WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW
Find The Beginning of Your Story by Examining How It Ends.
Last week, I started an interesting piece on telling stories the captivating way and I am concluding this wonderful two weeks’ series today. But, before I continue, please follow the link to read last week’s piece on story telling.
Once you’ve identified the transformative five-second moment of your story, you’ll also have discovered how your story ends. Why? Well, not only is this moment the heart of your story, but it's also the pinnacle and purpose of your tale, so it needs to come as close to the end as possible. But don’t breathe a sigh of relief yet because the hardest part of storytelling is still ahead of you. Now that you know how to end your story, you must decide how to begin it.
Importantly, finding the right place to start your personal story involves looking back over your life experiences and selecting the most illuminating moments from which to begin your narrative. This is difficult because most of us will have a lot of moments from which to choose.
How Can You Make the Right Choice?
First, you must remind yourself how your story ends. In other words, what happens in your five-second moment? Then ask yourself: what is the very opposite of this moment of revelation, realization or transformation? Quite simply, your story’s beginning needs to be the complete opposite of its end. This opposition is vital because it helps to construct a satisfying arc within your narrative, and this arc is how your story will demonstrate change over time.
For instance, consider a romantic comedy whose opening scenes show a young woman being fired from her job in a bank and her banker boyfriend running off with her female best friend. Surely we already have an idea of how this film will end? Almost inevitably, our dejected heroine will find a new lover who is the very opposite of a banker – an artist, perhaps. She will find a new job in a very different environment to a bank – opening a bakery, maybe. Finally, she will make a new best friend, but one very different from the one who betrayed her, such as an open-hearted gay man. In other words, if you want to know how a movie will end, simply work out what’s the opposite of the first quarter of an hour, and you’ll probably have a pretty accurate answer. Your story should be no different.
There Are Some Crucial Do’s and Don’ts for Immersing Your Audience in A Story.
Telling a good story means taking your audience on the journey with you. Where? To the moments in time when your story takes place. You want them to feel like they’re right there with you in the midst of your tale, seeing the sights, hearing the sounds and feeling the sensations that you felt when it was happening.
But if all this sounds like a big task, don’t worry. Luckily, there are some important do’s and don’ts that will help you provide an immersive experience for your audience. Importantly, one way to take your audience with you is to use the present tense. Don’t start with, “I was on a train last year . . .” But with something like “I am on a train, and my whole body is shuddering from its forward momentum.”
Using the present tense in storytelling creates a feeling of immediacy for your audience. They are also transported onto that train, looking at you in real-time. The present tense sucks the reader into the period the storyteller wants them to occupy and brings them much closer to the key moments.
Now You Know What You Should Do to Immerse Your Audience in Your Narrative, But What Are the Things That You Should Avoid?
Crucially, don’t ask your audience any rhetorical questions. Doing so will only invite your audience to mentally come up with an answer to the question. When this happens, you will have managed to transform your storytelling session into a question-and-answer exercise instead. Your audience is reminded that they’re not on that train but in the room with you, thinking about that pesky rhetorical question.
Another no-no for storytellers is addressing the audience. This is something you shouldn’t do. Ever. For instance, when you address your audience by saying, “ok folks, have I got a story for you!” Then the immersive experience is over for the listener. They become suddenly aware of the storyteller standing before them, the fact that they are being addressed, and the other audience members on either side of them. So, don’t talk to your audience and certainly don’t ask them any questions. Instead, just tell them your story – preferably in the present tense.
Help Your Storytelling Career by Avoiding Swearing and Vulgarity.
When I write stories on this blog, I’m always careful about the words I use. Why? Because I know how important it is to preserve my reputation and that of the blog within the storytelling community. You’d be hard-pressed to find any swearing, profanity or criticism of my employer or colleagues in any narratives. Importantly, if you want to be a successful storyteller, you’ll have to be careful about what you say to the audience and how you say it.
Whether you’re at a wedding or in a theater, the particular words you use to tell your story will have an impact on your audience’s opinion of you. With this in mind, try not to swear too much. Steering clear of swearing in your stories will help give them mass appeal. If you do decide to use swearing in your stories, don’t expect to get invited to speak at corporate, family or school events. So think carefully before you drop the f-bomb – you might be detonating your career potential.
Additionally, it's not just swearing that you should avoid if you want to impress others with your storytelling. Try to avoid vulgarity too. Being vulgar means describing profane events, whether these events are sexual in nature or involve any other sort of bodily fluid. Although you might think you’re helping your audience create a mental image by describing these things in great detail, the reality is that you’re probably just disgusting them.
When selecting the words to tell your story, make sure that what seems authentic and honest to you does not come over as profane to your audience. Remember, a little restraint can go a long way in helping your storytelling career.
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