Suggestions for Storytelling:

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I really like the advice that we received from the professional actress named Kym Mellen. She gave a presentation to a story telling retreat I attended. (Kym is a professional actor and director–and the wife of Vance a local story teller). If I can follow her advice, I can see how could help me improve my own craft. I liked how she opened her presentations with acting out a brief scene that involved crying. Not that many people can cry on demand, but since Kym can, it’s a very good thing to put on her resume. She can turn crying on like a faucet.

Her presentation was called: Stage presence and physicality. During her presentation she touched upon suggestions for storytelling.

The first point of good advice that she provided was the importance of choosing the topic of your story to match you as a teller or in her case as an actress. I can see how this advice is useful in that if I am personally attached to a story. I have a better possibility of doing a job preforming it.

Here are some of my notes on her advice. Enjoy.

–        Choose topics of stories that you emotionally relate to.

–        Choose or create something that has a beginning, middle and end.

–        Your story needs to answer what, when and why.

–        Use descriptive words that evoke the six senses.

–        Evolve your story as you tell it to try it with different perspectives or attitudes. You can then start playing around with it. Test the story from different perspectives than what you started with or add little bit of twists to see what depth and expansions can be created to your experimentation.

–        Choose something that taps into your life.

–        Each time you practice your story. Concentrate on a different approach, such as may be different words to different emotions are different thing.

–        When going to an event to either tell or to compete, be prompt and maybe even the early

–        The audience relates to stories that are revealed through real personality. Don’t Pretend.

–        Avoid things that make you less real.

–        Lose the Tommy, no peepee. Many people would stand in a way, legs pressed together, that looks like they are trying not wet themselves on stage.

–        What you wear to performance should not interfere with the purpose and theme of the story.

–        Get rid of divergence to your attire. Otherwise play with them and make them part of the story.

–        To help address stress before performance. Some people will breathe on one side there nose and exhale on the other. This often helps with tension.

–        Remember to breathe during your performance. If you’re not breathing, you’re not feeling.

–        Memory issues can be improved by breathing.

–        A way to stay nervous at a performance is to not respond to nervousness. Acknowledge it. It can motivate you to work harder and be better prepared.

–        Log all your performances.

–        There was a lot more information that’s what’s been presented here. If you ever have a chance to attend this retreat in the future, I would recommend it. At least you have a little bit of an idea of some of the information that was learned during the weekend.

There was a lot more information that’s what’s been presented here. If you ever have a chance to attend this retreat in the future, I would recommend it. At least you have a little bit of an idea of some of the information that was learned during the weekend.

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