Weaving Words

What is one of the most important skills to have, whether you are camping or horseback riding or sitting over a freezing hole waiting for a fish to bite? The ability to fend off zombies is a good answer, but it’s hardly practical. Try again. Give up yet? Good. Then let me tell you, it’s storytelling. It’s amazingly helpful in any number of outdoor activities, but the applications don’t stop there. Weaving words into tales is useful at the office, at home, at church, at the bar, at the bus stop…well, you get the idea.
We are all storytellers in one way or another. Some are better than others. A few people out there can’t properly insert a punch line into a humorous anecdote. Others are able to captivate the attention of thousands and then lose it all with one disappointing turn of events. Many use exaggerations and embellishments to draw attention to their story. Numerous people tell the same story over and over and over as long as there is someone to listen to it, even if that person has heard the same story over and over and over. And several people can’t tell a story without boring others to death. Despite how well a person can tell a tale, though, the fact of the matter is that to be human is to be a storyteller.
My specialty is ghost stories. I have to remember when I am with my 5-year-old niece that she may still believe in creatures like the boogeyman and vampires, so my scary stories generally consist of a ghost that visits a child and then ends up becoming a friendly ghost. Last week she begged me for a scarier story, and I knew anything scarier than I had already told her would end up in a phone call from her mother at 3 am and I would have to explain why I told her the story about the scarecrow that steals little children and eats their bellybuttons. My younger sister still can’t sleep on her back, because when she was 9 or 10 I told her a story that involved a skeleton finger and a little girl with her name. When I relate a ghost story, I try to give myself the creeps, and as a result my audience is freaked out. Needless to say, my wife has banned me from telling her any more ghost stories.
Here are some tips for excellent storytelling. First, try to relate your story to your audience; for example, hunters will most likely want to hear hunting stories. Second, if you’re relating a personal story and your aim is to entertain, don’t drag your audience into a pit of despair. No one likes to listen to a story with no end in sight. Make it short and sweet and avoid tangents. Third, be as descriptive as possible. Use words that involve all five senses, not just sight. Fourth, allow others to tell stories too. Story hogs are no fun. And lastly, don’t tell stories to “one-up” someone. If your friend finished telling a story about how he won the high school basketball game, you probably shouldn’t relate your story about your amazing skills during a church ball game.
May your New Year be full of exciting stories and captive audiences!