way that works for the tellers. Some people prefer the visual way by storyboarding. Whether drawing stick figures or intensely detailed images, these series of pictures could bring order to a complex plot.

I enjoy using French Scenes of which the environment, character feelings, and progression of the plot are explored for each part of the story. I ponder upon the Hero’s Journey structure as shared by Joseph Campbell. The hero’s beginning, call to adventures, road of trials, and the ultimate boon can be adapted to most types of stories.

For You—

A mother dreams what that moment will be like to hold the new precious one in her arms.

Storytellers can also dream of the perfect performance. Storyteller Carol Esterreicher taught me about the “Circle of Excellence”, a neuro-linguistic practice. An imaginary circle is pictured while the teller builds the visual, audio, and kinetic elements that would motivate and create the best environment for storytelling. For example, one might imagine an elaborate opera house with lights up, friends and family in the audience, hearing applause, and feeling warmth and delight from everyone. A cue, like putting on a cap, might trigger these positive thoughts regardless of the actual atmosphere.

Another mental preparation is to have silence. I prefer to have the radio off when I drive to a performance. This allows me to think only of the stories to be shared at the performance.

Physical

For the Story—

A mother’s whole body expands and changes to make room for the little one forming in the womb.

The first time that a story is told aloud, then the story is able to grow and become larger than it was at the beginning. Besides the words, facial expressions and gestures flow with the story. It creates what storyteller Donald Davis calls as “body memory”. The story is beyond outlines and storyboards now.

For You—

A mother attends classes to learn how to breathe properly for delivery.

Does this sound familiar? Storytellers must know how to breathe. We breathe so many times during the day that we may take it for granted. When our breathing is acknowledged, then we can control it to enhance out performance.

Our breath may quicken for showtime. Taking deep breaths in and out could calm the nerves and allow us to do our best. I enjoy throwing in some loud yawns. A yawn is the body’s way of saying that more oxygen is needed and not always that one is tired. If no other warm-ups for the vocal chords are done, then some yawns and breaths could help.

Emotional

For the Story—

A mother could have any emotion emerge at any moment. She does her best to keep the hormones in check.

A storyteller needs to have these skills of detecting when the emotions are too much for a story. Certain tales may remind of tender or outrageous moments. Sadness or anger might come forth from the story and make the audience uncomfortable. The story may need to be “excused” until enough time has passed to feel in control.

For You—

A mother knows ultimate joy because she has felt the sorrows. No matter what the obstacle, a mother knows that everything is worth it for that joy.

Fear could easily beset the storyteller. After the preparations and practices, the showtime—or delivery—of the program is at hand. Grasp onto the feeling of confidence that you did all that you could do to make the program a success. You will feel satisfaction when you hear the applause and realize that you did your best.

So what are you waiting for? Go and deliver some beautiful story success!

Until we tell again,

Rachel Hedman

Professional Storyteller

Tel: (801) 870-5799
Email: info@rachelhedman.com

URL: http://www.rachelhedman.com/

How-To Blog: http://storytellingadventures.blogspot.com/

Family Famine Series Site: http://www.familyfamine.com/

Year of the Family Book: http://www.yearofthefamily.com
Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/rachelfans
Other places to find me: Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, Professional Storyteller

Math Madness: 3 Number Types to Track that Add to Success in the Arts

2010-04-15T15:44:00.000-07:00

This post was inspired by past experience as well as by Wendi Hassan, Executive Director of the Alliance for the Varied Arts and a consultant to Utah Presenters. She created a presentation and CD called “A Metrics Primer for the Artistic Mind”. Contact Wendi at whassanarts@gmail.com for more details. Or click here and order a MP3 recording for $5. It was commissioned by the Utah Arts Council.

Hovering over a calculator may be the last thing you want to do.

From taxes to bills, numbers could drive any artist to insanity.

Never fear.

There are numbers out there that have nothing to do with sending money to someone else. Rather, these numbers make it possible to RECEIVE money from others who love the arts.

Every number has a story and it is up to you to transform cold fact to warm experience.

You might be connected with an event that has been an annual tradition for 20+ years. You might be on the brink to start an event.

So what kind of numbers do people want to know about your art?

Remember to track these number types:

1. Audience Types and Consistency

2. Volunteers and Community Involvement

3. Direct Costs and Indirect Impacts

Audience Types and Consistency

Besides smiling at everyone who attends, notice details about the audience. You will often be fascinated by: average age, range of ages, and ethnic groups—attending and “missing”.

Ticket stubs or hand-held metal clickers could be inexpensive items to figure out attendance.

Some events do not require a ticket. Other places have “free” tickets as they serve more of a reservation or RSVP than an actual proof of purchase.

You could provide surveys or feedback forms that use 1-10 scales on enjoyment to receive “hard” numbers. A mix of 3-8 quantitative questions with 1-2 qualitative usually avoids overwhelming the audience member. Attempt to fit the questions on no longer than half sheet of paper.

Be sure to have a place for audience members to put their name and contact information. Include a way for audience members to grant permission for the possibility of using quotes for advertising.

You may want to have a drawing for anyone who returns a form. To promote privacy in answers, a person could receive a ticket stub in exchange for a completed form. Prizes could be mailed to the address on the stub.

The audience type and consistency could give you a hint as to the target market to reach the next year. It could also indicate that the intended audience did not match to those who actually came. Either you could celebrate and continue to connect with the type of audience that did show or you could reevaluate the advertising literature and strategies on why different results were received.

Volunteers and Community Involvement

You probably sent thank you cards to your glorious volunteers and sponsors, but how much do you know about them?

Detect trends, if any, of these people and organizations. You might consider creating a survey similar to what was created to learn more about the audience members.

As for volunteers, these people may range from Cub Scouts groups to retired individuals. Remember any event planners, directors, or Board members who may not have the title of “volunteer” but are still giving of time.

Though most of the attention focuses on event’s profit or impact, time is the most precious commodity for any event or organization.

For volunteers, consider the following and expand to address your needs:

How many volunteers helped out?
What is the average age of the volunteer?
What is the range of volunteer ages?
What was the average volunteer time dedicated to the event?
What was the range of minimum and maximum time given?
How did the volunteers learn about the opportunity to serve?

As for community involvement, this could mean corporations, associations, or individuals who sponsor through money, in-kind, or services.

For sponsors, consider the following and expand to address your needs:

What category or type of organization or business does the sponsor fit in? Examples: Art Group, Retail Business, Civic Organization, Youth-Oriented Association, Retired Individual, etc.
What was the value of the donation? (Product vs. Service)
What donations, if any, has this sponsor provided in the past for your event? Plans to provide for the current year? Intends to give in future years?
What is the key motivation for the gift? Other motives?

Direct Costs and Indirect Impacts

Consider the cash flow. Gather all the invoices and receipts in one place throughout the planning and implementation.

These receipts may include:

Location Rental
Artist Fees
Employee Wages
Stipends or Grants
Advertising Event
Website Space and Maintenance
Certificates and Awards
Hospitality Bags
Transportation/Lodging
Food
Sound Equipment
And on and on and on!

Correlate the not-so-obvious impact with such things as:

Hotel Occupancy Rates
Restaurant Receipts
Retail Sales
Property Values

Classic Equations

Cost Benefit Analysis = Expected Benefits vs. Expected Costs
Return on Investment = (Income – Investment)/Investment
Sales Tax Gap Analysis = Expected City Expenditures/Estimated Taxable Sales (less than one means leakage)
Lifetime Value of a Patron = Annual Expenditure X Average Years Retention
Economic Impact = Direct and Indirect Spending X Multiplier

Multiplier is a measure of how quickly new money “leaks” out of a geographic area.

Leakage is what fails to be consumed, attended, etc. and could refer to money, taxes, products, or performances.

If these equations seem “scary”, then recruit someone to work out these calculations for your event or organization.

Your Number Story

Tell the story of the event’s results once numbers are gathered about the audience, community impact, and other costs. What do you believe caused or impacted the numbers? Why?

Play with possibilities rather than being perfect in the answers.

The telling of this audience story may be most useful when shared aloud, written down, or recorded. There could be several versions of the story. As the story is told over and over, feel free to tweak or change the story as more information or insights are illuminated.

Sometimes the numbers provide a “happy ending” for the event. . .or it could be better described as a Greek tragedy. No matter the results, recognize that “things happen” for good or bad. Be humble with high and encouraging numbers. Comfort yourself that there will be improvement with any pit-of-the-stomach numbers.

Besides, you are involved. That should count for something!

***Besides collecting statistics for your event, search for any other number stories available for events that are either similar in art form, style, or that match your intended audience. When gathered before your event, personal goals could come from it. You might also gage your success by looking at those numbers.

Until we tell again,

Rachel Hedman

Professional Storyteller

Tel: (801) 870-5799
Email: info@rachelhedman.com

URL: http://www.rachelhedman.com/

How-To Blog: http://storytellingadventures.blogspot.com/

Family Famine Series Site: http://www.familyfamine.com/

Year of the Family Book: http://www.yearofthefamily.com
Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/rachelfans
Other places to find me: Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, Professional Storyteller

When Fools Rush In: 3 Ways to Boost Wisdom with Story Introductions

2010-04-01T20:27:00.000-07:00

A story could survive without an introduction.

Though often a storyteller receives an introduction by an emcee to further excitement from the audience. It seems fair that a story receive an introduction so as to experience similar results.

What to Remember About Introductions:

1. Dedicate Time To Have Intro & Of Appropriate Length

2. Ponder What The Story Means To You

3. Strengthen Lead-ins Without Revealing Plot

Dedicate Time To Have Intro & Of Appropriate Length

Some storytellers tell stories as if careening down a mountainside or as if a “ready, set, go” button was pushed.

I have acted in such a rapid way. When competing in a Liar’s Contest, I had five minutes. One sentence was all I spared to recognize the audience. I would have preferred a few more moments to reach out to the audience.

Any storyteller could make a conscious decision to include an introduction whether it lasts thirty seconds to over a minute.

Ellouise Schoettler, one of the Exchange Place Tellers at the 2009 National Storytelling Festival, was given twelve minutes. At this event, it is taboo to go over time. She considered telling one of her fourteen-minute signature stories. Then, rather than condensing the story and forgoing the introduction, Ellouise chose to tell a seven-minute story with a few minutes of breathing room. After the festival, Ellouise was glad she gave the time to solidify a connection with the audience.

Her wise decision to give time for a story introduction led to a happy memory.

Balance the length of the introduction with the story. I have heard introductions longer than the story! Any introduction over a couple minutes will need strong rationalizations. There are exceptions to any rule. Sometimes a mini story is needed to make way for the longer story.

Ponder What The Story Means To You

Another name for an introduction is a “mindset”. It implies that one must look within first.

All of the reasons that you chose a certain story may not surface as introduction material. However, your tone at the beginning may be influenced by these feelings.

Sometimes we rush to tell a story before understanding why we were drawn to tell it. A perfect answer is not necessary. You may find the answer being “I don’t know” but that would at least proved that you asked yourself the question.

As you gain life experiences, an introduction you used in the past may not be how you feel about the story now. Feel free to change stories as you change.

The current events may convince you to take another route with the introduction. In fact, reminding the audience that you are aware of what they are aware . . .could that be another approach to “mindset”?

Strengthen Lead-ins Without Revealing Plot

I have always appreciated learning trivia before someone tells a story. Perhaps that is why I sometimes love to reveal important symbolism before a tale is told.

If the symbol is not a key part of the plot, however, then it may be better suited for commentary and not an introduction. Though, if it gives away how the plot may resolve, then you may want to rethink your need to share that bit of information.

The title itself could give away the ending. If so, then you either may want to change the title to something less revealing or save to share it at the end as a kind of “by the way” after the applause.

Whenever I tell the Iraqi folktale “The Sparrow and His Wife”, I begin by sharing some facts about the Evil Eye. There is an action done at the end of the story that becomes more meaningful if the audience knows this ahead of time. Could the story be fine without the introduction? Yes. But I have already determined my favorite part of the story and would like the Evil Eye explanation at the start so to magnify the possible reactions from the audience at the end.

So the next time you are ready to tell a story, consider the first words that will come out of your mouth.

Your audience—and story—will appreciate it.

Until we tell again,

Rachel Hedman

Professional Storyteller

Tel: (801) 870-5799
Email: info@rachelhedman.com

URL: http://www.rachelhedman.com/

How-To Blog: http://storytellingadventures.blogspot.com/

Family Famine Series Site: http://www.familyfamine.com/

Year of the Family Book: http://www.yearofthefamily.com
Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/rachelfans
Other places to find me: Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, Professional Storyteller

Are You Hunter or Gatherer? Common Ways Storytellers "Live Off" the Art

2010-03-15T10:48:00.000-07:00

Ever since learning about the Ice Age during elementary school years, I delighted in creating dioramas to imagine how people survived once the snow melted.

It was as if we had our mini versions of the museum’s mannequins dressed in buckskin clothes or furs while building a fire, sharpening a spear, or gathering seeds to plant for later.

No matter what culture or country, there has been a history of hunters and gatherers. One way of gaining nutrients is not better than another way. They simply are different.

Naturally, these two ways reflect how storytellers “live off” the art.

Are you a hunter? Are you a gatherer? Are you a mix of both?

Before reading the following statements, consider your experience in the art. Are you new? Are you a veteran of over one or more decades in the art? Ponder on how this experience may affect your answers.

Our hunter and gatherer tendencies may change depending on our stage in the art.

Part 1—

On a piece of paper, write the label “Hunter” and then list numbers 1-7 per line. For each of the seven statements, choose any of the following: Strongly Disagree, Disagree, Neutral, Agree, or Strongly Agree.

1. I enjoy the simplicity of working alone and dwelling in my thoughts.

2. I am frustrated by the conflicting artistic advice from friends and colleagues.

3. I am uncomfortable when a certain number of professional storytellers live in my area.

4. The more I am around other storytellers and artists, then the more distracted I am in regards to my own goals in the art.

5. Clubs, guilds, and organizations add little or no value to what I already know about the art.

6. If I was the only professional storyteller alive, I would still feel motivated to progress in my art.

7. Organizations come and go, but the art is forever.

Now give the following point value for any answers for the above seven statements.

Add your points together.

Total possible = 35 points.

If you have 25-35 points, then you have strong Hunter tendencies.

As Hunter:

You seek out and hunt opportunities and independence. You get your “meat” or performances by the direct actions you take rather than relying on other people or organizations to help make those connections. You improve in the art most when alone and in a calm environment. Although you may interact with other artists, it is more to forward your goals than to progress the vision or mission of others.

Part 2—

On a piece of paper, write the label “Gatherer” and then list numbers 1-7 per line. For each of the seven statements, choose any of the following: Strongly Disagree, Disagree, Neutral, Agree, or Strongly Agree.

1. I am quick to join one or more social networking sites involving storytelling. (Examples: Professional Storyteller social networking site, Facebook, Twitter, etc.)

2. I attend storytelling guilds, gatherings, or other social events on a regular basis.

3. I am willing to rearrange my schedule to attend storytelling social events.

4. I refer often to what I have learned at storytelling conferences or gatherings while talking with others.

5. I am anxious to list or share how the art has been strong in the area to fellow artists, neighbors, or acquaintances.

6. My storytelling activity would decrease if certain storytelling groups or events dissolved.

7. A brainstorm session, whether with strangers or colleagues, would be more valuable than a solo brainstorm session.

Now give the following point value for any answers for the above seven statements.

Add your points together.

Total possible = 35 points.

If you have 25-35 points, then you have strong Gatherer tendencies.

As Gatherer:

You gather information and people connections. You harvest so much sustenance that sometimes the “food” goes into storage until you are ready to intake the message(s) or to build upon the relationship(s) formed. You feel an added energy whenever you are around people—whether colleagues or strangers. You improve in the art most when others are there for you as sounding boards, mentors, or as friends. Although you relish in interacting with others, you sometimes feel an overload. The knowledge you meant to apply might be forgotten and the people you meant to keep in contact are lost.

What If You Are Hunter And Gatherer?—

Take the strengths of the Hunter and the Gatherer and create a balance that will keep you fed through any of the “starving artist” times as well as through the plentiful seasons. Be willing to adapt to use the skills that would be most useful during the current economic times.

There are moments when you need to go off into the “forest” to realize and achieve dreams. Though, whenever going alone, you may want to tell one or more people of your intentions so you have a caring support system in case you get lost.

Even the mighty hunter is not meant to be alone. And the gatherer could always use those quiet moments to put everything into perspective.

So go forth and enjoy your catch or harvest! You deserve it.

In case you were curious, I had 21 points as Hunter and 31 points as Gatherer. Feel free to share your results as a comment to this post.

Until we tell again,

Rachel Hedman

Professional Storyteller

Tel: (801) 870-5799
Email: info@rachelhedman.com

URL: http://www.rachelhedman.com/

How-To Blog: http://storytellingadventures.blogspot.com/

Family Famine Series Site: http://www.familyfamine.com/

Year of the Family Book: http://www.yearofthefamily.com
Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/rachelfans
Other places to find me: Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, Professional Storyteller

The Call to Lead: 3 Pros & Cons for Tellers to be Event Organizers

2010-03-01T19:50:00.000-08:00

When a storyteller graces the stage long enough, it seems only a matter of time when that same storyteller wishes to create other stages for the art.

Opportunities emerge and another festival or event is born.

The dedication and desire to answer the call to lead is commendable.

If storytellers are aware of the advantages and disadvantages of pursuing these ventures, then the strengths could be heightened and the weaknesses reduced or eliminated.

Pros:

1. Awareness of Storyteller Needs for Event

Not everyone understands the storyteller. Some of the basic room set-up and sound check needs are misunderstood or unknown. Nevertheless, our demands usually do not require as much sound equipment or staging as other performing artists.

Before teaching a storytelling workshop, I was able to view the room. I then forwarded to the building coordinator a visual map of how to place the chairs and the kind of microphone that would work best. Rather than having to fix or rearrange chairs in a semi-circle fashion the same day as the session, the presenters had more time to welcome and mingle with attendees so to create a friendlier atmosphere. A teller-turned-producer could educate others and prevent a nightmare such as audience members being on two sides of the teller instead of one side or even a crazy circumstance of an audience completely encircling the teller.

2. Leader on Stage Translates to Leader of Project

The fact that someone has a microphone does not automatically make that person a leader. Yet, the willingness for people to listen is a sign of leadership. A storyteller has the advantage of people wanting to hear what the teller would say. While planning and organizing events, the storyteller could use this confidence to relate ideas with the committee or board.

3. Creative Solutions and Ideas Come Naturally

A storyteller seeks to find a unique way to tell a tale. The same tactics to explore a story could be used as brainstorming tools to think beyond the typical board member. The idea of “play” will excite the others on the committee so that other wonderful and grand ideas surface.

Cons:

1. Torn of When to be Teller vs. Leader

Most people choose to act one role or another. When both roles of teller and leader are attempted, then delegation becomes tricky.

During one festival, a contracted storytellers had an emergency--as sometimes happens--and a last-minute replacement had to be found. With only a day notice, it seemed best for me, the chair, to take that spot since I had a repertoire large enough to change dependent on the audience. Some stories came to mind, but were quickly changed when mostly 1st graders entered the room rather than the expected 4th graders. Meanwhile, since I was telling, I could not be at the storyteller check-in table. One of my committee members had to stay longer at the table than what was intended. Nevertheless, the decision had to be made so the festival could continue to flow without the audience being aware of the desperate change.

2. Less Time on Stage

As consequence of having more duties, a producer may not have a chance to tell stories at the event . . .unless the event is meant to completely spotlight the producer as found with fringe or solo performances. Otherwise, if there are other tellers involved as with a festival, a conflict of interest may develop if the producer is given too much time with the microphone.

3. Focus on Art Distracts from Executive Decisions

An artist tends to think more in idealistic terms than the realistic. The vision may be clear, but then the ability to pursue the dreams may be problematic when faced with budgetary or volunteer restrictions.

So if the call to create or organize event comes to your storyteller mind, embrace it. Build that story for the event that creates your vision of a “happily ever after”.

Until we tell again,

Rachel Hedman

Professional Storyteller

Tel: (801) 870-5799
Email: info@rachelhedman.com

URL: http://www.rachelhedman.com/

How-To Blog: http://storytellingadventures.blogspot.com/

Family Famine Series Site: http://www.familyfamine.com/

Year of the Family Book: http://www.yearofthefamily.com
Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/rachelfans
Other places to find me: Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, Professional Storyteller

Storyteller Spirit: 3 Signs When You Have It. . . And When You Don’t

2010-02-15T15:54:00.000-08:00

Storytellers are cheerleaders of the stories they tell.

You can feel the difference of a cheerleader who shouts out to the audience with more than 100% effort versus the cheerleader who barely moves the pom-poms with a barely heard “rah”.

Yet, the quiet cheerleader who does not have the heart into the cheers could still perfectly execute the words and the timing. All that would make the change would be an extra “umph!” or snap to cause the crowd to stand and cheer or even start the wave.

As storytellers, we may not expect the audience to give standing ovations; though there is a wish we share that something about the program would move the audience.

True, the audience takes from the program what they wish to take from it, but the thought that a story could inspire action or a new way of thinking often motivates storytellers to keep gracing that stage.

Some Signs Of When You Have It:

Satisfaction After Telling Story
Happy Buzz Sounds From Audience
Audience Members Approach You And Sometimes Share Stories

Satisfaction After Telling Story

National storyteller Bill Harley coined the term “sense presence”. He said that “sense presence” was when the right teller tells the right story with the right audience. There is a feeling of “ahhh”. Harley mentioned that this feeling does not happen every time that one tells, though it is the endeavor for each performance. We may have levels of satisfaction and a performance does not have to be perfect to feel good about it.

Happy Buzz Sounds From Audience

The last story’s mood could determine the “buzz” besides the storyteller spirit. A session rarely ends on a grim or hopeless state. Though, the passion radiating from the teller could be contagious and spread as people rise from their seats to return home. Enjoy the sounds and add to your celebration.

Audience Members Approach You And Sometimes Share Stories

I told stories for a family audience at an elementary school. There was a ten-year-old boy on the front row who usually looked down at his hands while I was telling. Though I made sure to share my energy with the rest of the audience, this boy intrigued me. I made an increased effort to send more positive vibes his way. I wondered if the storytelling had any affect on him. Then, while mingling with the audience as they left for the night, this same boy bounded to me and shared story after story of turtle stories. I told him that he had quite the repertoire and I expected to see him on stage one day.

Some Signs Of When You Don’t:

Monotone
Little Or No Facial Expressions
Attitude of Indifference Or Grumpiness

Monotone

The flatness of voice could occur when the teller is tired in one way or another. It could be a physical tiredness with possible connections to stress levels at the moment. A teller takes whoever they are on stage—the worries, the sadness, and the anger. When life is more balanced, then the positive emotions emerge. Suddenly, the storyteller spirit is recaptured. Keep in mind that a teller may be tired of the story itself. It may be a story forced upon them by a friend, parent, or even themselves so that it fit the theme in a certain way.

Little Or No Facial Expressions

Gestures with hands may be in use, though sometimes the gestures do not match what is happening with the face. An activity to equal facial expressions with gestures would be to place your hands behind your back while telling the same story. Have a friend watch your face to look for improvement. Otherwise, a video camera could work.

Attitude Of Indifference Or Grumpiness

Having the storyteller spirit does not have to mean that you are constantly smiling. However, it is expected that there is a certain positive intensity that can be felt by the audience members. If the feelings exuded are of a neutral or negative nature, then no matter the strength of the story, the audience will walk away wondering what happened. They may not have a name for what was lacking. The teller has then transferred their attitude to the audience. So think positive and send a feeling home with the audience that will be worth to cherish.

Here is a “Rah! Rah! Rah!” to you that you will always have the energy that you wish others to have as they hear your tales.

Until we tell again,

Rachel Hedman

Professional Storyteller

Tel: (801) 870-5799
Email: info@rachelhedman.com

URL: http://www.rachelhedman.com/

How-To Blog: http://storytellingadventures.blogspot.com/

Family Famine Series Site: http://www.familyfamine.com/

Year of the Family Book: http://www.yearofthefamily.com
Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/rachelfans
Other places to find me: Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, Professional Storyteller

Lost! 3 Ways to Regain the Love and Skill of Storytelling

2010-02-01T10:48:00.000-08:00

At one time or another we have lost something.

That moment when we discover something might be gone--whether for a short time or even forever--could cause the most cheerful and calm person to pull hairs, shed tears, and fly into a rage.

These emotions are natural, though what we do next determines whether something is truly lost. There is the hope of regaining and expanding what we originally had.

For other times, the loss of one thing creates room for another.

Such is the case with storytelling.

There are things we can afford to lose. We can gladly say goodbye to:
1. Fear
2. Anger
3. Mediocrity

Yet sometimes, as storytellers, we hang onto the negative and do not move on so to replace the feelings with confidence, patience, and love.

Fear--"Could I ever be good enough? Am I a sham?"
We are always more critical of ourselves than others are of us. Part of human nature is the desire to do our best and to fulfill our potential. When given that moment to shine, as storytellers do on stage, there is the ever need to question ourselves. We look at the audience and attempt to analyze their facial expressions and body language to determine how best to proceed with the story. When our confidence wavers, it may emerge as stuttering or stumbling of words. Sweat may bead from our heads. The whole story may be wiped clean from memory like an erased flash drive.

Way to Regain Love and Skill of Storytelling:

Before walking on stage, remember what drew you to the story you are about to tell. Then think about the reasons why this particular audience will love this story. The audience wants you to do your best and would prefer to give a standing ovation than to boo. . .unless you are at a story slam. Then the boos are more like compliments! What to do for those times when the memory lapses? Realize that you are the storyteller and that the audience is not aware of what will come next in the story.

Anger--"I am mad at the world. . .and the world will know it!"
We might question why certain things happen to us. This innocent curiosity could suddenly dwell on our minds until it transform into anger. Some storytellers use the stage as a way to inflict such negativity to the audience. Suddenly the audience is attending and listening to an intense therapy session, and storytelling is no longer the art form on stage.

Way to Regain Love and Skill of Storytelling:
If you recognize this sensation as you tell, then take some deep breaths and use those times as "dramatic pauses". The audience would rather that you develop some control over the situation rather than plowing through whatever is left of the story to tell. The whole story itself may be one of anger, and you might need to let the audience know that the story will be changed to better suit the intentions of the event.

Mediocrity--"Everyone is a storyteller. . .so why bother?"

Who has not heard the phrase "everyone is a storyteller"? When it is heard often enough, people may not take the times to outline, explore, or practice their stories. If it is a skill that anyone can do, then why bother improving it?

Way to Regain Love and Skill of Storytelling:

Despite storytelling being an art form that has always existed, think about other art forms. Everyone can sing, though does that guarantee them a spot on American Idol as a singer? Now think about theatre. You might have had the role as one of the three little pigs in Kindergarten, though do you assume that you could compete with consummate actors like Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep? You could. . .if you practiced. For extra motivation to improve your craft, think of your role models in the art. What do you think they do each day in preparation? Transform these thoughts into action. Get a story buddy or coach that you could work with in-person, by telephone, or through the Internet.

The great ones always find a way. So go forth and "be found".

Until we tell again,

Rachel Hedman

Professional Storyteller

Tel: (801) 870-5799
Email: info@rachelhedman.com

URL: http://www.rachelhedman.com/

How-To Blog: http://storytellingadventures.blogspot.com/

Family Famine Series Site: http://www.familyfamine.com/

Year of the Family Book: http://www.yearofthefamily.com
Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/rachelfans
Other places to find me: Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, Professional Storyteller

5 Ways How Adopting a Story is like Adopting a Child

2010-01-15T07:19:00.000-08:00

To be released November 1, 2010, National Adoption Month, will be a book called “Year of the Family: 12 Adoption tales to place in your home and to value the process today”. Pre-orders and updates are at www.yearofthefamily.com. All proceeds go to our adoption fund.

My husband and I have always wanted children. I have wished to peak at the Lord’s planner to find out when we would have kids as we have been married over eight years. We are one of many couples in the world who wish to grow their family. Then came the beautiful word of “adoption”.

We knew that whether we were blessed with children biologically or not, part of our family would come through adoption. Things would work out.

Since I am a professional storyteller, I tend to think about stories and how they relate to all aspects of life. While my husband and I began the adoption process, I contemplated how similar the steps were in finding and developing stories.

Here is the Adoption Process of a Story:

Decide to adopt a story in the first place
Determine what your heart may be open to receive in a story
Figure out your story agents in the process
Be patient and expect changes along the way
Love the new story as one of the family

Decide to adopt a story in the first place

Sometimes it seems life would be easier to stick to the stories already in your repertoire. There is so much research, refinements, and rehearsals to each tale that it could feel like you truly went through labor to deliver and give birth to the story.

Yet, something inside the storyteller’s heart urges us to have another story and another story and another story. The search for the story that would fit within your style could be an exhausting . . .yet satisfying journey. When you decide to take the first step for a new story, then you are one step closer to performing it.

Determine what your heart may be open to receive in a story

There are so many genres and kinds of stories. Are you interested in telling stories that heal the soul? Challenge the social norms? Stretch and exaggerate the truth? Explain how certain landmarks or traditions came to be? Interact with the audience through improvisation? Relate a personal or family experience to cherish a moment? The list could go on.

Likewise in the actual adoption process, there are lists that a couple marks known as a matching sheet. Preferences such as desired age of the child, racial background, and medical conditions could be pages in length.

As storytellers, we may feel open to experience each kind of story at least once. Perhaps we find our niche or specialty and pursue one or two kinds.

Figure out your story agents in the process

I meet with three different “story agents” normally known as my “story buddies” every week. We divide the time equally so that full attention could be given to our most recent projects.

An adoptive couple may decide to connect with one or more agencies. We have chosen to work with one. We keep in contact with the caseworker appointed to us. With more agencies involved, then the process may quicken. There is also the balance of time and money.

The number of “story agents” a storyteller has may also be determined by time and money. Friends may give of their time for free, though there are storytellers who specialize in coaching and could charge a fee.

Be patient and expect changes along the way

A story may not come to together as fast you dreamed. The creativity could be flowing and then suddenly stop. Months or years may pass before any development actually happens with it.

As for the paperwork involved with adoption, once completed there may be an average of six months to a year because placement with a child in the home. Some potential adoption couples have waited for five or more years.

Love the new story as one of the family

The story will develop and arrive on that stage . . .after the proper time creating outlines, storyboards, imagery explorations, or whatever ways you use to piece a story together. Celebrate this success by premiering the tale with family, friends, or community. Take pictures. Record the experience. Do all you can to relish in the moment.

The story may be new, though you could love it as much as any other story in your repertoire. Mix it with your other tales. Watch as the story grows. Congratulations. The story is part of your family.

The same can be said the moment that a child is placed in the arms of an adoptive parent. Some wonder if one could truly love someone who is not biologically connected to them, and yet this love happens every day. The child will sense your care for them and emulate the feeling.

So. . .are you ready to start the story adoption process?

There are many tales waiting for a teller like you.

Until we tell again,

Rachel Hedman

Professional Storyteller

Tel: (801) 870-5799
Email: info@rachelhedman.com

URL: http://www.rachelhedman.com/

How-To Blog: http://storytellingadventures.blogspot.com/

Family Famine Series Site: http://www.familyfamine.com/

Year of the Family Book: http://www.yearofthefamily.com
Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/rachelfans
Other places to find me: Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, Professional Storyteller

Future Success: 3 Key Ways to Tell the Story of Your Goals

2010-01-01T00:20:00.000-08:00

K. Sean Buvala, storytelling marketing guru and director of Storyteller.net, inspired this blog post by coaching me to pretend it was December 31st of the new year and what I wanted to accomplish. With his permission, I expanded upon this exercise on ways to share goals like stories. If you would also like to be coached by Sean, then email him at sean@storyteller.net.

Lists, lists, and more lists. Such a thought could cause one to moan and groan when every year the goals must be figured out. Fortunately, there is a more empowering and effective way to enjoy this recurring process: tell goals as stories.

Consider the outlines that a teller may use to learn and develop a tale. When it comes time to perform, the outline is set aside so that the moment can be shared by the teller and the audience.

As for goals, the audience most important to please would be you.

Three Key Ways to Transform Goals into Stories:

Characters
Settings
Moving the Plot Forward

Goal Characters

You
Yes, you are the hero in your story. When December 31st comes of the current year, be prepared to share an epic journey. You will have the expected trials. Folktales tend to have at least three, though do not dismay if you face more than that number. For remember, the hero conquers them in the end.

Family and Friends
Any hero in a story needs the mentors and the helpers. Family and friends are the perfect ones to fulfill these roles. Sometimes family and friends are similar to the cheering villagers found in fairy tales. Others get more involved and might be in contact on a daily, weekly, monthly, or quarterly basis. It could compare to the walk along the path to visit the wise old woman or man for advice.

Business Associates

At times, the hero needs to have accommodations or supplies to make it past the dragon, monster, or other obstacle. Consider the business people who have the skills needed to help you accomplish your goals. You could go a step further and include key individuals into your business plan complete with contact information.

Goal Settings

Home
The hero tends to leave home in search of another home. Yet, we live in an age when home offices are common. Furniture or routines may need to be adjusted to create “another home” that is more conducive to a productive environment . . .and especially as it relates to your goals.

Potential Performance Areas
You are a storyteller. Obviously there will be places in which you will be before an audience. Part of your goals might entail have so many new venues. Perhaps you want at least a certain percentage of places you have told at in the past. Whatever your endeavors, you could close your eyes and imagine perfect performances at these places. Although the likelihood of everything—or anything—being perfect, envisioning such a dream could boost your energy and motivation so you may have many “practically perfect” moments.

Businesses

Storytellers need to collaborate and work alongside businesses from print shops to recording studios to advertising offices. If you have ongoing relationships with people, then it will be easier to picture the places where they do that fantastic work for you. These people and businesses are every part of the setting of your goals. You may want to imagine atmospheres of creativity, understanding, and of clear communication.

Moving the Plot Forward for Your Goals

Breaking Big Goals into Smaller Goals
Stories have scenes. Each moment builds upon each other to the grand goal. Though, if you only saw the “grand goal”, then that would only be a one-sentence story. These short stories may be nice to share at a party, but then they are forgotten the next morning.

Placing Smaller Goals on Calendar
Storytellers are faced with choices in every part of the process. There are endless possibilities. This could become overwhelming unless put on a visual map—also known as the calendar. Color-coding works for quick recognition on the calendar, especially as you most likely want to accomplish more than goal over the course of the year.

Add Details for Flavor
If your goals still feel like an outline of ideas rather than a story, then add details that would excite you beyond the basics. Do you have an outfit planned for that premiere of yours? Who will be at some of your performances? What does your face look like when the package of new CDs is delivered to the door? This is your success story so you have the right to make-up details—realistic or not. You may be surprised what comes to pass.

Keep in mind to share your story in the past tense—as if it already occurred. This act solidifies the glorious image in your head.

Are you ready to tell your future success story now?

Go ahead.

Have your happily ever after.

Until we tell again,

Rachel Hedman

Professional Storyteller

Tel: (801) 870-5799
Email: info@rachelhedman.com

URL: http://www.rachelhedman.com/

How-To Blog: http://storytellingadventures.blogspot.com/

Performance Blog: http://familyfamine.blogspot.com/
Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/rachelfans
Other places to find me: Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, Professional Storyteller

The Story Police: 3 Ways We Arrest Our Progress in the Art

2009-12-15T12:07:00.000-08:00

Laurie Allen, professional storyteller and music teacher, mentioned the term "Story Police" during a Utah Storytelling Guild meeting. With her permission, I have taken that phrase as well as three common sayings either said aloud or in our minds.

A five-year-old boy playfully grabbed another five-year-old boy and exclaimed, "I'm a police officer and you're under arrest!"

I smiled, but wondered about this response. Seeing the reaction from me and the three other kids in the room, the boy repeated, "You're under arrest! You're under arrest! You're under arrest!"

My smile changed to worry. Since I am married to a man who works for a police department, I did not want the boy to think that taking people to prison was the only duty of a police officer.

Despite all the help that police give--from finding parents of a lost child to "How to Change a Flat Tire 101"--sometimes we first think of the negative.

That could also happen when you hear the term "Story Police".

The following sayings may sound familiar. . .though there are also positive counterparts:

Negative: You can't do it that way. That is not storytelling.
Positive: Storytelling is an art of exploration.

The definition of storytelling is as easy to define as cookies. People have a vague idea of what to expect, though there are certain people are definitely know what it is not. An official answer has never been posted by any of the main storytelling organizations, perhaps for fear of being labeled as "Story Police" or offending friends in the art.

This does not prevent people from thinking--or spouting--their opinions.

Our lives are inundated with story. It is only natural that people would have many ways to express what they mean by the art.

Negative: No one would be interested.
Positive: Somewhere there are people willing to listen. Let us find them.

Though we are unique individuals, we also share universal experiences. Then, there are cultures and sub-cultures within our world who think in one way or another. Based on statistics, there must be others who would enjoy or embrace your storytelling program or idea somewhere. Of course, there is always the chance to come upon something so specific, it is not financially sound to pursue the idea as a professional storyteller.

We need to balance the potential audience members to the compensation expected. Otherwise, it may be another reason we have kids and grandkids. . .guaranteed audience!

Negative: Why did you think of something that dumb? That will not work.
Positive: Stories evolve and so do my ideas.

Sometimes we wish we could look into the future and discover if our ideas would work before we work on them.

So far, a time machine has yet to be invented.

Meanwhile, we must approach ideas through the trial and error method. A person could have hundreds--even thousands--of failed projects and ideas. I have heard people say that each failure is then one step closer to success. Yet, when that grand idea comes as a result of learning from the failures, people remember most your accomplishments.

If you ever need assurance of this fact, then attend a funeral or a wake.

The next time you hear "Story Police", consider that we do not have to put our art under arrest. Rather, we could live and tell in our neighborhoods. . .with safety and peace.

Until we tell again,

Rachel Hedman

Professional Storyteller

Tel: (801) 870-5799
Email: info@rachelhedman.com

URL: http://www.rachelhedman.com/

How-To Blog: http://storytellingadventures.blogspot.com/

Performance Blog: http://familyfamine.blogspot.com/
Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/rachelfans
Other places to find me: Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, Professional Storyteller

The Learning Listener: 3 Areas in Storytelling to Hearken

2009-12-01T13:44:00.000-08:00

The storyteller is known more for talking than for listening, though both skills are needed to truly be extraordinary in the art.

While the weekend before Thanksgiving is dedicated every year as Tellabration! (National Storytelling Network), a worldwide celebration of storytelling, the Friday after Thanksgiving is dubbed National Day of Listening (StoryCorps).

Does this mean we first tell and then we listen? Then to what do we listen?

As ever-learning artists and human beings, we need to listen to:

Self
Story
Society

***These three areas happen to be in the title of the journal "Storytelling, Self, and Society". The intention of this post is to focus on these elements and does not mean to infringe on any publication name.

Self
We need to listen to ourselves before we can expect to give proper attention to other areas. Sometimes we need to build the confidence to not only listen but to hearken to our intuitions and first impressions.

Some questions to ask ourselves--

Who am I as a Storyteller?
What kinds of stories do I love?
Where have I told stories? Where would I like to tell stories?
When have I told stories? When do I plan to tell stories?
Why do I tell stories?
How am I different from any other storyteller? How do I share stories?

Listen to these answers. Then hearken.

With the busyness of our lives, we need the silence so we can better recognize these impressions. You could consider these quiet moments similar to the dramatic pauses we add into our storytelling before audiences. The audience needs those pauses in order to "listen" to the images shared by the teller. We, as individuals, need pauses so we can "listen" to ourselves rather than the world.

Story
Many storytellers have felt the urge to tell certain stories at a certain time. A wise storyteller listens to what is needed so that the right story is told for the right people for the right time.

When the story ends, it may not be the intent to promote the "happily ever after"--if it ends happily in the first place.

It may be to ask the audience and the teller--

Now what? Where do I fit in with this story?
What action am I motivated to take as a result of this story?
How have my views changed, if at all?

Listen to these answers. Then hearken.

The storyteller has no control as to how the audience will respond to the tales. Therefore, the storyteller has responsibility to be in tune to what stories are needed in the moment--even if the reason is not apparent at the time.

Society
The most important unit of society is the family. Start here.

Discover what your family members have to impart about their views of the world. This includes the youngest to the oldest people. Each person has amazing stories to share.

StoryCorps tours the world with a special vehicle complete with a recording studio. People meet at this vehicle in pairs as one person is designated the interviewer and the other person is the interviewee--or storyteller. Being able to listen and guide the conversation are key skills needed by the interviewer.

Beyond the family, national storyteller Elizabeth Ellis reflects on the popular culture of the day through movies, music, and books.

For example, after watching a movie, she jots answers to questions like--

What themes were in this movie?
What stories, if any, are in my repertoire to match these themes?
What do I have to say about these themes? What are my views? Opinions?

Listen to these answers. Then hearken.

Rather than reflecting the trends, some storytellers created theme-based programs to promote opposite actions. Who said we have to agree with everyone? That is a different way to listen and then to hearken according to Self.

So. . .are you listening to Self, Story, and Society? Only you know the answer.

Feel free to share your comments here.

Until we tell again,

Rachel Hedman

Professional Storyteller

Tel: (801) 870-5799
Email: info@rachelhedman.com

URL: http://www.rachelhedman.com/

How-To Blog: http://storytellingadventures.blogspot.com/

Performance Blog: http://familyfamine.blogspot.com/
Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/rachelfans
Other places to find me: Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, Professional Storyteller

"Storytelling is Dead!": 3 False Readings to the Art's Vital Signs

2009-11-15T12:53:00.000-08:00

Once upon a time the art of storytelling was born. The world celebrated the birth as the human family became more unified and edified upon each tale told.

People seem unable to pinpoint storytelling's exact time of birth or that first story.

We have relished narratives without knowing all the details.

Some details have been important. . .particularly to storytelling's death.

Is the art living or shriveling?

Vital Signs Of Storytelling In Relation To:

Technology Ticker
Generational Gauge
Political Pulse

Technology Ticker
False Reading: Technology will doom Storytelling.
Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick.

To some people, the progression in technology sounds like a metronome alongside a piano to provide the steady inspiration to create something extraordinary like concertos or full-orchestra pieces. People build relationships or collaborate who--due to distances--could not otherwise meet.

Others account the ticking to a time bomb. The explosion of social networking on Facebook, Twitter, and blogging could cause casualties, but will storytelling be one of them?

In the article "Native Canadians and the End of Storytelling" written by Jerry Mander, a woman believed this was the case.

She watched as television came to her village. Less and less children had any desire to sit around the elders at night to learn of their culture. Instead, the culture came from the television. She lamented, "The generations are sitting all together now, silently watching television. And on TV it seems like being young is all that matters and that the old have nothing to say."

No matter your view, we must remember that for every trend there is also a counter-trend.

Anyone who vocalizes their opinions strengthens these trends and counter-trends.

Society will seek for ways to interact the more that people latch onto laptops, cell phones, blackberries, or whatever else is the next vessel for technology.

Storytelling is often the counter-trend to technology despite existence of digital storytelling or virtual teller sessions through programs like Second Life. In fact, storytelling is more rooted in society than ever before because of the existence of technology. As long as the human race progresses with ideas and inventions, then there will always be the ones to uphold the narrative art in its purity.

Yet, we still come upon titles of lectures as given by Douglas Rushkoff like "The End of the Story: How the net killed narrative, and what - if anything - comes next". This was presented by The Brooklyn Experimental Media Center and the Dibner Family Chair in the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology.

Rushkoff questioned, "Is the traditional story itself a relic, incapable of providing meaning over time?" He continued, "Is it our job to create stories capable of competing with the ones currently programming our society, or to abandon this arms race altogether in favor of new artistic and cognitive mechanisms. And, if so, what are they?"

Lately we have witnessed storytelling combine with other art forms so Rushkoff may be right that some of us are "in favor of new artistic and cognitive mechanisms." Though does adding different styles to storytelling constitute a death of some kind?

The essence of the art must exist in order for other styles to be added to it.

Generational Gauge
False Reading: Storytellers are dying out with no one to replace them.
Needle up. Needle down. Needle still down.

Or are we reading the gauge upside down.

While interviewed by the Reading Eagle, professional storyteller Charles "Chill" Kuhn from Coatesville, Pennsylvania said, "Yes, I do believe storytelling is a dying art." He added, "But I would like to add that we are all storytellers whether we realize it or not."

This comment was enough for the article's author, Rebecca Strauss, to dubb the headline as , "Pro says love your stories: Professional tale weaver Charles 'Chill' Kuhn laments his dying art".

Not everyone agrees with this verdict, as was apparent when Betty Smith, who has worked with the National Storytelling Network staff as well as with the International Storytelling Center, responded to this article and declared on Facebook, "Hey storytellers. . .someone needs to let this guy know that storytelling is alive and well."

Reading the regular column of "Remembered Voices" compiled by Wendy Gourley in the Storytelling Magazine may seem that we lose at least one well-loved storyteller a month. However, for every storyteller who passes on, we gain at least two more new tellers.

Whether or not these new tellers align themselves with storytelling guilds or organizations does not change the fact that they do exist.

The Weber State University Storytelling Festival, which celebrates over 70 youth tellers as part of its program, has considered expanding from a three-day event to a four-day event in order to give at least 20 more youth opportunities to tell. Such a change may happen within three years. This does not count the hundreds of youth who participate before tellers are selected.

Whole schools or school districts declare storytelling units or festivals to fulfill the demand for this art.

The generational gauge certainly has the needle up.

Political Pulse
False Reading: Storytelling Organizations have lost their influence.
Thump. Thump. Tha-thump.

Can you hear the life of storytelling organizations? We did not always have them.

In an excerpt from The Way of the Storyteller, Ruth Sawyer, the author, wished, "there might be a guild for storytellers today where masters and apprentices might work together for the upholding of their art." She died five years before the National Association for the Preservation and Perpetuation of Storytelling (NAPPS) was formed in the United States in 1975.

Sawyer was not the only one who desired organization, as Kathryn Tucker Windham, key person of the American Storytelling Movement, wanted to be the first paid member of the NAPPS. Nowadays, NAPPS is known as the National Storytelling Network (NSN).

In NSN's golden time, there were over 4,000 members. This membership has dwindled to about 2,000 members.

During a personal interview in 2000, Windham reflected, "Organizations come. Organizations go. Storytelling remains. . .I'm at a place where I'm not scared anymore about what happens if this stops or that stops or whatever."

Though every organization, whether connected to storytelling or any other industry, have their periods of growth and then times that plateau. We are in such times.

Organizations do not equal storytelling. Windham was right that the art would continue whether people promoted the name of the National Storytelling Network or any other organization. These entities exist to give structure and possibility to what we cannot accomplish as individuals.

As if to respond to the current economical instability, there are still people who wish to join in the efforts. Tim Ereneta pointed out that Europeans tend to be more adept at these unions. He shared the promise for the International Storytelling Network, also known as Red Internacional de Ceuntacuentos. You can read Ereneta's blog post on this discovery here.

So membership numbers may rise or fall, though it appears we will have many organizations and guilds for decades--if not centuries--to come.

You must ask the question: Do you believe storytelling is "alive and well"?

You know my answer.

Until we tell again,

Rachel Hedman

Professional Storyteller

Tel: (801) 870-5799
Email: info@rachelhedman.com

URL: http://www.rachelhedman.com/

How-To Blog: http://storytellingadventures.blogspot.com/

Performance Blog: http://familyfamine.blogspot.com/
Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/rachelfans
Other places to find me: Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, Professional Storyteller

3 Reasons Why Improvisation is Crucial to Youth Today

2009-11-01T05:43:00.000-08:00

Think of the perfect words to say in a few seconds.

Then say them.

Such are skills that storytellers cherish and that youth could benefit from if trained from the beginning.

Reasons to Build Improvisation Skills in Youth:

Balance Recitation in Life
Increase Independent Thinking
Develop Quick Solutions

Balance Recitation in Life
Youth have been told what to say since babies. "Mommy" and "Daddy" are common requests from parents for the baby's first words.

Siblings may join in this contest of words.

When my parents gave me a tape recorder for Christmas, I pretended to be a reporter. I had certain phrases I wanted my younger brother and sister to say.

In schools, kids are expected to memorize, recite, or repeat what the teacher says or what the textbook proclaims. Sometimes this encouragement is needed to build vocabulary. However, at a certain point, we need youth to explore their world and play with sound and images.

Some teachers boost creativity in their classrooms by encouraging students to write historical fictions. Other teachers merge storytelling games with curriculum. Usually the games work best as a review of material so that the students could adapt their improvisations to the knowledge learned.

Increase Independent Thinking
Kids cannot vote in elections until the age of 18. That is a while to wait before their voices are officially counted.

In the meantime, they rely on the decisions of adults to shape most of their political, economical, and social lives. . .unless they build confidence through improvisational skills.

Improvisation is another way to give youth permission to think outside the norm. Risks and mistakes are part of the practice. Adrenalin rises and the heart pounds, but these natural reactions seem to also fire the synapses in the brain. The more we test our wits, then the easier and faster our brains work.

Story repertoire could be as much as a source for building improvisational skills than storytelling games.

The youth could make a list of stories they could tell with ease. Then they could make a list of stories that could be told after one or two run-throughs. While reflecting on the keywords, moods, and moments within the stories, the youth may be inspired to tell one story over another given the situation.

Perhaps they may create stories simply by looking into the eyes of their listeners.

Now that is independent thought.

That would be a gift that youth could take with them and use while giving presentations in college, answering interview questions of potential employers, or addressing needs of their own families as they have children of their own.

Develop Quick Solutions
Youth seem to fly through their baby, toddler, adolescent, and teenage years until suddenly they are going to college.

Every second that youth save in making right choices--whether saying no to drugs, cheering a friend to do their best, or handling bullies--improvisation skills provide resolution to their lives such as through role-playing techniques.

The lack of role-play or exploration of possibilities leads to resistance.

While attending an excellent workshop taught by national teller Angela Lloyd for teachers and parents who coach youth tellers, two youth tellers were asked to be coached in front of everybody.

As Lloyd promoted the tellers to share the prepared stories in words other than what was memorized, one youth repeated the same words. Lloyd was patient and asked the question in different ways so that the youth learned other ways to approach the story.

Sometimes, if shy, youth may be more willing to play with the story when done with a partner. Then the youth would have support in the process and could bounce off pretend dialogue with the other person for the story.

Who said that quick thinkers needed to be alone to produce the solutions?

When other youth are not available, then at least the youth could count on you.

Go out there. Cheer on the youth. Enjoy storytelling games. Build stories in the moment. Role-play.

You know you want to play. So do the youth.

Until we tell again,

Rachel Hedman

Professional Storyteller

Tel: (801) 870-5799
Email: info@rachelhedman.com

URL: http://www.rachelhedman.com/

How-To Blog: http://storytellingadventures.blogspot.com/

Performance Blog: http://familyfamine.blogspot.com/
Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/rachelfans
Other places to find me: Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, Professional Storyteller

5 Spooky Family Relationships in Folklore & How to Avoid Them Today

2009-10-15T14:54:00.000-07:00

Families are usually the people who care about you no matter what happens.

Then there are exceptions we see reflected in folklore:
1. Cannibalism
2. Abuse
3. Abandonment
4. Neglect
5. Infidelity

Cannibalism
When one wakes in the morning, one does not usually think, "I better be careful or I may be eaten by my father today."

Yet, there was a little girl who had that fate. Sometimes the fate falls on a little boy.

The guilt rests upon the one who kills and prepares the child for the family meal. Rarely do the other family members know the meal's true source until later.

Folktales to Consider:
Applie and Orangie, from Scotland
When the mother dies, the father cares for the girls Applie and Orangie. Then, he remarries. The stepmother kills Applie and turns her into stew that the father eats unknowingly. Orangie takes the bones from the stew and buries them. The bones transform into a pigeon. The bird flies to a shopkeeper, a jeweler, and an ironmonger. The bird sings, "My mammy killed me. My daddy ate me." The people are enchanted and the bird gains a doll, a watch, and an ax respectively. Finally, the bird sings down the chimney and drops the doll for the sister. The second time the bird drops the watch for the father. The stepmother is anxious to receive her gift, and the bird drops the ax down the chimney.

The Juniper Tree, from Germany
A boy is killed and fed to the father when the stepmother desires the whole fortune to go to her daughter. The daughter knows about the evil deed, though she loves the boy and wraps the bones. The bones turn into a bird who perches in the juniper tree and sings, "My mother, she butchered me. My father, he ate me." A goldsmith, a cobbler, and a miller provide a gold chain, a pair of red shoes, and a millstone to hear the bird sing the dismal song. The family hears the bird, and the father goes outside by the tree to see. He is given the golden chain. The girl then goes to the tree and is given the red pair of shoes. The stepmother goes to the tree and is squashed by the millstone. The bird transforms back into the boy.

The Cannibal Wife, from Southern Polynesia
A mother is not allowed to be alone after giving birth. If left alone for the first year, she would turn into a witch and eat her children as well as everyone else in the village. A certain mother gives birth. Almost a year has gone by when there are plans for the babe's first birthday. The father needs more meat for the celebration, and he takes their son along for the hunt. Then, since the mother is left alone, she turns into a witch and eats everyone in the village. When the father and son return, she attempts to trick the father by having him walk in front of her to check on the fish so she could surprise attack and eat him and the boy. The father gives an excuse that he must relieve himself, runs into the woods, and makes noisy toys in the woods so she would think he was still relieving himself. He leaves the island, and to this day the woman waits for him.
***Also see Houmea, Uta's wife, from Maori culture.

Ways to Avoid Cannibalism--
Do not accidentally sprinkle salt on any family members.
Stay far enough away from the campfire so you do not roast your bottom.
Say several times aloud, "People do not taste like chicken."

Real Way to Avoid Cannibalism--Believe in Higher Being

People tend to avoid such an act when they acknowledge the existence of One who could bestow justice. No matter your religious views, the consequences of killing are undeniable and fiercely punishable.

Abuse
There are many forms of abuse from physical to sexual to verbal. A few families have more than one abuse in the home.

Often folktales highlight one kind of abuse, though sometimes all three are found.

Folktales to Consider:
The Falcon's Daughter, from Egypt
A man eats a pomegranate that grants pregnancy. He bears and abandons a baby girl. A falcon raises the child. A Sultan's son falls in love with the girl, but she must be tricked down from the tree. An old woman pretends not to know how to slaughter a sheep so the girl comes down from the tree to help. The boy sweeps her up and marries her. One day the boy asks his mother to watch his wife while in the village Hejaz. When the girl asks for bread, the mother cuts off her arm, then foot, etc. until the girl is thrown out. She receives a wish to return to her normal self and have a fruit tree. Meanwhile, the mother pretends to be the wife and sleeps with her son and becomes pregnant. The mother has cravings for grapes. Two servants go to the girl's fruit tree and hear a strange song of what happened to the girl. The boy learns the truth. The mother is killed.

The Little Match Girl, by Hans Christian Andersen
The girl fears what her father will do to her when she returns home without any money from selling matches.

Noodlehead Stories, from around the world
In these tales, often the mother repeats a phrase like "Ain't got the sense you were born with" when her child performs a foolish act. The frequency seems to create a self-fulfilling prophecy that this would be the child's unavoidable fate. This could be considered a form of verbal abuse.

Way to Avoid Abuse--Support Positive Discipline

Sometimes family members resort to abuse for they feel compelled to stop misbehavior or certain actions. This does not mean that the victim is in the wrong, but only that the offender craves some level of power.

Abuse often leads to the seeking of revenge by the victim. At other times, there permeates the feelings of worthlessness. These mind-sets could be appeased by using respectful methods such as avoiding "I told you so" statements as well as encouraging people to explore mistakes through thoughtful questions. As a result, the people could reflect on their actions rather than listening to someone tell them what is wrong all the time.

Abandonment
Perhaps you have heard the phrase "babes in the woods". During times of war, some European parents would abandon their children in the woods because they could not take care of their temporal needs.

Folklore then reflected this reality.

Sometimes the abandonment occurred when parents lost faith in the ability for their child to survive. Though a child may live and then harbor ill will towards the one who abandoned them--or allowed them to be abandoned--a parent was blessed indeed if the child forgave them.

Folktales to Consider:
The Powerful Boy, from Seneca people
A baby is born no bigger than a palm. The father thinks it will die and abandons it. The father's five-year-old son finds the baby, feeds it, and they become friends. The father learns of the baby's strength and survival and is reunited. The father tells his sons not to go north, but they do. The powerful boy kills all the frogs since he thought they threatened his father. The father tells his two sons not to go north again because of Stone Coat, a giant. The boy goes alone, tricks Stone Coat, and kills him. The father tells the boy not to go southwest because it is gambling country. The boy wins the bet against the buffalo-size-head man and frees the people. The boy goes east, wins a game against two clans, and receives land. The father and two sons move there.

Hansel and Gretel, from Germany
The mother fears their poverty, and convinces the father to abandon their boy and girl in the woods. The children overhear, prepare, and return home. The children are abandoned a second time, and despite their attempts to find home, they find a gingerbread house. After escape from the witch who lived there, they return to their home. As the mother died in their absence, the father welcomes the children home, never to be abandoned again.

Forsaken Brother, from Ojibwa people
A sister and brother promise their dying father to always watch over and provide care for a sickly brother. The older brother leaves first, and the sister endures longer until the loneliness overcomes her soul. The sickly brother must fend for himself. He is befriended by wolves and transforms into one. When the sister learns of the change, she mourns to the end of her days.

Way to Avoid Abandonment--Practice Smart Finances

Nowadays, people have accrued major credit card debt and have spent more money than they earn at one time. Interest never sleeps, and the debt continues to grow.

Avoid credit card use whenever possible and attempt to have a zero balance. Review the family budget periodically and decide together on ways to save money. Build stronger bonds with each other by doing wholesome recreational activities that cost little money or are free.

Neglect
Addictions often cause neglect of family members, and these addictions could include anything that keeps one away from fulfilling responsibilities. Though one usually thinks of drugs, alcohol, and pornography first, slothfulness or constant Internet usage could be as deadly to family relationships.

Folktales to Consider:
Misery, from Russia
A poor brother asks for food from his rich brother. The rich one invites the poor one and wife to a feast, yet the rich one gives no food to them. Although hungry and thirsty, the poor one sings as though fed and drunk like the other guests. Misery hears the song and invites the poor one to the pub and convinces the brother to sell a sheepskin to pay for the drinks. Then the brother drinks himself out of his sledge, cart, harrow, plow, hut, and even his wife's dress until nothing is left. Misery tells the brother to borrow a neighbor's cart and oxen for more money to continue drinking. Finally, Misery shows the brother where to dig for gold. The brother takes the gold, and then bumps Misery into the hole and buries him. The rich brother is jealous and releases Misery in hopes for revenge. Instead, Misery attaches to the rich brother. His wealth dwindles until destitute. He plays hide and go seek with Misery and tricks him to be stuck in a wheel spoke. He drowns Misery in the river.

Lazybones, from Hungary
A wealthy farmer has a lazy daughter who never has dates due to this fact. One night she attends a dance but no one dances with her because of her laziness. Then one man dances with her, despite being warned, and decides to call on her family. He proposes, the daughter accepts, and the parents give a huge chest full of clothes. Every day the girl wears the clothes and burns them when soiled since she is too lazy to wash. She runs out of clothes, the husband dresses her in straw, takes her to her parents and leaves her there. He remarries.

King Midas, from Greece
King Midas helps a satyr who mentors Dionysus, the god of the life force. After listening to the satyr's stories of the City of Atlantis and the streets paved with gold, King Midas desires such a life for his people. Dionysus grants a wish for the king's kindness, and the king asks that anything he touches would turn to gold. He accidentally turns his daughter into gold, and mourns over his golden touch. He asks to be free of the curse, but it is too late to save his daughter.

Way to Avoid Neglect--Rehabilitate from Addictions

Always surround yourself with people who have your best interests at heart. Some addictions have support groups like Alcohol Anonymous. Before any help is sought from these groups, it is best to admit the wrong to your family and have them cheer you on during this process.

These same family members could help remove some of the temptations that caused you to be in this rut such as getting rid of any alcohol in the home, setting up filters to avoid pornography, and so on.

Infidelity
Adultery and betrayal often create headlines for our newspapers, magazines, and television channels. As we are all part of the human family, perhaps it seems inconceivable that we would cheat the ones we profess to love.

Sometimes a family member, usually a spouse, suspects another of such acts when, in fact, the person is innocent.

Folktales to Consider:
The Flight of Birds, from England
A husband is jealous of anyone looking at his wife. One day, a handsome stranger comes to their home to seek shelter from the storm. Throughout the night, the husband imagines that the man and his wife wish to sleep together. Then the husband believes rather than thinks these thoughts. He leads her with a rope outside to hang her. Every time he throws the rope around the limb, a flock of birds disrupt the toss and the rope falls to the ground. The husband tries a pine tree away from the birds. By now it is dawn. The birds appear. The husband repents. The couple walks home.

Zeus and Hera, from Greece
There is not one particular story to choose, as Zeus was constantly being unfaithful. Zeus sometimes resorted to trickery to avoid detection, though Hera usually found out shortly after or during the offense. Even when Zeus and Hera first met, he transformed into a cuckoo bird that needed warmth from the winter winds. Hera gave the bird warmth against her breast, and that was when Zeus transformed and raped the goddess. She married him to conceal the shame, especially as virginity was the most sacred to her as proof by the yearly baths she took in the spring Canathus that renewed this gift. After their marriage, Hera often punished any mortal or goddess for whom Zeus constantly slept with or raped. Though other gods sought Hera, she was always true to Zeus.

The Man Who Came Out Only at Night, from Italy
The youngest daughter of a poor fisherman agrees to marry the man who comes out only at night. She learns that he is a tortoise by day and a man by night. If she were faithful the whole time while he travels around the world, then he would be a man forever. Her husband gives a diamond ring and tells her that she could use its power to good ends. He leaves. She gets a job at a bakery and blesses it with customers by the ring's power. Three men fall in love with her and offer money to sleep with her. One-by-one, she invites the men and has them, through the ring's power, do tasks around the bakery all night so she can get rid of them in the morning. The three men report her to authorities, but she uses the ring's power to have authorities play leapfrog. Her husband returns and becomes a man forever.

Way to Avoid Infidelity--Extend Trust to Others and to Self

Believe that you could be a wonderful husband, wife, son, daughter, sibling, or whatever roles you undertake in your family. Then believe the same of the other family members.

When there are disagreements, be willing to discuss them without interrupting each other's thoughts. Sincere listening could build the trust to develop positive solutions.

Books to Find the Folktales Mentioned:

American Indian Myths and Legends by Richard Erdoes and Alfonso Ortiz
British Folk Tales by Katharine Briggs
D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths by Ingri d'Aulaires and Edgar Parin d'Aulaire
Folktales Told Around the World by Richard M. Dorson
Hawaiian Mythology by Martha Warren Beckwith
Italian Folktales by Italo Calvino
The Juniper Tree and Other Tales from Grimm translated by Lore Segal and Randall Jarrell
Michael Hague's Favorite Hans Christian Andersen Fairy Tales edited by Henry Holt
Noodlehead Stories by Martha Hamilton
Russian Fairy Tales by Aleksandr Afanaslev
Voices of the Wind by Margot Edmonds and Ella E. Clark

Until we tell again,

Rachel Hedman

Professional Storyteller

Tel: (801) 870-5799
Email: info@rachelhedman.com

URL: http://www.rachelhedman.com/

How-To Blog: http://storytellingadventures.blogspot.com/

Performance Blog: http://familyfamine.blogspot.com/
Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/rachelfans
Other places to find me: Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, Professional Storyteller

Global Story Sisterhood Relations: 3 Ways to Become Family

2009-10-01T22:48:00.000-07:00

Storytellers exist in every city, country, and continent.

When we gather at festivals, conferences, or other events, we experience a kind of storytelling family reunion.

Then everyone goes home.

Nowadays we have the Internet to be updated by our fellow "brothers and sisters" in storytelling. . . .and sometimes that is where it ends.

Or could we do something more?

Storytelling organizations could create Story Sisters much like the Sister Cities or Town Twinning established through government or municipal levels. We could encourage growth and advocacy in the art.

How could such relations be forged?

Involve Local People and Determine Purpose
Discover Group with Similar Goals and Make Introductions
Collaborate and Share Results

Involve Local People and Determine Purpose
A collaboration of any kind always starts with an individual. You. Someone has to envision the partnership.

Then you find another individual in your vicinity. Most likely this would be another storyteller.

Add another individual. And add another individual.

If you have a storytelling club or guild in the area, then it would make sense to involve them. A guild could be a sister to another guild.

Feel free to expand the outreach with other pro-story people. Consider businessmen, educators, librarians, retirees, and youth.

Think about groups such as rotary clubs, churches, hospitals, schools, local government, and anyone else who could be excited to be with storytellers.

When I used to be with the Brigham Young University Storytelling Club, we called other clubs that we collaborated with as "cousin clubs". Performing art groups made sense to join efforts such as Y Juggle, the juggling club on campus. We combined skills to create the program "Once Upon a Juggler". The first and last stories of the session merged storytelling with juggling. Then, we rotated from storyteller to juggler to storyteller throughout the night.

Local collaborations are plentiful.

Chat about the purpose of gathering. What is the desire to connect with other people, groups, or organizations outside the area?

Hopefully, you are thinking beyond monetary reasons. Perhaps there are services or expertise that could be exchanged. Maybe you could create a youth program to teach leadership through story-based methods. Do you need volunteers to run storytelling festivals or events?

Whatever it may be, have everyone in agreement before moving onto the next step.

Discover Group with Similar Goals and Make Introductions
If the group you wish to meet has a website, then read their mission statement or objectives to see if they match the ones that your local group agreed on.

The Internet makes this possible as well as an invention that has been around for a while: the telephone.

For international calls, consider using a service like Skype to save money.

There is something about hearing someone's voice that is more inviting than simply sending an email request.

Some people are fearful of contacting someone from another part of the country or the world, though one only needs to remember that these people could love stories as much as you. . .if not more.

Some national groups to consider for collaborations or guidance:

Click here for another online listing of storytelling organizations.

Once the relationship is established, then have each group's leader send the other group's leader an official letter to ask to work together. Be sure to share a general overview of your group, especially if this is the first time to be in contact. You may want to add promotional items like pins, pens, or anything else as a friendship gift.

Collaborate and Share Results
Decide on a project or at least determine a tentative time-line of when certain results would take place.

Did you want to have a Multi-Art event?

Would you like an elementary school class to interview senior citizens for stories?

Do you want Rotary club members to contact their international chapters for a storytelling event with broadcast abilities?

The ideas are endless.

Though, let the world know about them.

Share the project updates through websites, blogs, Facebook groups, Twitter, or any other social media tools.

You may find that spreading the word intensifies support. You could expand the scope you have for the next project or collaboration.

You would experience these storytelling reunions and efforts time after time.

Story Sisters could last for generations.

Now that is a storytelling family reunion!

Until we tell again,

Rachel Hedman

Professional Storyteller

Tel: (801) 870-5799
Email: info@rachelhedman.com

URL: http://www.rachelhedman.com/

How-To Blog: http://storytellingadventures.blogspot.com/

Performance Blog: http://familyfamine.blogspot.com/
Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/rachelfans
Other places to find me: Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, Professional Storyteller

"Look it up!": New Words in Storytelling & the Arts

2009-09-15T11:57:00.000-07:00

The global storytelling movement for the past 40 years has brought new words to the art.

Sometimes, these words are shared for hopes of protologism, in which the creator of a new word or phrase is desirous for it to be accepted within the art community or beyond.

For the storytelling community, the word seems to be "accepted" when included or in relation with events such as the National Storytelling Conference or the National Storytelling Festival. There are moments when words, not meant to be used more than the one time, take flight and land in other areas across the world.

Here are some neologisms for our art--

Urban Storytelling/Word Artists/Spoken Word--The term "urban storytelling" has become popular mostly due to The Moth, a New York City-based nonprofit at The Players Club. At this place, people from the community are guided by an artistic director to find the essence of a dramatic personal experience and make it presentable for the public. The themes of urban storytelling tend to be edgy and on the rebellious nature for whatever may be on the social agenda at the time. Sometimes the words and images chosen seem raw or violent. The word "spoken word" could be applied, though this term has different meanings depending on the region or intended audience. In the 1980s, the term "spoken word" was adopted by academia in an effort to categorize word-based performance as opposed to established areas of art like music, theatre, and dance.
Poetry Slam/Story Slam--Storytelling and poetry have existed for centuries and now these art forms have evolved into something more intense and lively. Story slams and poetry slams outreach mainly to high school students and college-aged adults, though all ages, cultures and races participate. The key components of a slam--poetry or storytelling: anyone could share poem/story; no props or costumes; about five judges from the audience and/or pre-determined panel; time limit (3 min. for poetry, 5 min. for story); and the importance of audience reactions. The event usually has three rounds of about 7-10 artists, with a different artist to be "sacrificial". The audience is taught to boo and hiss as well as to applaud. Heckling is encouraged. This world is highly competitive. The National Storytelling Conference had its first Story Slam in 2008. You can learn more about slams at my blog.
Anti-Slam/Art Stars--With all the booing and hissing from slams, then this movement of "anti-slam" came along. Usually that is how it works. For every trend there is a counter-trend. Reverand Jen Miller developed a poetry slam and created the venue called "Collective: Unconscious" and premiered on October 17, 2007. Every week the performers are called "art stars". Though the performers are given boards that show 1-10 numbers, the purpose is for the panel of "judges" to all give "10"s, thus calling each participant a winner. Performing arts could range from stand-up comedy to fiction to commentary to poetry and even rants. Author John S. Hall said of this movement, ". . .where everybody gets a ten. In a sense, that's kind of like the opposite problem [to slams], which is that you're saying there are no winners or losers at all. And even at an open reading, there are winners and losers, but it seems less stratified and controlled and gamed."
Tridem--This term was coined by Elizabeth Rose, director of the National Youth Storytelling Showcase, in 2007. Although the showcase asked for auditions for solo and tandem storytellers, she would also receive entries with three storytellers telling one story. Though the word "tandem" is still used as the category title, the word "tridem" was needed to be more specific in the kind of storytelling taking place. This term has spread to other youth-oriented storytelling events such as the Weber State University Storytelling Festival where over 70 youth tell stories alongside national and regional storytellers. The new audition page on the website has been clarified to say that the event looks for solo, tandem, or tridem performances.
House Concerts/Backyard Concerts--Although musicians, singers, and comedians have used houses as venues for their work, this have been a new term amongst the storytelling community in the past couple years. One of the 2009 Storytelling Magazine issues spotlighted this type of event featuring Dan Keding and Rivka Willick. Other storytellers who have benefited from these events are Priscilla Howe and Tim Ereneta. A host, sometimes the same person as the storyteller, invites friends and family to their house. Depending on the weather, the event could be inside or outside. Some of these concerts are ticketed while some are offered free. The artist could be testing material or may give polished performances of the same level as any paid venue. The Utah Storytelling Guild will launch and sponsor House Concerts as part of their membership's professional development series in Fall 2009. The participating storytellers must have completed at least five practices with specific audiences. The storytellers will tell for free, but will be allowed to sell merchandise.
[Here]Say/[Murmur]--Yes, the brackets are important if you want to refer to the community-based storytelling occurring in some downtown areas. The use of [here]say is the play on the word "hearsay", which means "scuttlebutt or gossip". In the storytelling sense, [murmur] is a pioneering mobile-based oral history documentary project which started in Toronto, Canada. Out from [murmur] came [here]say, which are community-based oral history documentary projects. Often these two programs are thought as story maps. For example, a person may see a sign in the downtown area to call a certain number to hear a story about that part of town. More signs would scatter along the street to have an experience like an art walk. What started in Canada has now become popular in the United States. You can read more about them here. Or should I say hear?
Second Life/Storytelling Guild of Second Life--This refers to a virtual world developed by Linden Lab on June 23, 2003 and not a second chance at life. Or is it? Second Life (SL) can be accessed through the Internet where people could create an avatar/character to look like them or look however they want. These avatars are often called "residents" and socialize with other "residents". This is for ages 18 and older, though there is now a Teen Second Life for 13-17-year-olds. People could own virtual property and places. For example, storyteller Dale Gilbert Jarvis created the virtual place for the Storytelling Guild of Second Life. There are regular storytelling events streamed lived where avatars gather. If you want to read about my experience with Second Life, then read it here.
UnFestival/UnConference/Open Conference--These are kinds of event where audiences "vote with their feet". Rather than the festival or conference where the audience is expected to arrive and leave sessions when scheduled, the audience is given permission to come and go as they feel the need. The presenters accept this fact. This eliminates the need for time limits on stories. Anyone could be the storyteller, presenter, or speaker. The term "open conference" is the more common term and derives from the adjective "opensource" that means "public access and community development". For the storytelling community, these terms were shared often due to the decision by the National Storytelling Network to not have an annual conference in 2009. Rather, this year became known as the "Year of the Regions" as NSN combined efforts with regional storytelling conferences in sponsorship. Some storytellers resisted the break in tradition and proposed having unconferences. Read more about these terms at Tim Ereneta's blog here.
Open Space Technologies/Brain Trust Sessions--A facilitator guides a group of people to briefly share the theme of the gathering. People announce what topics are of most interest to them. These ideas are listed on a piece of paper or board for the improvised agenda. The person suggesting the topic would be expected to lead the discussion when people can decide what room to go for the discussion. When all ideas are listed, then discussions ensue and people attend whichever ones they wish. The attendees organize the action. At the end of each session, someone reports what was expressed within the group. The report is then recorded and and becomes available to anyone. OSTs actually came into being 1985 by Harrison Owen. For the storytelling communities, Brain Trust Sessions occurred for the first time at the 2008 National Storytelling Conference. One room was used, though a couple sessions took different corners of the room so many topics could be discussed in small groups at the same time.
Storytelling Elitism--Storyteller Marilyn Hudson coined this phrase in 2008 after what she saw happening with the Oklahoma Tellers. In this case, the elitist could be the person who hires the storyteller or could be the storyteller himself. The elitist is the person who "sees only one type of storytelling as 'true storytelling' (theatrics vs. traditional, for example)." The organizer or the teller may see one style and may want to imitate only that style at the event. This causes difficulty for new tellers or lesser-known tellers to grace the stage. For more of Hudson's views, you can go here.
Festival-Worthy/Festival-Ready--When storytellers submit promo materials or audition items for storytelling festivals, then they are hoping to be "festival-worthy". This term is used most often for the National Storytelling Festival as well as for the Timpanogos Storytelling Festival due to the prestige associated with these events. I have heard the term "festival-ready" by Kathy Palermo, one of the directors of the Arne Nixon Student Storytelling Festival. Since Palermo teaches a storytelling class at Hanford High School in California, she has her students perform for this event. The students divide into several classrooms with a professional storyteller in each room to act as mentor/judge. The professional storyteller choses which students could tell later that afternoon and are then deemed "festival-ready". This phrase is even written on the ballot sheets. The afternoon is open for the public and not all youth are expected to be chosen to share their stories. However, all youth do receive certificates.
New Voices--These storytellers are in the 18-30-year-old range. Due to the small numbers of this generation in the storytelling community, some people consider age 35 to be part of this discussion group within the National Storytelling Network. This group formed at the 2005 National Storytelling Conference in Bellingham, WA. The "new" part of the name refers to the ages and not necessarily to their amount of experience with the storytelling art.
YES! (also known as Youth, Educators, and Storytellers Alliance)--The name for this organization was voted into place by people within the Youth Storytelling special interest group merged with the up-and-coming Educator special interest group of the National Storytelling Network at the 2005 National Storytelling Conference. The NSN Board encouraged the groups to merge due to some overlapping goals. The exclamation point was a key part of the name and represents "alliance". The name was also chosen to answer the question, "Storytelling in Education? YES!".
Edu-tainment--This word combines the words "education" and "entertainment". Storytellers wanting to promote both elements in their program told sponsors that they had "edu-tainment" value. Some storytellers are offended if their stories are only considered entertainment or "full of fluff".
Sense Presence--This term was coined by storyteller Bill Harley. The word is a combination of "stage presence" and "senses". The storytelling community often talks about "The Triangle" in that the three important relationships in the storytelling: teller to story to audience. Harley said that "sense presence" was when a storyteller did a perfect melding of these relationships in which the right story was told to the right audience by the right teller. A teller may not feel "sense presence" after every performance or even from a story that received that feeling before. It was something to strive for each time a storyteller went on stage. Harley predicted that these sense presence moments were rare despite someone's experience with the art.
Storetry--This word combines "story" with "poetry". My first encounter with the word was when Mitch Capel (a.k.a. Gran'daddy Junebug) labeled his style as "storetry" at the 2007 Timpanogos Storytelling Festival. All his stories/narratives were recited with rhythm and rhyme. I have since seen a book named Storetry by Allan Williams and published by RoseDog Books.
Citizen Journalist/Public Journalist/Street Journalist--Anyone can post news online and be their own journalist through tools like blogs, Facebook, and Twitter. This movement started around 1988 and has exploded due to people being able to go on the Internet from home or on their cell phones. These terms are not to be confused with "community journalist" or "civic journalist", who are considered professionals. Several storytellers write regular blogs so to join the citizen journalist force. From the seminal 2003 report We Media: How Audiences are Shaping the Future of News and Information came the statement that these journalists are "playing an active role in the process of collecting, reporting, analyzing and disseminating news and information."
Ezine--This is the back-formation of Ezine Articles. Writers are able to write about their expertise and become featured at EzineArticles.com. This site has a searchable database that make it possible for people to ask permission of the writers to add these articles to their own newsletters. In a content-driven world, this service is invaluable. Anyone could submit articles, but there are guidelines and all articles are proofread before posting online. Some storytellers have received offers for performances or presentations due to the articles posted at this site.
iTales.com--Like iTunes.com is geared mostly for music, the iTales.com site is where people can find stories available for download at similar fees. The "i" refers to "Internet". These audio stories could be placed on your computer, mp3 player, iPod, or on a CD. Storytellers receive a commission on any of their stories sold at this site.
Digital Storytelling/Web-based Storytelling/Hypertexts/Narrative Computer Games--These terms are still being figured out, though, at this time, they refer to using the Internet or computer software to create visual and/or audio ways to share true stories of one's life. The main focus is to share it in an engaging way that involves the emotions. Most of these stories are less than eight minutes long. One of the most popular places that uses these forms of storytelling is the Center for Digital Storytelling in San Francisco.
YouTube Storyteller--This phrase was likely coined by storyteller Tim Ereneta. On YouTube, he created a "channel" or group within YouTube called "The Ancient Art of Storytelling". People could submit their videos to this channel if they were performance storytelling pieces. Some people submit stories only online rather than going about the world as professional storytellers. Thus, they could be called "YouTube Storytellers". There are also storytellers who have over 20 videos of stories on YouTube and could also qualify for this term although no number has been set for who would be a YouTube teller. Perhaps if you at least have one, you can join this family!
Fringe Teller--This phrase, like "YouTube Storyteller", was most likely created by storyteller Tim Ereneta. This may have been the shorter way of saying "a storyteller who performs often at fringes". A fringe is a festival-like atmosphere that allows people to apply for a slot. The person could use the average of 55 minutes in whatever way he wishes. There are adult content warnings listed, if applicable, so the audience member could decide on their attendance. Most fringes gear for adults though there are specific family-friendly ones. Common artists found on the fringe circuit are musicians, comedians, and actors. As more and more storytellers are looking for alternate venues, the fringe has been a welcoming place. Any performing artists must pay for their own advertising, but they are still linked to a specific fringe.
Masterminding--This is a verb created from the noun of "Mastermind Group". Sean Buvala has popularized this term in the storytelling community. A Mastermind Group is a bunch of people all committed to improve as individuals in their industry. The group often meets in-person, by telephone, or through online methods to "check-in" with each other and keep everyone accountable for their individual goals often involving the marketing and/or development sides. The group may all be storytellers or the group may be a mix of business men from all backgrounds.
Shout Out--Several storytellers have labeled blog posts with "Shout Out" when they want to promote an individual, company, or idea. This term is a sign of respect and is synonymous to the phrase "giving props". The phrase emerged in 1990 with rap artists and has finally caught on in the last year with storytellers. Sometimes game show hosts have used the term when contestants have family in the audience so there could be a "Shout Out" to them.
Storytelling Tourism/Storytelling Tourists--This is the act of gathering a bunch of people to travel to another place--most likely a foreign country--to delve into that place's take on storytelling. The "tourists" are usually storytellers who combine their skills with the storytellers of the area visited. There is then a cultural exchange of ideas and techniques. The most famous of these tours are organized by Eth-Noh-Tec, a storytelling husband and wife team. Each year tends to rotate between India and China with the tourists coming from the United States.

Please share any words that you have heard within the storytelling community. . .or ones about to emerge.

Until we tell again,

Rachel Hedman

Professional Storyteller

Tel: (801) 870-5799
Email: info@rachelhedman.com

URL: http://www.rachelhedman.com/

How-To Blog: http://storytellingadventures.blogspot.com/

Performance Blog: http://familyfamine.blogspot.com/
Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/rachelfans
Other places to find me: Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, Professional Storyteller

Generation Gap of Tellers: 3 Ways to Prove This Myth Wrong

2009-09-01T14:16:00.000-07:00

By the way some storytellers sound, it seems that the 40+-year-American Storytelling Movement is coming to a close as more and more tellers are aging . . .and passing on.

At one time, I, too, had wondered about the generation gap.

Every time I attended a National Storytelling Conference, I was lucky to find 10 tellers within the 18-35-year-old range. Youth tellers, except for the Kids’ Koncert there, were practically nonexistent.

So we thought.

Then, after seeing the curious and excited looks of college students as I ran a booth on the art on their campus, I realized that the generation gap was only as looming as one made it to be.

Suddenly, I needed sunglasses to see the bright future.

Three Ways to Prove Generation Gap Myth Wrong:

Use Different Names for the Art and the Artist

Make Appearances on Campuses Beyond Performances

Promote Generational Participate at Events

Use Different Names for the Art and the Artist

We are attached to the name “storyteller”. The name has a long and cherished history with people of all ethnicities, tongues, and climes.

Then something changed.

People have their lists of what de-valued the status of storytellers: television, video games, Internet, falling family values, drugs, gangs, etc. Whatever the reason or reasons, the name “storyteller” does not have the power it once had with youth and college-aged students.

Although the term “storyteller” could still be used as a label or profession, we need to add other words to our daily vocabulary within and without the storytelling community.

Otherwise, we run the risk of having certain images evoked when saying “storyteller” such as the picture of an old lady reading stories to preschoolers. Yes, we do have storytellers that have talents in “story-reading” as well as connecting with preschoolers, but our art offers even more variety than this pre-conceived idea.

So how can we increase other storytelling images when youth or college-aged students think of our art?

We connect with other narrative-based art forms and use some of their words to invite others to our art form. Some terms to consider: humorist, slam artist, spoken word artist, sit-down comedian, solo performance artist, etc.

For new festivals or events, we can experiment of naming it a “story festival” rather than a “storytelling” festival. For example, out in Hawaii there is the Talk Story Festival. Director Jeff Gere said that the phrase “talk story” was slang used often on the islands and thus it was adopted as the event’s name.

Make Appearances on Campuses Beyond Performances

Imagine the chance to introduce storytelling as an art to pursue with 3,500 or more people. . .in one place. That is easy to do when you connect with a campus.

Weber State University has an annual tradition of booths, prizes, and food also known as the Wildcat Block Party each Fall Semester. I cheered when given approval to have a booth to promote the Weber State University Storytelling Festival there.

Since there would be over 100 booths, I knew our booth had to stand out. We had to have a drawing with many storytelling-related prizes and candy. We also had the basic email list, festival business cards, and fliers.

After about five hours, I earned some sunburns—red battle scars—that told me that the day was victorious.

The results: 98 people entered the drawing, 56 signed the email list, 70 cards were taken, and 30 applications to audition for the festival were taken.

Yes, I do understand how the numbers work. Though 30 applications to audition were taken, perhaps five actually make the effort.

Yet, if five new college tellers were gained per Fall Semester over the course of 20 years, then that would be 100 new artists to storytelling.

Consider now that this was done for Fall and Winter Semesters at 50 universities, with one per state, what would your number be?

That would be 500.

The current membership for the National Storytelling Network is about 2,000 people.

Though, this idea of booths is not limited to college campuses. Although the main place to find storytellers are in elementary, middle, and high schools, there could be booths dedicated to the art during events where these students could be found.

We could play with numbers all day—and this is all hypothetical—but you can imagine that the generation gap of tellers does not have to exist.

Promote Generational Participation at Events

Most storytelling events unintentionally ignore youth and college-aged students by the tellers they invite. Every event is entitled to figure out how they go about choosing their tellers, however, if concerned about the generation gap of tellers, the next step is to invite them to tell.

As mentioned earlier, the booth promoting the Weber State University Storytelling Festival had applications so that college students could audition with 8-minute-or-less stories.

When students approached the booth, we called out, “Are you a storyteller, a story appreciator, or both?” Regardless of their answer, we could either guide them more about storytelling events happening and/or share opportunities of how they could be storytellers . . .and get paid.

This way, we start each session with two 3-minute story slots for youth, one 8-minute story slot for college students and adults, and finally about a 25-minute slot for the featured teller.

Returning to the numbers game, what if every storytelling festival reserved 3-5 slots for college students and youth?

Perhaps you will no longer believe in the generation gap of tellers, too.

Until we tell again,

Rachel Hedman

Professional Storyteller

Tel: (801) 870-5799
Email: info@rachelhedman.com

URL: http://www.rachelhedman.com/

How-To Blog: http://storytellingadventures.blogspot.com/

Performance Blog: http://familyfamine.blogspot.com/
Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/rachelfans
Other places to find me: Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, Professional Storyteller

Storyteller as Yarnspinner: 6 Reasons Why We Weave Sewing Terms in the Art

2009-08-15T11:55:00.000-07:00

A storyteller adopts the imagery of weaving stories together whether or not there is a love of sewing fabric.

Why is that exactly?

Let us explore the terms we use to explain our art form inspired by the needle and thread.

First, a personal experience.

I took a sewing class during high school, but piecing together a dress was torture. Instead, I was ready to weave stories during my World Literature class during my senior year.

I anticipated my senior year for many reasons, but one of them being the delving into Greek Mythology. Everyone knew about the Greek projects. We chose areas that interested us most in the culture, though some of us did whatever would be easiest to complete.

Most people created architectural miniatures of Greek homes, temples, or amphitheaters. As for me I was most interested in rhapsodes.

I do not remember how I came upon the word "rhapsode", but when I heard it, I could not let it go from my mind. Through the years, we had studied about Homer and with such epic tales as The Illiad or The Odyssey.

These tellers often sung their whole pieces so I knew I would need to sing the "Eros and Psyche" story to my classmates. I studied Greek music to get a feel for the common rhythms. Much of the tunes and words were improvised so I expected to do the same. However, I committed to memory key phrases and notes that would move the story along. I was dressed in Greek attire--of which I did not sew--and mentioned to everyone that I did not bring my lyre.

Funny enough, a lyre looks like a miniature loom.

The word itself, also known as rhapsoidein, meant in the Classic Greek language "to sew songs together" or "singer of stitched verse" or "sewer of formulas, lines, and scenes to share a performance".

Then, to add to this already visual way to think about storytelling, the rhapsode tended to carry a staff.

The staff was symbolic of the kind of staff a judge may hold. The audience saw this sign and knew that they had "a right to a hearing".

Though I have not seen any specific connection, the staff could even be like an enlarged needle to expand the sewing image.

Athena was a goddess over many things including weaving and sewing. You may recall the story of the weaving contest between Arachne and Athena. The lady Arachne has since been transformed into a spider as punishment for all the "bad" stories she wove onto her tapestries. The images showed each of the Olympian gods at a weak moment and Athena could not have those stories shared.

Besides Athena, Hermes was known for his stories. Interestingly, he carried a staff much like a rhapsode was expected to carry a staff. The staff is also a device used to herd sheep and goats. From these animals we get wool and thus the thread and weaving. Perhaps this was part of the reason he was known for his trickery and the telling of tall tales. He was a sewer of fabrications.

Even the word fabrication has the word fabric in it. Broken down even further, "fabula" is the Latin word for fable, story, or tale. The words themselves mean "the act of making" and has a female gender connected to the word. As women were often the ones sewing, weaving, and making cloth, the gender assignment makes sense.

Consider these other sewing phrases or words used in storytelling:

Spin a Tale/Weave a Tale/Spinster/Old Wives Tales--The sharing of stories often took place while woman gathered to take care of repetitious and monotonous jobs like spinning, weaving, and quilting. As these stories were often conversational and based on gossip, then the phrase "Old Wives Tales" came about. While a spinster was usually someone unmarried beyond the age expected to be married, then these women had more time to spin and thus more time to tell stories.

Text--Though we are an oral art, often times in history storytellers memorized or shared stories so as to be the text for the listeners. "Text" is short for "Textilis" or "Textiles". These words are Latin for "woven fabric". Robert Bringhurst, a Canadian poet, wrote, "An ancient metaphor: thought is a thread, and the raconteur is a spinner of yarns -- but the true storyteller, the poet, is a weaver. The scribes made this old and audible abstraction into a new and visible fact. After long practice, their work took on such an even, flexible texture that they called the written page a textus, which means cloth."

Red Thread/Golden Thread--This may be the part of the storytelling that links and weaves all else into something comprehensible and meaningful. In the European middle ages, the color of red is significant for it was once seen as a sign of wealth and status. Sometimes, only royalty could wear this color. The dye itself was hard to get as it had to be dark enough. Curator Rebecca Stevens of the Textile Museum said, "People made their living trading this dye." It could also relate to the pleasing way red threads looked in a tapestry. Then, within the Chinese culture, you find the belief that when a child is born, there are invisible red threads that connect the baby to all the important people in their life of the past, present, and future. As a result, children have red thread tied around their wrists. Sometimes instead of a red thread it is known as a golden thread due to English influences. You may have read many stories of spinning straw into gold.

A bonus fun thought: A popular brand of sewing machine is known as "Singer". It seems we have rhapsodes still.

Until we tell again,

Rachel Hedman

Professional Storyteller

Tel: (801) 870-5799
Email: info@rachelhedman.com

URL: http://www.rachelhedman.com

How-To Blog: http://storytellingadventures.blogspot.com

Performance Blog: http://familyfamine.blogspot.com
Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/rachelfans
Other places to find me: Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, Professional Storyteller

Within Grasp: 3 Effects and 11 Trends of Art Audiences for Storytellers to Reach

2009-07-15T14:55:00.000-07:00

Oftentimes the audience sets the trends more so than the artists. Applause and attendance inspire what is shared with the rest of the world, especially when funding is concerned.

Artists either adapt these trends into the way they present or the art itself may fade.

Storytellers usually are the last to embrace newfangled ideas such as technology or philosophies. Yet, storytellers could lead the way for other artists this time through the three forces and eleven trends reflective of art audiences. Kelly J. Barsdate, from the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies, presented these forces and trends at the Mountain West Conference on the Arts on May 7, 2009. I have applied them to storytelling with permission from Barsdate.

Three Forces:

Effects of a Digital Age
Explosion of Choice
K-12 Education Gaps

Barsdate said, "These three forces equal profound changes in cultural participation norms." Though positive changes have occurred, Barsdate worried over the headline in newspapers that said people spend more time with their computer than with their spouse. She also discovered that driving while distracted was on the rise. At least there was a rise in visual IQ for people.

"Customization is now common place," stated Barsdate. She mentioned that people are looking to buy an experience rather than a product. Besides the performance or the exhibit, people notice the physical and emotional experiences. Even the ease or difficulty of parking or the structure of intermission could make the difference.

When it comes to schools, sometimes it seems like there is a never-ending "intermission" of art within its walls. Children who see arts are more willing to become artists or audience members. As youth graduate from high school, employers cannot find employees who are creative enough in the workplace. From a national survey, 97% of employers said that creativity was important while 85% of employers could not find these people from those they interview.

Eleven Trends:

Aging Arts Audiences
Digital Natives as Creators
"The Curatorial Me"
Time-Shifting
Virtual Experiences
Audience as Actor
Participation at Home
Crowd-Sourcing
Distinguishing Design
Blending of Science & Marketing
Mega-Impact of Micro-Trends

Aging Arts Audiences
Across the nation, the media age of adults is 44. The median age is at least 3-10 years higher when compared to the typical audience for opera, classical music, theatre, musicals, ballet, and other events.

Many storytellers are concerned by the generation gap. Out of 300 storytellers at a conference, perhaps 10 to 15 are from the 18-35-year-old range. Yet, it is from the audience from which many storytellers are born. After hearing stories, someone often thinks or says aloud, "I could be a storyteller, too."

The National Storytelling Festival has had the Youthful Voices tent since 1997 with two years as the exception. These youth range from elementary to high school ages. Over twenty national tellers headline this festival, but again there is a gap of featured tellers involving 18-35-year-olds.

To combat this harmful trend, the Weber State University Storytelling Festival will create marketing materials geared specifically for college students to audition for the event. Existing venues as well as new venues could make room so that all generations experience storytelling and promote its growth for decades to come.

Digital Natives as Creators
With free and relatively inexpensive ways to record CDs and DVDs, there is no excuse for storytellers to lack in CDs and DVDs to share with their fans. Products made from home may not be as high-quality than if it was done through a film and duplication company, but that result could be pursued for future projects.

Storyteller Karl Behling uses Dexster, editing software for audio. He only had to pay a one-time fee of $40.00. He now can have back-of-the-room sales. Another storyteller, Carol Esterreicher, burns a single story on a CD as a giveaway at each of her performances.

"The Curatorial Me"
Libraries and museums will always be grand places to gather and collect boundless information. Lately, we as individuals have taken on this curatorial role as we buy individual songs and stories rather than whole albums or our iPods and mp3 players. Websites like iTunes.com and iTales.com are places to build collections.

Most of the time, the storyteller chooses what stories will be experienced on the CD or DVD. The latest trend is to give customers the power on the outlook of the final product.

Some day soon it will be common practice for storytellers to work alongside third-party companies so that the fans could create on-demand CDs or DVDs. For example, the CD or DVD titles could be something like "My Favorites of Bill Harley" or "My Favorites of Elizabeth Ellis", etc. The storyteller would have already-submitted artwork so that when the third-party company burns and mails the professional copy to the fan, then it still looks as slick as if it was bought from a store.

Time-Shifting
The idea of on-demand burning of CDs and DVDs relates to being able o hear or watch the stories when it suits you. Obviously, storytelling is best experienced by the audience live. Yet, with our busy lives, we need to make it easier for storytelling fans to enjoy stories.

The trend of time-shifting will only make the idea of audio or video recording as necessities rather than luxuries.

Besides performances, some storytellers have grasped onto the power of podcasting. These shows can be downloaded whether it be 2:00pm or at 2:00am. Some of the most note-worthy podcasts: The Art of Storytelling with Children hosted by Brother Wolf; Timeless Tale Podcast hosted by Djeliba Baba the Storyteller; and The Amphitheater Series hosted by Sean Buvala.

Virtual Experiences
We love to enjoy storytelling in a live setting, but sometimes it is not possible if you want to gather many listeners together from different countries. As the Internet is not a place of boundaries, then people can "gather" at their computer screens and enjoy virtual experiences.

Kids have jumped into this world through programs like Disney's Club Penguin where you are told to "waddle around and meet new friends. Over 30 million 11-12-year-olds have joined this crazy adventure complete with a penguin avatar/character to interact with other penguins through filtered chats and live moderators.

For adults, the most popular program is Second Life (SL), a 3-D virtual world found on the Internet for social and business purposes. At least 20 million people registered are over the age of 30. Once there, you could join the Storytelling Guild of Second Life headed by storyteller Dale Gilbert Jarvis. Several storytellers have told in this setting complete with earphones hooked to the computer. You can read about my own experience here.

Audience as Actor
If us storytellers love to be on stage, then imagine all of the audience members who secretly--or not so secretly--wish to be on the stage, too.

Some of my most precious memories are when I ask for volunteers from the audience to play different parts in a folktale I am about to tell. Instead of the original "Three Aunties" Norwegian story, it became "Two Uncles and an Auntie" due to the people who volunteered. We all had a laugh and the story became more meaningful. I still had the audience learn a part so that they did not feel left out of the fun.

Storytelling in and of itself is an interactive art form. Whether or not audience participation is used, storytellers look into the eyes of the audience and are willing to adapt their stories to match the feedback they sense from them. Of all the art audience trends, storytelling excels in this category.

Yet, there are ways to increase this strength.

Take, for example, the video game Guitar Hero. Although a controller shaped like a guitar is used, the sales of "real" guitars soared. Perhaps such a boost would happen if there was a "Storyteller Hero"-type game geared specifically for kids and youth. Since storytelling games are popular, perhaps it could be translated into a computer game where kids could play with other friends on the screen or even play with kids halfway around the world. If we can do it for Wii, then we could do it for us.

Participation at Home
Musicians and comedians have held House Concerts, and suddenly this venue-in-the-backyard has reached the hearts of storytellers. Rivka Willick, Dan Keding, and Priscilla Howe are all experienced storytellers in this arena.

The Utah Storytelling Guild became intrigued with the idea and will launch House Concerts as a guild-sponsored "professional development series" in Fall 2009. This program was designed to provide a place for storyteller to share material for older audiences.

With such terms as "staycation" creeping into our vocabulary, then perhaps "house concerts" will become as well known and revered.

Crowdsourcing
American Idol is certainly one of the most popular forms of crowdsourcing where feedback from the audience determines the results. These types of shows and entertainments believe in "the wisdom of the crowds". However, as popularity tends to trump quality, sometimes new or unknown artists are overlooked.

Every so often, creating the event is full of chaos. Parameters, therefore, need to be set so expectations can be met by both the creators and the participants of the events. For example, Voromator.com had a design contest where anyone could create original art from eight shapes posted online.

A similar activity could involve eight items that need to be in a story that was submitted by audio or video means online. People could vote on their favorite stories.

In the storytelling community, the tall tale or liars contests are prevalent. Professional storytellers and/or community tellers could sign-up to share a story within a certain time frame and allow the live audience to decide on who was best.

Story Slams would qualify as having one of the highest levels of crowdsourcing while the National Youth Storytelling Showcase would be at a more moderate level.

Distinguishing Design
People could be attracted sophisticated marketing through the use of visual art. Most people make judgments about people, places, and things within 90 seconds. Though many factors are involved, the artist's attire, body language, and demeanor are key elements.

Some storytellers have unique garb to have them stand out from others. Donald Davis is known for wearing bow-ties while I am known from wearing my Dutch cap. Some storytellers, like Dianne de Las Casas, have logos that people could recognize hundreds of feet away.

If color is involved in the branding, then brand recognition jumps to 80%.

Art audiences notice these details; us storytellers would benefit to keep this in mind as we design posters, fliers, websites, and even in what we wear on stage.

Blending of Science and Marketing
We know that storytelling has great power, but unless we have some of the "facts" to back it up, some people are not interested in hiring artists. Some people may consider what we do "fluff". However, if you can prove that there are socio-developmental needs or that enzymes in the brain respond in positive manners, then you will be heard and respected that much faster.

Kendall Haven has published many books with quantifiable statistics such as STORY PROOF: The Science Behind the Startling Power of Story. You may also find these kinds of academic articles in Storytelling, Self, Society: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Storytelling Studies published by Taylor and Francis, Inc.

Proof is not the only needs. Scientists have discussed the power of "sensory branding" in that what we see, hear, smell, taste, and touch add to our experiences. With our events, what are the emotions and associations that are appealed to in a positive manner? Could there be some changes to enhance these sensations?

Mega-Impact of Micro-Trends
The world permeates with specialized groups or micro-trends. Yes, we can say that we are all human beings, but there we have the people who are the:

Working Retired
Native American Language Speakers
Young Knitters (over 6 million as teens and in 20s)
Video Game Grown-ups (Average age of 33 to the 50+)
New Luddites (also known as "America's great unrushed" or the "Tech-NOs"
And many more

For every trend, there is always a counter-trend.

Any artist could explore the places they tend to share their craft and discover what groups are living amongst them.

Storytellers could gear programs for these niche groups.

As you consider the current art audience trends, remember that anyone could be a trend-setter. It may be one of those timeless roles that the storyteller has always had.

Until we tell again,

Rachel Hedman

Professional Storyteller

Tel: (801) 870-5799
Email: info@rachelhedman.com

URL: http://www.rachelhedman.com

How-To Blog: http://storytellingadventures.blogspot.com

Performance Blog: http://familyfamine.blogspot.com
Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/rachelfans
Other places to find me: Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, Professional Storyteller

Storytelling Lessons for Kids: 5 Ways to Go Beyond What Piano Can Give Them

2009-06-01T14:25:00.000-07:00

Thanks to my nephew, sister-in-law, and mother-in-law for allowing permission to post the pictures.

Throughout all ages of time, parents have encouraged and sometimes "forced" their children to receive piano lessons.

I was one of those kids who took piano lessons.

Currently, I do not have a piano in my home, which I plan to rectify soon. A home is not complete without a piano.

In the meantime, much of my piano skills have gone by the wayside, though the memories sustain me.

Despite the moments when I would rather do chores than practice the piano, I also had moments when I played and played and could not wait for the recitals.

I always was a child who enjoyed the spotlight.

Walking onto that stage was glorious, but once I got to the piano bench, I had to turn my back or side to the audience. Even if the piano was turned in such a way so that I could look at the audience, the piano was too tall to truly connect with the people out there.

Sure, I heard the applause after I played a number, but I missed the continuous reactions from the audience.

Then came high school.

I was a sophomore when my theatre friends encouraged me to look into the National Forensics League, which had several categories in public speaking contests.

One of those categories was storytelling.

Finally, I had an art form that would allow me to look at the audience the whole time.

Nowadays, most children are in front of the computer or television so often that sometimes they forget the joy of looking at the people around them.

They can comfortably interact with a video game or "talk" to online characters through virtual realities.

Then they stutter and stumble in front of real people.

While playing the piano improves creativity and develops a type of work ethic and commitment in the child, there is one art form that can easily adapt and apply to whatever the child pursues in life: storytelling.

Parents celebrate as they see their youth tellers have more sophisticated research skills and the ability to speak smoothly in front of a crowd due to the boost of confidence. Parents and teachers perhaps love the improvement of listening skills the best.

As the child becomes a young adult and must find work, the child will exemplify these skills, which are exactly what employers desire and request.

So where can youth turn for storytelling guidance?

Here are some ways:
1. Clubs
2. Camps
3. Festivals
4. Contest and Showcase Events
5. One-on-One or Small Group Lessons

Clubs
I wish there was a storytelling club during my elementary, middle, or high school days. At least I had the storytelling category through Forensics. In some ways, the other people in my category were part of a "club".

Fortunately, the creation of storytelling clubs for youth is on the rise across the nation.

The best book is Raising Voices: Creating Youth Storytelling Groups and Troupes co-authored by Kevin Cordi and Judy Sima. Youth clubs with a focus on fun and games will have the most success, and Raising Voices has plenty of games to choose that work from Kindergarten to high school students.

As an adult, you will be tempted to play these games, too. Go ahead and give yourself permission.

Members of storytelling guilds could be pro-active to encourage more youth clubs. The Utah Storytelling Guild is considering a youth chapter where kids across the state could gather and meet each other at least once a quarter.

Camps
The strongest states in youth storytelling usually have some form of camp dedicated to the art in order to satisfy the hunger that kids have to tell stories.

The Florida Storytelling Association organizes the most famous Story Camp. The event is mainly attended by adults and workshops are led by national tellers. Five youth are selected as scholarship recipients as a result of the Youthful Voices Storytelling Contest. Each youth has an adult storytelling mentor.

In Nebraska, the guild endorses a camp limited to 15 youth led by a national teller. For 2009, the theme is "In Our Own Voices" geared for 4th to 9th grade students and taught by award-winning singer-songwriter and storyteller Andy Offutt Irwin.

Utah has also had a surge of week-long Story Camps organized by professional storytellers Cherie Davis, Debi Richan, and Nannette Watts. They provide one type of camp for ages 8-12 and another for ages 12-18. They are able to give reduced rates to residents of Orem and Highland due to some generous grants.

Usually these camps are scheduled in the summer time when children may not have as many extra curricular activities and homework.

Festivals
There are always fetivals looking for youth performers on a local, regional or national basis.

These festivals tend to first think of dancers, musicians, and singers, but many are making way for youth tellers. It may be up to you to hint at the storytelling possiblities.

Many cities and towns have art festivals. Contact the director. Have the youth teller share stories for them. Then watch as the director schedules a slot or two for them.

Though some artists volunteer, the festival may offer to pay for the storytelling services of your youth. It does not hurt to ask.

Contest and Showcase Events
Nothing tends to motivate a child more than when it comes to a contest. In the storytelling arena, usually the word "showcase" is put in place of "contest" to indicate that each child is a winner.

The most popular kinds are tall tale and liar contests.

Perhaps parents are not as keen to these kinds as to what they imply, but as these tales are hilarious and high-energy, kids love them. In fact, if given the chance, kids like ot create their own stories rather than telling the classic tales of Paul Bunyan or Pecos Bill.

Then there is the National Youth Storytelling Showcase. Dr. Flora Joy, one of the founders, said, "Tomorrow's storytelling lies in the talents, interests, and motivations of today's youth."

Each state has a representative that forwards videotapes of their top five youth tellers to the Headquarters in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. Of the thousands of entries, about 15-20 youth are invited to tell in connection with the Smoky Mountain Storytelling Festival. All youth are celebrated as finalists, though one is chosen as the Grand Torchbearer of Youth Storytelling for the year.

One-on-One or Small Group Lessons
Since you are familiar with how weekly piano lessons work, then the same format could work for storytelling lessons.

From a 2008 survey of 300 parents, 209 said they would be willing to pay for lessons or after-school programs in the arts reported by the Helicon Collaborative, a New York City-based arts nonprofit consulting group. Economy may be rough but parents want their art.

Most likely the parents first think of piano or dance, but there is a demand of life-skills that storytellers could pursue.

With many schools slashing out the arts, it is sometimes up to the parents to make sure art is experienced. Connect with a professional storyteller and ask if they would be willing to coach your child.

In fact, I will offer storytelling lessons to youth starting Fall 2oo9. I am considering in-person as well as e-lessons in combination of webinars so that location is not a factor. A workbook will be available for the participants.

As for piano lessons, I fully support them. I had piano lessons and continue to be glad I had them.

Remember that it is not always possible to have a piano on the journey of life.

Stories, especially the ones your youth tell, are for forever.

Until we tell again,

Rachel Hedman

Professional Storyteller

Former Co-Chair of Youth, Educators, and Storytellers Alliance

Tel: (801) 870-5799
Email: info@rachelhedman.com

URL: http://www.rachelhedman.com

How-To Blog: http://storytellingadventures.blogspot.com

Performance Blog: http://familyfamine.blogspot.com
Other places to find me: Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, Professional Storyteller

Storytelling: The Forgotten Art in BSA & What Mothers Have Known for Ages

2009-05-01T20:19:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Patrice Killpack for allowing me to post our picture. Patrice is a cool mom with four kids (two of them boys) and another little one on the way. The quotes and stories from the other mothers were also appreciated.

"Storytelling is as basic to a boy as breathing and frogs...and as necessary to Scouting as run-ons and skits," stated Diana Mulligan, a mother and an author from Fresno, California.

She upholds the written word while recognizing the importance of oral storytelling to strengthen communities, homes, and individuals.

What comes naturally for Mulligan and other mothers has been slow to be acknowledged by the Boy Scouts of America. The storytelling merit badge has yet to be created.

Meanwhile, several women, such as Girl Scout Leader and Storyteller Karen Czarnik of Detroit, Michigan, were quick to join the "100,000+ BSA Storytelling Supporters" Facebook group. Czarnik pointed out that the Junior Girl Scouts have the "Now and Then Stories from Around the World" patch.

This may seem like "the boys" are behind on the merit badge endeavor. . .until you take a look at Scouting history. The World Scout Founder, Lord Baden-Powell, wrote the first Scouting manual in a story format and used and encouraged stories as the primary teaching tool of youth.

Storytelling must have been--and continues to be--so much a part of the Scouting culture that they forgot to make a merit badge for it.

Here are Glimpses of Storytelling in Scouting Today:

Scoutmaster Minutes
Campfire Programs and Yarns
Pow Wow Leadership Training with Specific Storytelling Course
Skits and Run-ons
Communications merit badge with option to tell a personal story
Indian Lore merit badge with option to tell short story of an Indian culture

Storytelling is that forgotten yet ever-present art in Scouting.

Whether or not there is a specific time labeled as "storytelling" in the Scouting world, youth are telling stories. Storyteller Kristy Price was proud when her oldest son, an Eagle Scout, did storytelling in his youth. Her 12-year-old son has followed his brother's example and tells stories at present.

In 2005, when gathering signatures in support of the creation of the BSA storytelling merit badge, several Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts asked when the merit badge would be available. Some vowed to be the first to earn it.

I sighed every time I heard this wish. As a Wolf Den Leader, I knew that the BSA would take years before the merit badge came into being as I knew it was only a matter of time before the badge came into existence. I could not promise the boys that the merit badge would be there in time for them. I told them that perhaps they could be future storytelling merit badge counselors.

Then, with 4,315 signatures and a stack of letters of support, the storytelling merit badge proposal went before the National BSA Advancement Committee in May 2006.

It was denied for one reason: the committee could not distinguish the difference between the Communications merit badge and the proposed Storytelling Merit Badge.

When I received the email, I was confused by this response and asked in what way they felt this was the case.

It was obvious to me that the committee did not have a true storytelling experience.

There could have been unsaid reasons of why this committee did not see storytelling's importance such as:

1. Everyone Has The Ability To Do It
When asked to make a list of your strengths, you may list skills such as throwing a football, singing, dancing, etc. Would you remember to add eating, sleeping, and breathing? Along with these basic skills is that of storytelling. Our minds tend to mentally cross off something that we do not think is unique enough for such a list.

There are different levels of skills in being a storyteller. We have probably heard the boring and what seemed like "long" stories mixed with the fantastic ones. The storytelling merit badge would strengthen the skills that are ingrained in us as humans.

Many mothers include storytelling as their list of skills. Yet, it is often the father's example that has stronger influence on whether a child will enjoy reading, writing, or storytelling. Parents need to be "caught" telling stories.

The Watts Family in Highland, UT are a storytelling family. Nannette Watts leads and guides these skills for all her kids. Three have become National Youth Storytelling Showcase finalists while two more have had various awards for their tellings. In their home there is even a "designated stage area". It may not be the kind that you see in a theatre or museum, but it is enough to inspire this art.

2. "Storytelling" Is Not Often Looked At As A Job Skill
People like to use "public speaking" or "presentations" in the job interview setting. Though, if the company wanted star employees, they would want to ask about "storytelling".

While on Facebook, a guy wrote to me, "The whole point of merit badge is to (A) prepare them for life, or (B) give them a glimpse into that profession. I don't know about you, but I don't know any professional storytellers."

I responded to him that I was a professional storyteller and that there were thousands more like me. Even with this fact, he said he did not see a storyteller as a "real profession".

However, I stressed that applied storytelling was key.

As for the Watts Family, one of Nannette's oldest boys no longer pursues storytelling. However, when he completed a career questionnaire in high school, he ranked high in enjoying talking in front of people. We need more youth who have that confidence as they enter the work force.

Applied storytelling in careers is more important than if boys became professional storytellers.

In the health industry there is narrative healing. Education always has a boost in test scores when teaching is story-based. Corporate storytelling has increased sales.

The number one "profession" should be parenthood, and storytelling is an art and a skill that can build relationships between parent and child. These skills would be worthy for any Boy Scout to know.

3. Storytellers Do Not Often Share The Stage With Other Arts
The big stage tends to leave an honored space for theatre, dance, and music. The exception is of the storytelling festival circuit. What is forgotten is that without the stories, we would not know how to act or to move or to create sound. Storytelling is the overarching art.

Why else do we hear people from filmmakers to authors to stand-up comedians to dancers as "storytellers" if it was not an all encompassing art?

In certain places, only the mother keeps the status of storyteller as an honored one. Perhaps this is why when people think of the word "storytelling" that the image of a lady reading stories to preschool age kids is popular.

Elizabeth Ames Jones, Railroad Commissioner of Texas, said, "Storytelling has, in recent years, become less predominant in our society. Its ability to educate our youth is unrivaled. As a mother I understand the value of storytelling to children to develop listening, imagination and comprehension skills."

Do we need more mothers and grandmothers to remind their sons and grandsons of the importance of storytelling?

Yes, we do.

We also invite fathers and grandfathers to do likewise.

Storytelling: it's about family.

What You Can Do About the BSA Storytelling Merit Badge:
1. Join the "BSA Storytelling Supporters" site on Ning and invite all your friends
2. Join the "100,000+ BSA Storytelling Supporters" site on Facebook and invite all your friends
3. Spread the word of this movement to your local, regional, and national BSA offices
4. Send complimentary tickets of storytelling festivals to the National Office of BSA (especially the Advancement Committee)
5. Email me at info@rachelhedman.com for specific projects or assignments

In the meantime, Paschal Baute from Kentucky sent another proposal (can be seen on his site) in May 2009 on the storytelling merit badge that should be seen by the National BSA Advancement Committee soon.

Let us create a buzz to help this work along. Prayers are welcome. After all, the Lord is an amazing storyteller Himself!

Until we tell again,

Rachel Hedman

Professional Storyteller

Former Co-Chair of Youth, Educators, and Storytellers Alliance

Tel: (801) 870-5799
Email: info@rachelhedman.com

URL: http://www.rachelhedman.com

How-To Blog: http://storytellingadventures.blogspot.com

Performance Blog: http://familyfamine.blogspot.com
Other places to find me: Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, Professional Storyteller

Marketing Storytelling Fools: 3 More Tricks We Play on Ourselves When We Don't Ask--Part 2

2009-04-15T09:33:00.000-07:00

Note: Part 1 focused on questions to ask the sponsor. Part 2 are internal questions for the storyteller. You may ask, "Why is not Part 2 then Part 1?" I believe most storytellers either want to ignore or to forget these internal questions because they are hard to answer. Some storytellers who have told for two or more decades still struggle with the following questions.

Sometimes "niche" is as naughty a word as some of the colorful language that can be heard up and down high school hallways.

Every storyteller needs to know who they are as a teller, and once we get over the shock of hearing the word "niche", then it is time to explore what it means to us. . .before we look like fools.

1. What is my niche?
If you answered "everything", then think again. You could be one of those curious people who love any subject or story that you hear. However, a sponsor asks "What kind of stories do you tell?" and expects to hear some specifics. They want to know that they can count on you as an expert to match their intended theme.

You may have more than one niche, though in the beginning there is less stress as a performing artist and as a business owner when you have one.

Remember that each niche requires its own press kit and marketing plan. Michael Port, the author of Book Yourself Solid, has urged people to have a full schedule of appointments and presentations in one niche before you add another niche.

2. I still cannot figure out my niche. Now what?
Breathe. It is perfectly natural to be confused. We are always questioning ourselves.

Here are some hints to guide you--

What types of stories/programs do you already offer? What other types of stories/programs would you like to offer?
What audiences do I tend to attract? What audiences do I wish I could attract?

It is possible that you tell so many different kinds of stories that placing labels or categories on them are difficult.

Ideally, niches delve into your passion and energy for the subject. Sometimes niches develop because you receive the same requests from various sponsors. They usually start the conversation with, "You are the person who tells ____________ kind of stories."

3. How do I find the right words to describe my niche?
There are three areas that inspire how to say what your niche entails to others--

Topic
Audience
Result

You could think these areas like T.A.R. as in the niche should stick to your mind and heart as much as the sticky black goo itself.

Though you could say "I tell ghost stories" or "I tell Appalachian ballads", this is not as strong as if you said, "I tell ghost stories to adult in order to scare their socks off." Now you have topic, audience, and result. Your name would buzz around as "the storyteller" for this kind of program.

There is a warning about result-inspired niches. The teller can only do so much to inspire their audience to "scare their socks off" or whatever kind of result chosen. The audience members will take what they will when the actual telling takes place. However, if the sponsor realizes that your intention is for the majority of the audience to react or respond a certain way due to the stories you share, then the sponsor may be more likely to hire you.

The danger is when we seem to guarantee certain results and then we fall short. We must always exceed the expectations of the sponsors.

The T.A.R. way to discover your niche can also work the opposite way. What topics, audiences, or results do you not want?

I would never recommend myself as someone who "tells ghost stories to adult in order to scare their socks off". However if someone wanted a safe yet entertaining environment to address family social concerns to middle school to college students through storytelling, then I would say, "Yes, I am an expert in that area."

At times, I wish I had a list of every storyteller in the world with their corresponding niche next to their name. Then, when I get a call or email asking for stories or programs that I do not share, then I could pass along contact information.

Perhaps this is a trick we play on ourselves as a storytelling community. What if we shared our niches with each other so to create one huge database?

In the meantime, let us focus on ourselves as individuals and encourage our friends to do likewise.

In time, "niche" will not be such a naughty word after all.

Until we tell again,

Rachel Hedman

Professional Storyteller

Former Co-Chair of Youth, Educators, and Storytellers Alliance

Tel: (801) 870-5799
Email: info@rachelhedman.com

URL: http://www.rachelhedman.com

How-To Blog: http://storytellingadventures.blogspot.com

Performance Blog: http://familyfamine.blogspot.com
Other places to find me: Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, Professional Storyteller

Marketing Storytelling Fools: 8 Tricks We Play on Ourselves When We Don't Ask--Part 1

2009-04-01T11:52:00.000-07:00

Whether you bring people to your events or whether you are the performing artist, there are certain questions we are afraid to ask--or forget to ask--that could have brought a more professional and exciting atmosphere to the whole event.

One thing is certain: We look like fools when we don't ask.

There are the normal questions that storytellers ask of sponsors such as the expected composition of the audience, the theme, or the number of people likely to attend. Sometimes the conversation between artist and sponsor seems like a blur and time is not given to these questions found below.

If you are not an artist or a sponsor, then apply to your field of industry.

1. How did you learn about me?
This is usually the first question I ask when receiving telephone calls or emails with requests. I appreciate the person currently on the line, but I also appreciate whoever might have referred me. This way I can give a personal call and thank the person who recommended me. Sometimes my thanks is in the form of giving a reduced rate for the next time I am booked. Do you know what happens as a result? I receive even more referrals.

2. How would you rate your sound system?
We have all performed at schools, libraries, or other venues that have had sound systems at least two decades old. . .or perhaps from the Jurassic period. Sometimes the feedback from the system screeches, as you would expect from a pterodactyl or a T-Rex. Unless you want to incorporate these sounds into the storytelling session such as, "There was a scream from upstairs", then be prepared to find another solution. The storyteller may have a higher quality sound system and can be notified by the sponsor to bring it. Otherwise, the sponsor may want to rent a better sound system for the day.

3. Who will be my emcee? What kind of information would they like from me?
Notice it is not "Will I have an emcee?" because I find it strange to introduce myself. I may be a storyteller who people expect to talk, but having an emcee gives the feeling that I was wanted or welcomed at this event. The sponsors who say "Go ahead. Start on your own" are usually the same ones who do not attend the event. This makes it difficult for the sponsors to reflect on the overall quality of the performance. By having an emcee, I assume that this emcee will stay the entire time and be the liaison between the audience and the venue.

The emcee determines the energy level of the session. For the shy emcee, I am willing to give an introduction card that can be read. There are also the emcees that enjoy creating their own introductions. The emcee needs to be happy. If the emcee is excited, then it will spread to the audience and on through to the storyteller.

4. What kind of picture--posed or action--would you like for your advertising literature?
Whatever picture(s) you send, you will want it to be at least 300 dpi quality. Anything less than that and it would have been better not to have a picture at all. A scanned picture is now a thing of the past with the presence of digital cameras. It is also easier than ever before to send pictures by email or to have downloadable pictures on your website as part of the online press kit.

5. What is the word count for the biography on your advertising literature?
Nowadays "advertising literature" could vary from fliers and posters to emails to websites and on to the programs. I understand if there is not room--or the proper permissions--to have pages and pages of information on the storyteller. However, nothing says respect as to when my name and website are on all advertising literature.

I am satisfied if I have five words: Professional Storyteller Rachel Hedman (www.rachelhedman.com). Most sponsors can allow five words. Ideally the sponsor's website would link to my website so potential audience members can learn more information, if desired.

Some sponsors have told me to send them "a paragraph". Then I scratch my head and wonder. . .Ernest Hemingway paragraph or J.R.R. Tolkien paragraph? I have seen paragraphs that are single-spaced and cover a page or more. Then there is the two-sentence paragraph. Word count is the easiest way to define what is meant.

6. May I have a place to have a booth to provide information? Do I need to bring my own table?
It is awkward if the permission is granted to have a booth, but you arrive and there was nothing to place the items on. One time I went to an outdoor amphitheater with permission to have a booth. The only tables in sight were picnic tables chained and bolted to cement slabs in the ground. There were tables. . .only not close to where a booth should be. Luckily, I happened to have a box and a solid-green blanket to act as table and tablecloth. It was not my most radiant booth, but it sufficed.

Some must-haves for a booth: email sign-up list, business cards, fliers, and attractive set-up. To be more popular, add a bowl of candy.

7. Could I sell my items at your event? May I have a volunteer to handle sales for me?
A storyteller can be so thrilled to officially be booked to perform that their line of merchandise is forgotten. Most sponsors expect artists to have materials in the form of books, CDs, DVDs, or wear-able items like T-shirts and caps.

School performances during the day probably will not have opportunities to sell items. The same can be said of most libraries. Yet, evening school performances when parents are around are appropriate places. Museums often have gift shops, so why not bring your own "gift shop" to your newly formed fans after hearing your stories? Having someone handle the sales as part of the contract is wonderful and allows the storyteller to chat with audience members afterward without feeling rushed.

8. Who else do you know would benefit from my storytelling services?
This question relates to question number one. Most people are willing to give referrals. When no one asks, then nothing happens. I could take this moment to say, "Hello, blog reader! Who else do you know who would benefit and enjoy reading this blog? Feel free to invite them to follow it."

Now. . .was that so hard? I know you can do the same.

9. Did I say there are 8 tricks we play on ourselves?
Then I better not say anymore, though there are so many tricks we play on ourselves. What other "tricks" do you know? Please share.

Remember that this is Part 1. Part 2 is around the corner.

Until we tell again,

Rachel Hedman

Professional Storyteller

Former Co-Chair of Youth, Educators, and Storytellers Alliance

Tel: (801) 870-5799
Email: info@rachelhedman.com

URL: http://www.rachelhedman.com

How-To Blog: http://storytellingadventures.blogspot.com

Performance Blog: http://familyfamine.blogspot.com
Other places to find me: Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, Professional Storyteller