A Better Storyteller in Five Ways
Jesus spoke all these things to the crowd in parables; he did not say anything to them without using a parable. Matthew 13:34 Know Your Audience—Who will I be telling to in this moment? What makes this group unique? How do they hear story? Find out as much as you can about your audience. They will cease to be strangers as you enter into that moment of storytelling. Prepare and Pray—The best storyteller is the one that has prepared. Rehearse with your whole body before a mirror. Believing the...
Read MoreGift Seven: Letting a Story Inside
Letting a story inside is one of the most wonderful and dangerous places one can go with storytelling—whether telling or listening. I can remember the stories that I have let inside my heart, mind and soul and to this day I can vividly recall the moment of their telling. Some are from as early as my elementary years with my teacher reading The Five Little Peppers after lunch recess. My young teen years when I heard chapters of “The Diary of Anne Frank” powerfully read aloud. And still others...
Read MoreGift Six: Perspective and Validation of Our Story
In Dale Carnegie’s book, How To Win Friends and Influence People, he states that one of the greatest needs human beings have is validation—“a feeling of importance”—as Mr. Carnegie describes it. Listen Here A story, in its short moments, can unload a great deal of truth about our value, importance. The person sitting next to us, during the short moments of its telling, would have no idea that a huge searchlight was shining upon our life. At the same time, a story can give us a generous pat...
Read MoreGift Five: Re-gifted Reading
Have you ever picked up a game that you haven’t played for a long time and it was like a new game? It was so fun and you couldn’t believe how well you played it. In fact, you won! Have you ever hopped on a bike, a scooter, a pogo stick, laced up a pair of skates (after years of not using these) and managed to stay on it/them and not fall or provide an “America’s Funniest Video” for a future show? What feeling of euphoria! “Oldie-Smoldie!” you said sarcastically with a puffed up sense of...
Read MoreGift Four: Truth and Ah-hahs!
There is a mirror near my front door that I pass by every day. Sometimes… several times a day. It’s handy too. I can smooth my hair, put on a dash of lipstick, and check my reflection before dashing or opening the door to a familiar or not-so familiar someone. There have been times when the reflection has checked me, if you know what I mean. I’ve looked at a worried face, a hurried person, a confused face placing something in the mail basket that sits beneath the mirror. Ah-hahs… Gift Four:...
Read MoreGift Three… Connection and Community
Now, this wonderful gift of connection and community could apply to many things in our lives. We are a culture that is losing its front porch, actively lending a helping hand to a neighbor, holding the door open, the social graces of waiting your turn, “please” and “thank you,” and the list goes on and on. Small as these may be, they are a connection to our greater community of human kind. We assume we’re connected in every way possible, yet we can drag around a gnawing sense of disconnect...
Read MoreGift Two: Creativity and Imagination
Your Story Matters is a blog dedicated to encouraging you as a storyteller and as a writer, no matter where you are in these giftings. You may be young or old, naïve or wise in these gifts. Stay open to learning and building these gifts. And as my blog builds, we’ll find ways to communicate our thoughts concerning our storytelling and writing within the context of our faith in God. Right now, it feels like a one-sided conversation we’re having. The blog is new and maybe you’re new to the...
Read MoreGift One—Rest and the Shh-ing of Your Soul
Welcome back… I am so grateful that you have returned to read my blog. If you are new to Your Story Matters, it is my desire to encourage you as a storyteller, as a writer, and, together, find ways to communicate our thoughts concerning stories within the context of our faith in God. Over the next several blogs, I’d like to share The Seven Gifts of Story. Ponder them with me and let’s see where they take us. Gift One—Rest and the Shh-ing of Your Soul...
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