By Shay Thieberg
Types Of Storytellers
You are probably here to find out which kind of storyteller you are, so you can either skip to the end and find out or stay for 3 paragraphs in order to get to know me better and learn more about storytelling.
Oh, you stayed with me! I’m grateful for your time so let me make the most of it. My name is Shay and no, I’m not Shy at all. Since I was a little boy in Israel, stories were my way of getting myself out of trouble or achieving the unachievable. Growing up with a father who has a video creation business, by the age of ten I knew how to use the Avid system to edit my class videos. The skills of video editing together with storytelling is a powerful tool that I use to this day.
I discovered that I’m a storyteller pretty late in my life. I always knew I was good at writing and getting people’s attention, but I never knew that I would make it a living. Today I help businesses and individuals tell a story that they already have. Each one of us has a unique story, but not all of us know how to tell it.
I see you stayed till this paragraph so before I tell you which kind of a storyteller you are, I want to give you my 3 golden rules for a great story:
1. A great story involves emotions – talking about feelings provokes feelings, which is exactly what you want.
2. You don’t have to be the owner of the story to tell it – you do need to know who is going to listen which will help you determine how to tell it.
3. Create a creative Honeypot – remember the goal of the first sentence is to make the listener want to hear the second sentence.
Welcome to the last paragraph where I will tell you which kind of storyteller you are. The way I see it, there are two kinds of storytellers: Those born with it and those who learned and practiced it. You are probably asking yourself which one is better. That is a good question but the truth is that each one has its pros and cons. Born storytellers are very authentic and natural in achieving their goals using stories. Those who learned it, know how to manipulate and use the right skills of storytelling for different occasions.
The problem with the born storytellers is that they are not always aware that they are storytelling. The problem with the ones who learned it is they sometimes find it difficult to be authentic.
So yes if you were born a natural storyteller and you also learned how to master it you have an advantage (a rare commodity). Don’t panic though, learning and practicing storytelling will get you to a point where storytelling is like brushing your teeth and at that point, both natural-born and those who are taught are the same. Every skill is learnable you just need the opportunity to share and practice it – Tell a story.
The takeaway from this article should be that it doesn’t matter which kind of storyteller are you, the only thing that’s matters is who tells the story. Each storyteller develops their own unique way and that is what is so special about stories.
