Dancing with Words: Storytelling as Legacy, Culture, and Faith

by Ray Buckley

As people of faith, storytelling has special meaning. We are people of the story, and we seek to identify and share our stories in nearly everything we do. Dancing With Words provides help for all church leaders both clergy and lay to explore the history and importance of storytelling in faith development and to acquire basic storytelling skills. They will soon discover ways that storytelling enhances ministry. Storytelling at its best is an interaction between storyteller and story-listener. It is a relationship between the speaker and the listener that may best be described not as a telling, but as sharing storysharing. The vehicle is the story, but the experience can be as engaging as an intimate conversation. In Dancing With Words the reader will discover that storytelling can enable hearers to view history, values, culture, faith, life-lessons, and other critical elements in ways that may be easily assimilated in memory. Through an understanding of the history of storytelling and of storytellers as keepers of beliefs, traditions, history, and values, readers find new meaning in the stories and the storytellers of the Bible and of the Christian faith; learn what makes a good story; discover their own style as a storyteller; learn the techniques of effective storytelling; and practice creating stories from their own experience. Basic text Lay Speakers Tell Advanced Course by Ray Buckley.

Genres: Church

94 pages, Paperback

First published January 31, 2004

Reviews

[Nicole Bates · Rating 5 out of 5]

Last week I read the book Dancing With Words by Ray Buckley. It is an instructional and inspirational work about the art of storytelling in the oral/aural tradition. I started this book with a thrill of excitement inside of me because I had the opportunity to hear Ray Buckley tell a story about four or five years ago. It was a DVD that I borrowed from my Mom, not quite as powerful as listening in person, but I assure you I was riveted. Tears streamed down my face in the privacy of my living room as he wove his amazing tale in a voice that is gentle and engaging with the lilt of a natural born storyteller. I can hear that voice when I read the book.

Though the tips are intended for those who stand before an audience and tell their story aloud, the information was relevant for all those who are called to share stories. I also felt that the specifics on voice, posture, and using props would be useful to authors when doing readings at conventions or book signings. People want to connect with other people, what better opportunity to engage with your readers than to touch them with an amazing story told face to face!

There are at least a dozen quotes from the text that I would love to share, but I think most of them would be more powerful if read within the context of the story as a whole. I will share a few that I feel are the most meaningful for myself, and perhaps for those of you who write your stories rather than telling them aloud.

"Stories surround us. Rich, deep, and colorful. Stories so full of laughter they wait to burst like warm watermelon. Stories surround us that will lift our spirits and make us want to sing. There are stories in the weather, stories in the trees, stories in the animals we encounter, and stories in the people we see for only five minutes. There are stories around us every day needing to be shared... It isn't that we hunt them out (although we sometimes do) but that we remain ready when we find them." [pg. 41]

This passage speaks to me even now. We crave stories, and those of us who are called to be story-sharers must wait, like vessels to be filled, for the stories that touch our hearts.

The next is a truth for all of us to keep in mind, storyteller or not. I felt this was particularly important in the writer world for authors who do get a chance to step out from behind their computers and meet their readers.

"Your story is being told the moment you walk through the door until the moment you leave. Be conscious of those around you and responsible toward them." [pg. 97]

Finally, words of wisdom for all who've embarked on this long journey of sharing the stories which have filled them to overflowing...

"Think of storytelling skills as those that you acquire over a lifetime and resist the temptation to expect immediate results. Enjoy the process, and love what you do." [pg. 83]

Thank you Ray Buckley for sharing your gift.

[Kathleen O'Mara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ray Buckley's Dancing with Words: Storytelling As Legacy, Culture and Faith read quickly and was full of touching stories about storytelling. Good information about how to put a story together, how to let your light shine thorugh, how a story needs to come from the storyteller to ring true to the audience.

Completely enjoyed this book and wished there had been more... one sign of a good storyteller. Thanks Ray!