How to tell stories so that listeners do not get bored? The talent of the narrator has been in demand at all times, starting from ancient times. Those who believe that with this skill people are born are mistaken. With some effort, any person is able to develop interesting speech skills. What is necessary for this?
Where to begin
How to tell stories to listen with pleasure? It’s worth starting with improving your own diction. Unfortunately, even the most fascinating story will not impress the audience if the person who sets it out swallows the endings of words, does not pronounce sounds clearly. The problem is solved by regular exercises that improve the mobility of the muscles of the tongue and lips. It is also useful to pronounce tongue twisters at high speed.
The narrator’s vocabulary plays an equally important role. To expand it, it is useful to read classical literature, not too lazy to clarify the meaning of obscure words in the dictionary. Finally, keeping a diary helps to structure your speech. In the notebook you can record the main events of the day, trying to make notes short, reflecting the main thing.
Exercises
How to tell stories so that others eagerly listened to them? To begin with, it is worth making a mirror for your listener, conducting monologues in front of him, touching on various topics: literature, travel, politics, and so on. The mirror will help evaluate your own gestures and facial expressions, they must be sure. It is advisable to use a voice recorder while recording pronounced monologues. After listening to the recordings, it is easier to understand the minuses and advantages of their stories.
There is another exercise that gives great results. You need to choose any (random) word, and then come up with a story, one way or another connected with it. Having stopped, for example, on the word “chair”, you should talk about this piece of furniture for 5-10 minutes. The role of the listener can still be a mirror. Exercise develops imagination, moreover, in the process of its implementation, the narrator learns to structure his own stories.
How to tell stories: the right start
Even the ancient Greek thinker Plato said that a spectacular beginning is the key to the success of the whole story. How to tell stories that can interest listeners? Much depends on the first sentence, it should introduce the audience to the essence of the story, but not affect the main intrigue.
Suppose a person wants to devote friends to a funny story that happened to him during a vacation. He should not start the story with a warning that a funny story will follow. The correct option is an immediate transition to the essence. For example, the first sentence may sound like this: “Once I crashed into a yacht on a jet ski.” After this, listeners will definitely want to know the details that the narrator will present to them in the main part of their own story.
Build-up voltage
How to tell stories is interesting, forcing the audience to catch every word? Too hasty transition to climax is a common mistake made by many inexperienced storytellers. A small introduction will only decorate the story, in a few sentences you can describe the reason for the story, your own motives, and so on. Immediately after this, a climax follows, smoothly passing into the finale.
Delaying with the most interesting part of the story is also not recommended. It is believed that the listener's attention diminishes after three minutes, so good storytellers fit in at this time. The ability to structure the story, highlight the most important and discard the superfluous is useful here. How to develop it is described above.
Time for a laugh
How to tell stories is funny? It is advisable to ensure that the first laughs from the audience arose in the first thirty seconds. Funny stories should not be overloaded with unnecessary details, of course, if the details are not full of funny moments that help to reach a climax.
It’s not necessary to try to put the story in half a minute, it is only important to saturate the first 30 seconds with funny and intriguing details. In this case, it is highly likely that listeners will want to know the continuation and their attention will not weaken until the end of the story.
In the memory of most people, only the climax of history or its final part is postponed. Therefore, it is important to carefully consider the end, otherwise the story will not be remembered as funny. Experienced speakers recommend interrupting the monologue at a time when the audience is filled with laughter.
Image creation
How to tell stories to friends in order to earn a reputation as an excellent storyteller? Stories that generate vivid images in the mind are always very popular with the audience. You need to learn to tell so that friends not only hear the words, but also present a picture of what is happening. For example, adding to your history a description of the area where it happened will help. However, do not make it voluminous, just a few well-defined characteristics.
Studies have shown that people almost always give preference to first-person stories. Whether the story is connected with the storyteller or with someone from his acquaintances, it is best to make yourself its main character. In this case, you can count on empathy with the audience, on which much depends.
Face and hands
How to tell life stories so that they make a lasting impression on the audience? Even a fascinating story, coupled with impeccable diction, will not save the story if the narrator shows absolutely no emotion. Be sure to use your face and hands, sharing with others a great story, this will help maintain interest at the proper level.
It is especially important to highlight the climax with voice and gestures. You can make a short pause, start talking louder or quieter, throw your hands up or defiantly put them behind your back - there are many options for attracting attention. However, overdoing it with emotionality is also not worth it, the story can depreciate if the listeners feel the falsity.
Confidence is the key to success
Listeners will instantly lose interest in the story, no matter how unusual it may be, if its author is not self-confident. Fear is evidenced by such moments as hesitation, a wandering gaze, excessively long pauses, trembling in the voice. It is especially important to maintain eye contact with the audience, this is considered a sign of confidence. You should also not abruptly break the story, noting that it is completely uninteresting to those around. It’s better to laugh at it together, and then transfer the conversation to another topic.
Regular practice will help get rid of unnecessary excitement. Let's say you can practice storytelling skills with close relatives or share short stories with strangers - sellers, fellow travelers, and neighbors in turn.
Foreign languages
How to tell stories in English so that they always have success with the audience? All of the above recommendations are relevant, helping to make the story lively and interesting. If the tips do not work, it is possible that the problem lies in such a “trifle” as the pronunciation of the narrator. As with poor diction, improper pronunciation can make the story too difficult to read. Audio lessons in English, watching films without translation, communicating with native speakers can help to cope with the problem .