Storytelling Exercises

Philipp Humm

4 exercises how to become a better storyteller

Dec 20, 2020

“What exercises can I do to become a better storyteller?” –

That’s a question that I’ve been asked in every single workshop. As you would expect, crafting stories and delivering them in front of an audience is crucial.

However, there are a few exercises that you can integrate into your daily schedule to hone your storytelling skills. Below, you’ll find four exercises that I’ve found most useful for becoming a better storyteller. Leave a comment below if you’d like to see more!

1. Story spine

The story spine is a technique from improvisational theater created by Kenn Adams. You pick a random topic (link to generate a random topic) and make up a story on the spot. To train your understanding of story structures, you may follow a typical story prompt:

  • Once upon a time, there was ___.
  • Every day, ___.
  • One day ___.
  • Because of that, ___.
  • Because of that, ___. (and so on)
  • Until finally ___.
  • And every day after that ___.

Some people find the prompt helpful, others would rather follow their own structure. Feel free to use whatever works best for you! More on story structures in our article on 6 STEPS TO CRAFT A POWERFUL STORY. 

2. Watch & Critique

“Watch & Critique” is an exercise to train your observational storytelling skills and identify the practices that work best for you. In the exercise, you watch or listen to stories live (at work or leisure) or through media (television/youtube/podcasts) and review them critically. A great resource for personal stories is The Moth, an international storytelling slam that has a large library of stories on its YouTube channel and its podcast. Listen to or watch any of the stories and ask yourself:

  • What was the overall flow of the story (story arc)?
  • Which stylistic elements were used (e.g., humor, surprise, dialogue, etc.)
  • What did you like about the story?
  • What could be improved?

To see what works for other storytellers, check out 5 ELEMENTS TO MAKE YOUR STORY MORE ENGAGING.   

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3. Homework for Life

To tell great stories, you need to identify moments or events that could be turned into a story.

But how can you identify these moments?

By starting the exercise “Homework for Life” (by Matthew Dicks).

How does it work:
Each day, you reflect upon the one “story-worthy” moment of the day.
You ask yourself: “If I had to tell a story from today, what would it be?”
It doesn’t have to be a big moment, just a moment that stuck out, a moment that warmed your heart, or a moment of realization.
Write down the date and a one-sentence summary of that moment.
Every day!

What you’ll recognize:
At first, it’s not too exciting, but after a few weeks, you’ll observe a fascinating change:

  • You’ll realize that you have dozens of interesting stories
  • You’ll go through life more mindful, more open minded
  • You’ll recognize patterns in your thoughts and behavior that you have not been aware of

Spending 1-2 minutes every day on this activity will have a huge impact on improving your storytelling skills and, also, leading a happier life.

4. Dialogue impersonation

There are different styles on how to deliver a story. Some storytellers rely 100% on story structure and words. Others use their voices, bodies, and emotions. It’s your choice. However, if you want to be more memorable, you should try to incorporate basic techniques from acting in your delivery. If there are more characters in your story, you could bring them to life in the form of a dialogue. As such, pick a random topic (Here the link to generate a random topic), make up two characters (without too much thinking) and invent a dialogue between the two of them.

Start the dialogue with the first sentence of the first character. After that, turn your feet and body 90 degrees and say the first sentence of the second character. Continue to go back and forth until the scene comes to a natural end.

To make your dialogue even more compelling, try to deliver your lines as if you were the character:

  • How does he or she stand (e.g., chest out, hunched back, etc.)?
  • How does he or she speak (e.g., slowly, quickly, loudly, etc.)?
  • Any other peculiarities (e.g., blinks eyes nervously, frowns intensely)?

Conclusion

There are plenty of exercises for becoming a better storyteller. Any exercise where you put yourself in an uncomfortable situation, where you speak in front of an audience, or where you have to improvise on the spot will be helpful in honing your storytelling skills.

However, all of these require at least one other person, making it harder to practice regularly. If you want to practice at home, by yourself, the exercises highlighted above are extremely useful.
Practice them regularly, and you will become great at identifying stories, structuring them, and delivering them in the most engaging way.

Good luck, and please leave a comment below if you’d like to see more exercises to become a better storyteller!

Interested in bringing your storytelling skills to the next level? Check out our storytelling workshops, storytelling keynotes, and any upcoming online storytelling trainings.

 

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