How to Improve Storytelling Skills
Storytelling is universal. Telling stories to your children helps them gain an understanding of human nature, promotes language skills like grammar and syntax, can teach them about their culture and family history, and can even make them eager to go to bed each night just to listen. Storytelling, even when your own children are your primary audience, is an art form. It includes giving a narrative account of an event, re-telling a joke or telling a tale. Good storytelling in all cases includes some basic elements. Start with an attention getter, keep the narrative flowing, and avoid digressions. Even when you are telling stories to your own children, keeping these things in mind will enhance your child's listening experience.
Instructions
Grab their attention. Getting your audience's attention can be as simple as bursting in the door at home, yelling "Hey kids, guess what!" or as complex as beginning formal storytelling with a line that focuses your children's attention and prepares them for action to come. Opening lines could include something like, "Learning to drive was an ordeal for me," or "On the morning of 9/11, I went to work as usual." If you are a grandparent, "When your mom was your age..." or "When your dad was your age..." can be riveting, especially if you are telling about things your child would rather have forgotten. Plan your story in advance. If you are telling a nursery tale or other traditional story, read through it a couple of times to refresh your memory of all the main points. If you are telling your family about something personal, use odd moments during your day, such as commuting time, to run over the story in your mind or even to rehearse it aloud. That way when you break the big news about a promotion or relate a funny event that happened at work, you have worked out exactly how to tell your story to the best effect. Vary your voice according to the content of the story. Use a tense dramatic voice for moments of intensity, or a lazy, relaxed voice to emphasize how beautiful or languorous it was to lounge on a beach. Select, and stick to, a particular vocal style for each character. If you've told a story once, and your child asks to hear it again, you know that you have reached your audience with a credible performance.
