How to tell a captivating story

Storytellers deliver their art with the same precision as a singer who masterfully delivers a spellbinding song.

We’ve all heard a song that reached into our heart at some point. You don’t just hear it, you feel it. Musicians practice note quality, pitch, inflections, dynamics, nuances, and phrasing in hopes that their music will bypass the listener’s ears and enter their soul. When this is done well, the result is often an emotional experience.

The same holds true of a master storyteller. Anyone can repeat a story, but only the accomplished can captivate an entire audience and lead them through an imagination theater of one’s own mind.

You can become a master storyteller through the following tips.

#1 - Stories start long before you say your first word.

Set the stage for your children by creating an atmosphere of expectation. From the moment family night begins, you have the ability to transport your children into a world of creativity where they enter the stage of their imagination.

#2 - It's not just the story you are telling, it's the entire family night experience.

You weave the story into every aspect of the evening through your presence, enthusiasm, energy level, and engagement.

#3 - It's not just what you say, but how you say it.

If you are boring and half-committed, your children will be twice as bored and apathetic. If you are totally into it, they can’t help but follow your lead. Modeling is in their nature.

Approach family night like a mini-camp, and think of yourself as a camp counselor that’s always one step ahead of your children. Utilize that mindset as you view the entire evening as a giant story from beginning to end. You are the master storyteller incorporating each event of the evening into an overall narrative that funnels your children's energy into the pages of your script. That makes you the ring leader, (never forget whose in charge) and your kids will hang on your words like the Pied Piper because you are so much fun follow!

Together, we can do this,

Deanna

It's time to come home.