SMART Volunteering-Storytelling Guide

• Effective stories are the ones that make people stop and think . • A story should reflect a style idiosyncratic to the storyteller. Every single one is unique, and when the presentation of a story seems original and well-crafted, it brings out more clearly the interest that can be shown in the person sharing it. • As we said in the first part, effective stories should have elements of challenge/conflict and leave resolution to the end. These elements make a story interesting and inspiring. Pay attention to the title you are going to give to your story, identify the main idea and transform it into an eye-catching title, which makes you want to take an immediate interest in it, because it seems new and relevant. • Storytelling is not only information sharing ; an effective and attractive story should also evoke emotions. To arouse public curiosity, use for example intriguing and provocative questions to show that some things make no sense and that they need to be explained. And what an incredible power it is to be able to choose how WE want to interpret, analyse, experience this event in THIS way! It is up to each person to live a given situation in the best way, the one that will allow them to evolve and move forward. « I have learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel » (Maya Angelou) In this continuity and to stimulate curiosity, there is also a concept that works very well, that of unforeseeability. The concept of unpredictability A good story keeps the suspense going: where will it end? What’s going to happen? Generally, we know how to create suspense and enjoy sharing a tale that keeps the viewer on the edge of his or her seat. This can come from the history itself, rare: collected in a distant country, received as a gift... Are welcome stories that learn something new, that bring a new point of view. But sometimes this story is common. In some cultures on the African continent, the story is well known to the audience. Nothing will be decided on the surprise of the fall. The art of the storyteller is then to « know and forget ». Knowing the story to run its course smoothly. And at the same time tell the second present, refuse to go faster than the story. To experience each discovery of a character as if we were discovering at the same time as him. Engage in a battle without knowing yet who will win. Thanks to this surprise at everymoment of our statement, the audience can remain captivated, suspended. The art of narrative practitioners also includes the ability to marvel at information as a rare gem. Without imagining what would happen next. Open to surprise . And we must not forget that a tale has as its specificity, compared to cinema, theatre, that it is made of a living material brought half by the storyteller, and half by the audience. The tale, in its simplest version, shared today with such an audience will not be the same as the «same» tale shared elsewhere tomorrow, neither in its terms nor in its order... -13-