• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Great Garden Speakers

  • Home
  • About
  • Search Speakers
  • Search Talks
  • Upcoming Events
    • Submit Event
    • Edit Events
    • Edit Locations
  • Learning Center
    • General FAQ
    • Program Manager Tips
    • Speaker Tips
  • Contact
  • Member Login
    • Become A Member
    • Support
    • Buy Spotlight Ad

10 TIPS FOR STORYTELLING

June 9, 2022 By Jenny Peterson

Storytelling is not just for children—it’s one of the oldest forms of communication throughout history. Storytelling is how we learn, and it’s infinitely more personal and relatable than simple facts, figures, or even images. So what is it, why should we be learning how to tell stories, and most importantly, how can we learn to tell a good story?

Why is storytelling important?

Storytelling is an effective way to not only communicate with your audience, but to connect with them on a personal level. When people connect with you as a fellow human being, they listen to what you are saying and trust what they are hearing from you. Storytelling is an ideal way to:

  • Begin your presentation
  • Break up your presentation with a relatable experience
  • Help your audience to authentically “buy in” to what you are saying
  • Create a sense of community on social media
  • Have people get a peek behind the scenes
  • Create emotional involvement and engagement

10 Tips for Mesmerizing Storytelling

We really love storytelling over here and have observed many examples over the years of powerful and effective storytelling both in live presentations, recorded video, and social media posts. Here are some of our favorite tips:

  1. Tell your own story: Of why you started gardening, a huge problem you had and how you solved it (using the garden?), a profound lesson you have learned along the way, etc. This is a powerful feature to include in a presentation, but don’t forget about social media posts, too. Write your story in a post or a “micro blog” ( a longer than typical post) and include one powerful image or use this as a way to introduce yourself periodically.
  2. Include a hero and a nemesis: This age-old technique uses conflict between the story’s hero and their rival/nemesis/enemy, typically ending in triumph at the end. The enemy could be a garden pest, the rival could be a neighbor who didn’t initially support growing veggies in the front yard, the nemesis could be a disease/injury/condition that changed the way the hero lived/gardened/found happiness.
  3. Use images: Great Garden Speaker David E. Perry calls himself a “visual storyteller,” and uses his photography to create stories. Do yourself a favor and attend one of David’s presentations to experience how he does this. He never reads off of text on a slide, and expertly and seamlessly rolls through evocative images while he is speaking. If you’re using this technique on Instagram, for example, choose 5 images for your post that “tell a story” and then be descriptive in your caption.
  4. Have a positive takeaway: It could be funny, touching, educational, but make it positive and memorable. What’s the lesson learned? What problem does the story solve for the listener?
  5. Think like a Budweiser or Superbowl commercial: Those commercials are famous for telling stories that make people think, cry, laugh, or feel nostalgic/wistful/grateful/happy, and they often don’t even use words. Remember the Budweiser commercial about the lost puppy? Without a single word spoken, Budweiser crafts a tale of the importance of friends having your back. Whether you’re using words or not, remember that the most effective stories make people feel something.
  6. Vary your rate of speech and volume: Monotonous is anything but exciting and riveting, so be sure to carefully and deliberately vary your rate of speech and your volume. Don’t be overly dramatic (insert eyeball roll) but don’t shy away from letting your emotions show, either.
  7. Keep it concise: Take your time but don’t linger with your story—there’s a fine line between building tension and boring people to tears after 20 minutes.
  8. Invite listeners to imagine: You’re taking them along for a ride, so get them using their own imaginations. Paint a picture for them or use words to help them paint their own picture.
  9. Practice, practice, practice: While you don’t want to sound “rehearsed,” tripping over your words breaks the audience’s attention. Practice it enough so that you don’t need notes and your delivery is effective.
  10. Develop details: If you’re too straightforward, you’re using narrative to explain a situation, but when you use descriptive details, you create a story that the audience can hop into. Include details about what you were wearing, what the weather was like, how you felt, the colors you saw, anything involving the senses (scent, taste, touch, sound, etc.). These are details that remind the listener of something that they can relate to, sometimes even imagining themselves in your story.

Filed Under: Speaker Tips, Speaker Reviews

Jenny Peterson

About Jenny Peterson

I am a garden designer, author and speaker and I'm passionate about how gardens and plants enrich people's lives physically, emotionally and spiritually.

More Posts

GGS-JANUARY SPEAKER BLOG-ORGANIZING A SUCCESSFUL BOOK TOUR

GGS-JANUARY PM Post-7 WAYS TO ATTRACT YOUNGER PEOPLE TO YOUR EVENT

10 WAYS TO NETWORK AT AN EVENT WITHOUT FEELING CRINGEY

DOES YOUR EVENT NEED A FACEBOOK EVENT?

Primary Sidebar

Search Talks

Search Speakers

Search for:

Learning Center Categories

Speaker Tips
Program Manager Tips
Speaker FAQ

Talks In The Spotlight

Grow With Great Garden Speakers

Get weekly tips for creating exciting online and live programs!
* indicates required
Garden Speaker Interests

Footer

Speaker’s Quick Links

My Speaker Profile
My Talks
Member Login
Member Resources
Speaker FAQ
Upcoming Events
Spotlight Ads

Customer Service

My Account
Reset Password
Member Admin Area
Get Support



Copyright © 2023 Greatgardenspeakers.org · Owned and managed by The Garden of Words, LLC · Sitemap · Privacy Policy ·Terms of Use

Content posted by speakers and advertisers is owned by them and may not be reproduced without their permission.

Great Garden Speakers is not a party to any contract between a speaker and a venue, and is not responsible for the actions that may result from any contacts made through this site.

We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
Do not sell my personal information.
Cookie SettingsAccept
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
CookieDurationDescription
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional11 monthsThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy11 monthsThe cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Functional
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytics
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Advertisement
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
Others
Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
SAVE & ACCEPT