Note: This article is based on a blog post by Scott H Young, in which he tells us how to create better conversations through storytelling.
Some people may have a knack for storytelling. Friends and relatives can easily turn any personal story into a conversation. Although this is a simple communication skill, great storytellers know how to turn their experiences into exciting stories and orchestrate experiences into their minds as stories that they can easily remember when they fit the situation they are going through.
Gain personal experiences through stories
Some people are great storytellers because they intend to communicate an idea later in their lives. Storytelling is one of the best ways to transfer experience from one person to another. By starting with the intention of sharing experiences, these people can easily remember them later as stories.
After seeing so many people who can weave a story through conversation, I started working on it about a year ago. The first part of becoming a great storyteller is treating all the experiences in your life as if they were stories to be shared later.
I don't have fun stories
One of the legends says that for a story to be worth telling, it has to be an epic story or a great discovery, but even ordinary stories can be enjoyable, provided they have a little plot and tell it right.
Confident people are likely to be good storytellers simply because they think their lives are worth sharing. Everyone has interesting stories, but the key is just knowing how to get them out.
Edit stories
Comedians often need to rehearse dozens of times before presenting their comic content, and I have found that a similar process turns events into stories. Each time you tell the story, it helps you eliminate parts that people find boring and enables you to remember them well later.
You should not judge conversations by how well you do them. Great storytelling should be a personal desire to communicate an idea about your life, not an attempt to appeal to others, or your efforts will only be seen as an attempt to show off or please others.
However, if you have an exciting experience, turning it into a story takes little work, and with a bit of practice, almost anyone can be a good storyteller. Collecting life stories doesn't have to be complicated.
Ideas for turning events into conversation material
Here are some ideas that I've found helpful when trying to turn a personal event into an interesting story:
1. Find an introduction
Pay attention to the progress of conversations. It would be inappropriate to tell a story about going to a concert when everyone else is talking about sports, so paying attention to the flow of the conversation can help you connect the different experiences you've had as stories.
With good stories, you need to tag certain stories in your mind with specific conversation markers. When someone brings up a topic, you're reminded of the stories you have saved that match those topics. Next time you engage in a conversation, try to relate what the other person is saying to personal experiences. You will likely be reminded of events in your life that can be turned into stories.
2. Connecting events
After you've located some events in your life that correspond to the conversation, the next step is to relate them to it. A statement like, "This reminds me of a time when I was..." is an excellent way to tell a story.
If the story is interesting enough, it does not require much arrangement to bring it into conversation; You can interrupt the thought with something else if it's attention-grabbing or recent. A sentence like "I just heard the funniest story..." or "You'll never guess what happened to me today" doesn't require much arrangement.
3. Start directly with the idea
The title should also draw attention to your story. When I write an article, I spend a lot of time thinking about the headline because it will grab attention and convey the post's content. The same applies to your stories. You should start with an introduction that will attract everyone's attention.
However, it's easy to overdo it and tell an inappropriate story. When I was in charge of membership at a club, I told the same story about my first visit to the club many times. "I can remember my first visit to the club" might not sound dramatic, but it serves the target.
A moderate introduction with a good story is much better than a verbally embellished headline with a boring story, and I've noticed this is also true in writing.
4. Shortcut
At this point, you have to start telling the story, and unless you are trained in storytelling, it may take a few times before the experience is refined and turned into a story. So remove anything extra to understand the exciting parts, rather than a tremendous thirty-second tale becoming boring by six minutes.
5. End the story with an interesting phrase
Your story should end with the most exciting information. The closing sentence in any joke, for example, is what makes it worth listening to, and ending the story with the essential part of it ensures that you have the desired effect.
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