How to be a better storyteller

Stories are captivating when delivered the right way. But there's so much more to storytelling than just sharing an interesting incident. How you tell it is as important as what you're telling. Here are a few tips on improving your storytelling skills:

USE RELATABLE EXAMPLES

Above everything, you want people to understand all the parts of your story. Even though you might be explaining an incident that's unusual or something your audience doesn't know much about, try to give examples that fall into common ground. That helps everyone connect with your story by putting it in their own perspective.

PAUSE AND REPEAT

Pausing at the right moment is often emphasised for speeches and presentations. Thing is, they are equally important for small gatherings where you're telling your friends about that funny guy you met the other day. We tend to go full-speed ahead with our stories and reach the end as soon as possible because we're interested in seeing how people react to it. But that is exactly why we often fail to make our point. Take one or two second breaks and continue. You'll get more through to your audience.

LEAVE OUT THE BORING BITS

We get it. You think the other side can't understand what you're saying if they don't know all the details. In truth, they don't care. People want to hear the interesting bits. Every boring piece of information you put forward goes right over the head. Drop the bits that are slow and monotonous. Your audience will fill the small empty spaces themselves.

HIGHLIGHT OBSTACLES AND CHALLENGES

What's better than an amazing hero? An amazing comeback and a heartbreaking failure. Either way, highlight the struggles in your story and you'll make it even more exciting. How you talk about the obstacles your characters are facing gives indications to your listeners about how they should be reacting to it. Nail those parts and you'll keep people on the edges of their seats. Or rolling off them.

APPEAL TO EMOTIONS

You want what you say to make an impact. How do you do that? By connecting with the audience emotionally. Talk about how you felt when something happened and what overwhelmed the individuals.

CHANGE YOUR VOICE AND EXPRESSIONS ACCORDINGLY

This is a no-brainer for any good speaker. Your tone should have ups and downs, not follow a single line. It's okay to over-do it a bit. If you're telling an exciting story, look excited, sound excited. If it's funny, bring out a smile, throw a few chuckles in between. You definitely do not want to sound dead when sharing the funniest story ever.

The writer is Sub-Editor of the tech publication of The Daily Star