Creating a Youth Storytelling Community One Kid at a Time

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:

1. Build an Event for Youth
2. Develop Reunions and Gatherings
3. 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

Global Story Sisterhood Relations: 3 Ways to Become Family

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:

• National Storytelling Network
• International Storytelling Center
• Storytellers of Canada/Conteurs du Canada
• Society for Storytelling
• Federation for European Storytelling (FEST)
• Australian Storytelling Guild
• Storytelling Association (Singapore)
• Zamaleo ACT
  
• And the list could go on and on

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

Teen Tellers Speak Out: Leaders of Now & Future

Storytelling thrives when one person passes the torch to another. Some storytellers worry that, at any moment, the torch of leadership may be dropped due to a generation gap since it seems most storytellers are 50 years of age or older. These fears are unfounded when you look upon the amazing youth finalists at the National Youth Storytelling Showcase and the trail-blazing youth tellers forming storytelling clubs.

Four outstanding teenagers—Rixon Lane of South Carolina, Stephanie Strauss of Texas, Chloe Clunis of Florida and Jeremy Evans of Florida—demonstrated five key areas on how to keep stories burning within other youth tellers during the Smoky Mountain Storytelling Festival on February 3, 2007. Please see bios of presenters at bottom.

Five areas to have stories burn within others:

1. Explaining “Storytelling” to Peers
2. Finding Stories
3. Searching for Guilds/Clubs/Coaches
4. Sharing/Marketing the Storytelling Opportunity
5. Building Positive Self-Perception of Telling Personal Tales

Explaining "Storytelling" to Peers
The storytelling community tends to avoid defining storytelling, though this is something that Strauss, Clunis, Evans, and Lane find imperative to connect with their peers. Strauss tells other classmates, “Storytelling has the drama of theatre, the vibrancy and color of a painting, the physicality of sculpting, and the reality of photography. Storytelling is giving something personal to the audience.”

Clunis felt it best to show someone what storytelling is before there can be any understanding. She has a “30-second commercial” in which she recites a poem with the facial expressions, gestures, and voice inflections often found in storytelling.

Evans said, “Storytelling is the weaving of images through the mind.” Lane added that when watching TV or a movie—no matter what your imagination power—you couldn’t change the images. Lane continued, “Storytelling is magical—I can’t think of another art form where the audience is so involved.”

Finding Stories
Once youth are hooked on the potential and excitement of the art, then it’s time to find stories. Strauss tells mostly poignant stories, but likes to be prepared with ones that fall into the humor category, too. Sometimes the audience needs to laugh and sometimes the audience needs to think. Often, an audience needs to experience both emotions.

Clunis queried, “What type of a storyteller are you? What types of stories are you comfortable telling?” A “comfortable” story is one that has drawn you to it.

Evans admitted that pretty much all of his stories are funny except for a couple serious ones. He often divides the types of stories into two groups: stories good for 2^nd graders and younger and stories good for 3^rd graders and up (to include senior citizens).

Searching for Guilds/Clubs/Coaches
At some point, youth tellers will want to find a support group and/or a mentor so as to hone skills. Sometimes, a local storytelling club is not available. Clunis recommended searching within the school. “Find the best teacher and then plead, beg, perform—whatever you need to do—to convince them to be a club sponsor.”

When convincing other youth to join, Clunis uses three selling points: members will feel the magic of storytelling, members will be able to travel to tell at venues, and members could get paid. The “paid” part is always told under the breath with a couple winks.

Strauss acknowledged that she lived in the middle of nowhere. The club gathering was small yet had a positive atmosphere that anything anyone did was great.

Some youth tellers turn to coaches. “People feel they need coaches,” remarked Lane. When thinking of a coach, Lane pictured a woman who “radiated drama” and feared that what the coach would want him to do would be different than what he, the teller, wanted to do. Evans agreed that coaches could be controlling and a “coach would want me to listen to them.” Evans smiled and continued, “Now, if I don’t like something, I don’t listen to it!”

Sharing/Marketing the Storytelling Opportunity
For the serious youth teller, it is never too early to have a website and to have business cards. Lane is in process of creating a website with the help of a friend. He advised, “You need people to know about you if you’re going to get a job.”

Yet, nothing can replace the power of word-of-mouth. Evans noted that librarians talk to each other, whether on a local level or at events such as young author conferences or library conferences. To build rapport with librarians, Clunis joked that she returned her books on time. She knew Miss Margaret the Librarian since she was nine-years-old. Later, this relationship led to performances.

Strauss recommended that a youth teller should become familiar with the newspaper Arts section and discover the staff writer who would cover storytelling events. She also encouraged to find the character education coordinators in the schools. Strauss found these people a smart alliance and said, “I was the peanut butter of their bread and we stuck together.”

Building Positive Self-Perception of Telling Personal Tales
Youth can have confidence in their marketing skills until it comes to selling themselves on the idea of telling personal tales. Folktales, fairy tales, or stories told by national storytellers seem easier to perform.

Lane observed that new youth tellers feel that their lives are not interesting enough to include in storytelling programs. At the 2006 National Youth Storytelling Showcase, Lane told about his experiences in Little League baseball. This invitation proved to Lane that he had stories within him that the audience wanted to hear.

Strauss added, “You don’t have to rake your brain like older storytellers.” She noticed that national storytellers often told stories that happened to them as eight or eleven-year-olds. With fresh memories, youth tellers have the advantage of telling stories that occurred the day or month before.

Strauss, Clunis, Evans, and Lane are four teenagers who continue to carry torches of leadership to their peers. May the flame of hope burn bright within all our youth.

Biographies of Presenters: (order left to right in pictures)

Rixon Lane is a 14-year-old storyteller from Woodruff, South Carolina with storytelling experiences since the age of three. He has been a featured teller for several years in South Carolina’s Stone Soup Storytelling Festival. On his 10^th birthday, Rixon won his age division in the National Youth Storytelling Olympics, leading to his participation in the Youthful Voices performances at the 2002 National Storytelling Festival. In July 2004, he was a keynote speaker at the National Storytelling Conference in Bellingham, Washington.

Stephanie Strauss , graduating senior and class salutatorian, is from Midland, Texas. She has been telling for eight years and is annually a featured teller at the Celebrations of Light Festival. She performed in the 2003 Youthful Voices concert at the National Storytelling Festival and was invited to perform there again in 2006. Also in 2006, she was honored as the National Youth Storytelling Showcase Grand Torchbearer. She hopes to bring storytelling to the Ivy League next year at Harvard.

Chloe Clunis is in the 8^th grade and was the 2005 National Youth Storytelling Showcase Grand Torchbearer. She later performed at the National Storytelling Festival in 2006 and made special appearances at the Florida Storytelling Camp and the Ocala Storytelling Festival. In September 2006, she served as a youth teller ambassador in China. She would like to be a journalist and own a chain of bookstores.

Jeremy Evans recently graduated high school in Weirsdale, Florida. His appreciation for storytelling began with his dad’s wild bedtime stories. Listening to people like David Holt and Bobby Norfolk added fuel to the fire. At the age of 12 he told his first story. From that time, the best part of storytelling has been his ability to make the audience laugh. He is a member of the Ocali Storytelling Guild. In 2004 Jeremy became the National Youth Storytelling Showcase Grand Torchbearer.

Until we tell again,

Rachel Hedman
Professional Storyteller
Co-Chair of Youth, Educators, and Storytellers Alliance
(801) 870-5799
rachel@storytellingadventures.com
http://www.rachelhedman.com/
http://www.yesalliance.com/

Make a Presence in the Community

Regardless of how long I have told stories, there is always a need to make a presence in the community. When I moved from Fresno, CA to Salt Lake City, UT, I had to let the area know that I have been telling stories for over 12 years.

This has not been my first time to move and re-start my storytelling career. Most of the time I was content with the slow-cooker method of spreading the word. With a logo created within the past month, I finally feel I can be more aggressive in marketing.

Fortunately, my time in California has been wonderful and I am still invited at least twice a year to tell stories or teach workshops. What a compliment when people are willing to fly you out rather than turn to the many local tellers!

For anyone who has had to move or will have to move, I suggest that you find the closest storytelling guild.

I admit that I am not a full-time storyteller though I plan to be in the future. Half of my time I work for Aflac. Yet, rather than settle in with a job, I first search for the storytelling guild. The friendships and mentorships found in these places are valuable. I credit much of my success and progress to the Brigham Young University Storytelling Club, the Voices of the Valley Storytelling Guild in California, and the Utah Storytelling Guild.

If you need to find a guild close to you, I would be happy to assist in your search. Feel free to contact me.

Rachel Hedman
Professional Storyteller
Co-Chair of Youth, Educators, and Storytellers Alliance
(801) 870-5799
rachel@storytellingadventures.com
http://www.rachelhedman.com