Category: Communication

Storytelling Preparation Tips! (Post 2 in Series)

In the first post of storytelling series I shared about the art of storytelling and how can we learn this art of storytelling. In this post I’ll share some storytelling preparation tips. Story telling is not just reading out a story. It’s a serious business. The way you tell a story can win or lose a battle for you as a speaker. Before you tell a story you need to work on the guidelines of storytelling. Following are some tips to make your Storytelling session better. 1. Purpose of the story: Storytellers tell stories for some reason. Ask yourself why you want to tell the story, what is the purpose for it. If you know the reasons, you can easily pick up a story which will help you to drive the point to the audience. A relevant story has the ability to take the audience where you want them to reach. 2. Master the story: Master the story inside out before you tell it. To master the story identify the three parts of the story, the beginning, the plot/body and the conclusion. If you know the story, it’ll be easy for you to present the same effectively. 3. Empower Imagination: Visualization is a great tool. It helps people understand better. To make the story visible to the audience a storyteller needs to visualize it first. Use your imagination to create various characters. If you can visualize the characters, their emotions, the situation they are in, their attire, their tastes, only then you can make your audience see it. Use your body (Gestures & Body language) and voice as tools to help audience visualize it. 4. Beginning: How we start defines the journey. The same holds right for a story too. Like we have explained in previous post about storytelling – the art, the beginnings matter. 5. Conflict: Conflict is a spicy food that feeds the listeners. 6. End: When the story is over make sure you end it too. Don’t just keep going. Let the audience know the story is over without you telling it to them. 7. Practice the Story: Before you tell story practice in front of a mirror or in front of your friends and ask for their feedback. I know a number of speakers watching their video recordings to improve and improvise in their next workshops. It is told that Adolf Hitler, before going to deliver any speech, was used to practice different styles to deliver the speech in front of a mirror. And look how he grew the ranks in Post WW-1 Germany. 8. Time the Pause: As you tell the story take your time and give time to your audience. A well timed Pause will give audience a chance to understand verbal and non-verbal components of the story. 9. Make it Interesting: Make the story interesting to the audience. You can change your voice describing the different characters. Modulation can help you to give different meaning. 10. Don’t Copy: If someone is popular don’t try and imitate him. You are unique and you have your own style. Find your style; there are people who will love your style. So these are the points to prepare for a great storytelling session. I hope you enjoyed reading them and will use them in your next training/ public speaking sessions. Do share your views and the difference you could bring by these tips.

The Art of Storytelling (Post 1 in series)

I am sure when you saw this blog title; you were quickly thinking about your childhood stories. The favorites, the inspiring and those which always helped you fell asleep. The bed time stories, the lesson driven stories and those which inspired us and instilled values which are still with us. Stories are amazing, they are relevant, they are believable and they are always remembered. What makes a ‘story’ interesting? Is it the content or the message? It is the narrator. The story teller – is simply an amazing person who has mastered the art of Storytelling. Did you know that storytelling is an art; or you believe that it is a technique? Can we learn ‘The Art of Storytelling’?   Storytelling is an art but here I am trying to take it as a very effective technique of communication that if told well can make the message easy to understand and remember. A story teller uses the listener’s brain as a canvas to paint the picture through words which involve a message and hence a learning. To become a good public speaker it is a must to learn and master the art of storytelling as stories not only cuts the age barriers between the speaker and the audience it also keep them interested in the communication. When I planned to write about Storytelling – to learn this art as a communication technique, I had so much to share with you all. And that’s why I planned a series on storytelling and here we start. In this series I’ll explain the basics of storytelling, the technique to learn this art and will share how to master the art of storytelling.  What is Story Telling? Storytelling is an art of using words and actions to encourage the imagination of the listener in order to convey the story/ event interestingly. It is like empowering imagination to make it more relevant to allow the message to get engraved.  How to tell a story? Beginning: “The beginning is the most important part of the work. -Plato” This is the first step of storytelling wherein the story teller sets the stage and introduces the various characters of the story. Usually storytellers start the story with phrases like “Once upon a time.. or I want to tell a story..” and the storytellers pause to gather his thoughts. Storyteller uses this time to take his audience to the imaginary world where they can see the various characters themselves. Beginning is important as that defines and mostly decides the interest levels of your audiences. Example: Once there was a Rabbit and a Tortoise. They had an argument that amongst them who is faster. Main Plot/Body: This is the second part of the story where the storyteller builds the story on the conflicts between the various characters and how the conflict gets resolved. Here the listener feels emotions like anxiety and curiosity, the interest levels rose as they want to know what happens next. It is like planning a Training Module which doesn’t gets boring in the mid-way. Example: They decide a race…Rabbit takes a lead…Rabbit sleeps under the shade…Tortoise keep on walking…Tortoise wins the race. Conclusion: It’s not necessary to always conclude the story. Let listeners go away thinking about the story and draw their conclusions. But it is always recommended to suggest the take away points, the lessons learnt and the knowledge gained. Example: Slow and steady wins the race. Giving up is never an option. So think about your favorite childhood story and cherish the lessons you still practice.

Why Need a Training Style?

I am sure you all must have thought about – qualities of a trainer, the must possess training abilities but what makes a trainer stand out, what makes him/her approachable for the trainees. A good trainer is one who is a continuous learner and that is what a trainer enforces his trainees to follow always. Learning about the training styles holds great importance for a trainer. We must all know & explore the training ability, the methodology and about the learners. For what may work for ‘A’ bunch of trainees, might not work for the ‘B’ bunch of trainees. The learning ability of your trainees should be assessed and accordingly a training style shall be followed for the particular program. You may be a very participative trainer but there may be some trainees who are not able to grasp things that way, they may be slow learners who need academic guidance before the activities. Some may be plain introverts who take time to learn in group dynamics. So are you reaching out to your learners? Are you leaving an impact? Do you deliver & impart training – exactly as you would like to be taught? Or you are thinking of trying something new! Let us understand why Training Style is significant Why Discover? – To Impart Effectively Why discovering your training style is important? It is important for self-improvement, for better learning and development, to improvise your skill-set and to go with the flow. Training is ever evolving. Technology for say, is adding on the training aids, making it more relevant and exciting. We need to discover the style to assess the right proportion & mix of training aids and trainer delivery. What you may teach a visual or video may not. You need to assess which training aid works best with your training style. Also it helps in adaptation & customization of training programs. From examples to slides, everything needs a certain customization – not just to your style of delivery but also with your audience. The merit of the customers, their interest levels, the program orientation and the purpose of the program you are a trainer for, all these aspects shall be well captured and to evolve forever as a trainer – discovering your merits and upgrades in L & D is a must. Discovery of your style, training aids, market needs all these are significant and this discovery helps a trainer to impart effectively. How to Choose your Training Style? We need to choose the training style. It is good to have a standard training style but you must choose the training style based on the factors involved in a particular training exercise. Following should be the factors which one must take into account for choosing a training style – Learners/ Trainees: A training style shall be adopted keeping in mind the learners. Their level of experience, qualification and previous sessions attended. Also to be kept in mind is their job profile, the skill-set required in the work conditions etc. Duration of Training: A training style shall also be selected on the basis of training duration, the hours allotted for a program and a particular subject. You may adopt a facilitation training model for the basic understanding of subject but a participator style is good if you have a good number of hours for the similar subject – which will empower the module through practical ways of imparting training. Content & Skill-set of Trainer: Content holds important in training style as the trainer need to devise the module & aids according to the content. Like Negotiation can be best taught through Role Plays but Leadership can be best imparted through Examples. Here, the trainer must also ascertain the skill-set and his comfort & confidence level. So think about & share your style?