How to tell a captivating story — from a wedding toast to a job interview

Sarah Austin Jenness, the executive producer of The Moth, an organization and podcast dedicated to teaching and promoting the craft of storytelling, shares her step-by-step guide on how to tell a story, from an idea to delivery. Stories help us relate to each other and build community, say Jenness.

Storytelling Basics

A story is more than a scene or an anecdote. It has a beginning, a middle, and an end.

• It has tension, tension, and a transformation.
• These are the basic elements that make an anecdote blossom into a full-bodied story.

Storytelling is about connection

Keep it short and tight

• The purpose of storytelling is to engage with others
• It’s not about taking the spotlight for the entire time you are with someone
• You want to offer a jumping-off point for someone else to share their own story

Select a meaningful story

Think back to moments in your life that really shifted you in some way.

• Ask yourself, “Why did that moment stick with me? What about that moment was important to me?”
• You start to see patterns of your story arise
• Big decisions are a good place to find stories; so are embarrassing moments and mistakes

Ask yourself if you’re ready to share the story.

Signs you might not be ready to tell a story publicly

• If you get stuck on one scene and aren’t able to come out of it because you’re reliving it – this can happen with traumatic events and could be a sign of post-traumatic stress disorder.
• If it’s tough to find an ending to a story, it may mean that you’re still living it.

Develop your story

Where were you (physically, mentally, emotionally) in that moment? How did it impact your life? What were the results?

• Boil your story down to one sentence that helps focus what it’s really about
• Remember that in any great story you’re also sharing the thoughts and feelings running through you during those events

Practice, practice, practice and practice again

Don’t memorize your story.

• Learn the words you want to use for the beginning and end of your story, but keep your notes in between as bullet points so you have your most important elements well-rehearsed.

Figure out the structure

Start in the action of the story to draw people in

• From there, ask yourself if you’ll tell your story in chronological order, or if you’ll start at the end and find your way back to the beginning
• Don’t worry about getting too fancy with the structure

Understand how you’ve changed by the end

The key to a good ending is showing the audience your transformation over the course of the story, even if it’s a slight transformation

• There’s the “you” we met in the beginning, and there’s the you we met at the end

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