The time it may take to become a better storyteller can vary depending on an individual’s basic skills with speaking or writing. People already possess an innate ability for communicating information by simply knowing English or whatever other language they may speak. The question about how long it may take to get better at storytelling depends on the reasons an individual has for wanting to improve on skills for being able to communicate with others in a variety of situations.
What is Storytelling?
People tend to think of storytelling as something related to fiction in books, movies, and TV shows. However, storytelling is an integral component in nearly every area of communication, including news and information, marketing and advertising, education, and business by using narration. Think of narration as a container. Narration represents the stories people tell that hold information together for helping both the person telling the story and the person listening.
Narration stitches together information into a coherent unit through relaying experiences, testimonies, and anecdotes that help people make sense of what’s being discussed by allowing them to connect with a subject. There are storytelling courses available that train students to effectively communicate with audiences in writing, teaching, and business visually, audibly, or digitally. Therefore, it might be a good idea to enroll in courses that emphasize storytelling for opening up new ways for connecting with people.
Benefits of Learning Storytelling?
With communication being at the center of delivering information, anyone can benefit from training to improve on skills in storytelling. Becoming a good storyteller can help with virtually any career or activity. Good storytelling involves developing good narrative skills, which means being able to stitch together information into an engaging tapestry.
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For example, a professor has to be able to get students to connect with the content in a lecture in order for them to understand how the course relates to their lives. Students may ask, “What will I need math for?” or “When will I ever need to use subject-verb agreement?” Well, explaining that they will need to know math, statistics, and percentages to handle their own finances with mortgages, credit cards, and taxes might get their attention. Understanding basic composition as well as being able to follow instructions for writing assignments is important when applying for jobs that usually require a cover letter that must be coherent and free of grammatical errors. Therefore, being a good storyteller can help a professor better connect with students to get them to relate to what they are learning and how the course is relevant to their everyday lives in the future.
Skills for storytelling are crucial for work related to public speaking, editing audio and video, storyboarding, marketing and advertising, or conveying public service information. Storytelling helps people connect not just for being entertained but for staying informed.
Average Time It Takes to Learn Storytelling
It’s difficult to measure the amount of time it may take to become a better storyteller since people should already have an innate capacity for communicating simply by being able to speak and write. The question of how long it may take to get better at storytelling depends on an individual's basic skills of observation, capacity for empathy, and connecting with others emotionally. Developing skills for storytelling will require some research and practice. People who would like to improve in storytelling should go in with realistic expectations and wort on developing skills they already possess.
Other Factors
Several factors play a role in becoming a better storyteller. Those elements include an individual's areas of interest, how comfortable that person feels around others, and having strong knowledge on a specific subject.
Watching and Listening to Good Storytellers
There are several outlets like YouTube and podcasts for watching and listening to good storytellers to use as models for how to approach engaging an audience. YouTube provides plenty of lectures and demonstrations from individuals with expertise in specific areas who are good at stitching information together in an engaging way. A podcast that offers a good example of storytelling would be Serial, which took the story of a teenager who had been convicted of murder and strung together a narrative that questions whether he had received fair treatment. By studying videos and podcasts, a new learner should pay attention to what speakers and hosts emphasize in making a point, how they move from one area in their topic to the next, and the tone of their voices or body language. Through observation, students should be able to adapt what they see and hear into their own repertoire for storytelling.
Using Storytelling in Everyday Life
Improving on storytelling includes a person knowing her or his strength in communication. They should pay attention to how they communicate with coworkers in both official and casual conversations. New students should also look at how they communicate through writing, noting not only how they have articulated their message but whether that message is connecting with others.
Make a Story About More Than Yourself
In order for storytellers to connect with an audience, they must be able to make people feel valued. Good speakers and writers must make a story more than just about themselves by emphasizing how the circumstances relate to or benefit the people listening to, watching, or reading the story. Everyone must be able to relate to the struggle or solution presented in the story. Good storytelling presents content that conveys understanding and how the storyteller and the audience are in this together.
Seek an Emotional Connection
Good storytellers are able to connect with their audience by stirring emotions. Emotion represents investment, and once an audience makes that emotional connection, they establish a trust with the storyteller. That emotional investment is what makes listening or reading the story worth the journey. How a narrative is arranged can create an emotional connection with the information being communicated. Otherwise, what is being heard or read may be discarded immediately.
What to Know Before Learning Storytelling
While it may seem effortless for some people, storytelling is not easy. Storytelling has likely existed since people had first begun speaking to communicate, but it is also likely that even during early stages of developing language that people had difficulties putting the right sounds or pictures together to get a point across. Today, improving on skills for storytelling in any field can help with accomplishing goals on several levels. Storytelling means creating narratives that require putting information together into a coherent bundle, which can be difficult depending on how complicated the information needs to be. That information can be raw data, video footage, audio, or content from social media. Whether it’s putting together information for a company meeting, teaching a class, or marketing a product, storytelling can help any audience better understand whatever is being discussed.
Anyone can benefit from improving skills for storytelling. Becoming a good storyteller can help in virtually every line of work or activity. People tend to associate storytelling with fiction in books or television shows. However, storytelling is an integral component with every level of communication, including news, education, marketing, and business through employing a narrative. Good storytelling involves developing good habits for being able to organize and present information.
Courses focused on storytelling may be somewhat nontraditional, so costs will vary broadly. For example, DCTV in New York City offers the live online Developing Your Story course that can train anyone interested in making documentaries in how to develop narratives that make their footage coherent for audiences at the cost of $115. At the other end of pricing, the American Management Association offers the Storytelling Power: Secrets for Exceptional Comm. live online course for $2,695. This course emphasizes storytelling for connecting with clients and customers in business. Developing skills for storytelling are crucial for public speaking, editing video and audio, storyboarding, marketing and advertising, or making public service announcements.
Can I Learn Storytelling for Free / on My Own?
While some people may be interested in improving skill for storytelling, work schedules and other obligations sometimes get in the way of being able to enroll in a traditional class. However, there are free online options available for anyone interested in finding help for improving on any skill, including telling stories. There are plenty of free and low-cost online seminars available for enhancing anyone’s skills in storytelling. Those interested can take advantage of Storytelling 101: Character, Conflict, Context & Craft, which Skillshare offers as an online training seminar for free with a 30-day trial. This course trains students for a better understanding about what makes a story captivating.
Key Takeaways
- The time it may take for becoming a better storyteller can vary depending on an individual’s aptitude with speaking or writing.
- Storytelling is an important component in every form of communication, including news, education, advertising, entertainment, and business through employing a narrative.
- Becoming a good storyteller can help with virtually any career or activity through developing good narrative skills, which means being able to stitch together information into an appealing package.
- How long it may take for learning to become better at storytelling depends on an individual’s skills of observation, capacity for empathy, or connecting with others on an emotional level.
- There are several free online options available for anyone interested in finding free or low-cost seminars for improving on any skill, including telling stories.