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When a Story Refuses to "Stick"

 Why is it that some stories are so easy to learn and others slide off my mind as if it were coated with Teflon? When a Quilt Guild commissioned a concert of quilting stories, I knew the project would challenge my researching skills, but I never imagined the stories themselves would be so difficult to learn.  I returned to Storytelling 101: How to Learn a Story Quickly and Make It “Stick.”

 
When a story refuses to “stick,” I rely on image recall. At times I draw a mnemonic device which allows me to see the pictures of the story. I sometimes storyboard which is similar to making a comic strip of the plot outline. Other times I draw a story “map” that includes simple drawings and symbols that take me through the major events in the story. By looking at the pictures, I can retell the story.
 
This time seven stories are not sticking with less than 24 hours until the concert! As I learned while a teller for The Storyteller Café, Mesa, AZ, learning stories quickly is possible. I was learning up to 18 new stories a week.  I lrealized through trial and error that my mind needs to make a set of mental postcards for each story; a Power point presentation of sorts. Once I have that in my mind, I am able to see the story play slide-by-slide as I tell it. I try to attach to the slideshow personal feelings (an acting trick). This allows me to describe details and feel the emotions at the same time. By combining the emotion with the images, the story I tell becomes my own memory of it; it becomes personal.
 
When a story is difficult to remember, determine the basic plot outline, ask what images and emotions surround the exposition, rising action, conflict, falling action, and resolution. Create mental pictures or a mnemonic device to aid the description of images and plot. Finally, attach to the pictures real emotions allowing a personal connection to the story. This should help the story stick!
 
To learn more about storytelling, visit www.carolknarr.com.