Storytelling Marketing

Using Quotes

Posted on April 7, 2009 at 1:44 pm

I was preparing to perform at an elementary school the other day when I noticed in my equipment bag an old blank journal that someone had given me on my retirement from teaching. Since the PTA organizer was there with me and was planning on staying through my performance I asked her if she wouldn’t mind writing in the book, her impressions of my performance. I also asked the Physical Education teacher who’s gym I was borrowing to do the same. Both gladly said that they would.

My performances (I did two) went well and afterwards both observers wrote in my book. The physical education teacher wrote: “ Pleasure. Enjoyed your show. It reminded me of Arlo Guthrie and Pete Seeger.”

The PTA coordinator wrote: “I loved your show! Your stories told great life lessons, and your songs gave our children a boost of self-respect and courage. Your fondness and ability to connect with children shined through. Thank you.”

I was touched by what both wrote and decided that if I could acquire quotes like those to add to my promotional material; it would help me a lot. The question was how to do it?
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The Three Hats of a Storyteller

Posted on September 16, 2008 at 12:29 pm

I participated in a workshop over a year ago, from Master Storyteller, Elizabeth Ellis. She explained that as storytellers we wear three different kinds of hats. As a storyteller I am an artist, craftsperson, and businessperson. Here are the notes that I wrote at her workshop:

Artist: Researches, writes, new work, how does this part go with that. Does deep thought. What does my work need to meet the needs of the audience; wants to make a connection; what it means to their life.

Craftsperson: Teller: detail oriented; Chooses the stories to tell. Concerned about audience’s reaction and logistics of storytelling situation

Businessperson: Decision maker, marketing – process what is acceptable and accessible to this audience.  How are we going to get invited back; Oversees tasks to be done, requires others to do them. Responsible for public relations.
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Do tell

Posted on January 2, 2008 at 1:53 pm

One of the important things to consider as a storyteller, is, “Why am I doing this?” Storytelling is an art. And as any artist, one uses their genre for self-expression; A way of sharing that which they enjoy. Unlike most arts that can be satisfied by doing it for one’s self, storytelling requires another person to be the recipient of the story. As a storywriter, I can write my thoughts and imaginings with no other person needed to be my listener.  As soon as I choose to storytell, I need an audience. The audience can be as simple as a child when they go to bed, to a colleague that you’re sharing an incident that happened.  But audience is the key.

But I’m a performer, I want more than a single listener for the tales and stories that I share. What is it that I have to offer that would encourage an audience to have me. Why do I tell? This is a crucial question to be asked.
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Digital Storytelling

Posted on December 21, 2006 at 2:20 pm

Part of the work that I have been getting into over the past few years is in the realm of digital stories. Digital storytelling allows us a way to preserve our heritage through the medium of computers and digital recorders.

If you go to http://storycorps.net/listen/, you can hear audio stories done in the form of interviews of families.

More creative artists combine the audio stories with pictures and movies of the real person. I’ve tried this with my own family. You can listen to my sister’s interview about my mother at: http://hdhstory.net/digitalstories_files/Digital Story – Mom.mov. You’ll need to have Quicktime on your computer for it to run. It may take a little while to load.

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Types of Stories to learn

Posted on December 10, 2006 at 5:03 pm

Somewhere in the future I see myself having a number of different types of programs to offer schools, libraries, festivals, and re-enactments. To do that I need to have a broader base of stories that I can tell. If I’m going to tell in schools, historical events become a focus of the types of stories that would best suit me. Being able to come into schools and present American Revolution, Civil War, Industrial Revolution, Native American tales, etc. would make me very marketable. Where do you find these types of stories, that I can learn and enjoy telling similar to the tales that I already tell now? Continue reading Types of Stories to learn…

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What type of Stories do you like?

Posted on December 7, 2006 at 10:39 pm

One of the things that I have to think about in designing my repertoire is what are the types of stories I want to learn and perform. Down the road I would like to have a number of themed programs that fits the needs of schools and libraries at any given time. This being my first attempt at making a career out of storytelling, I first need to get myself known. Rather than work at learning these thematic stories to create different programs, I need to create a program that shows off what I can do. As I get more positive exposure , I will be able to create the programs that are more versatile and encourage places to have multiple reasons to hire me. So what type of stories do I like to learn and perform from the repertoire I have now? Continue reading What type of Stories do you like?…

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