The Art of Storytelling: Easy Steps to Presenting an Unforgettable Story

by John D. Walsh

Can you captivate an audience with your story? Many of us would love to hold the attention of a crowd, a classroom, or just a group of our friends by telling them a great story. We have felt the pressure of a public presentation or the disappointment of telling a story that others ignore. We are ready to be heard, ready to captivate. In The Art of Storytelling , John Walsh takes us through the steps to presenting a compelling story—outlining the strategies that helped him move from stutterer to storyteller. This book will help any person with a story to share by walking you through all aspects of presentation . . . from what to do with your hands as you speak all the way to crafting a killer ending. Whether you’re telling bedtime stories to your children or Bible stories to a congregation, this book will take your storytelling to a new level.

Genres: Writing, Nonfiction, Business, Communication, School, Self Help, Religion

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

John Walsh is the founder of BibleTelling and the Christian Storytelling Conference. His network of BibleTelling trainers conduct seminars in the USA as well as 21 other countries.

Reviews

[Jimmy · Rating 5 out of 5]

The way that people learn and remember things is changing. People used to learn by listening to lectures, outlines or points that all started with the same letter. Those times are passing away.

Outlines do not grab you. Lectures do not bring you into the lecture to make you a part of it. However, a story does.

Stories provoke the imagination. Stories can preach, teach, tell a joke, be entertaining, inspiring, encouraging, challenging and drive one main overall point home. Stories can make you laugh, cry, angry, or happy.

The Art of Storytelling is for everyone. Dads, Moms, managers, grandpas, supervisors, marketers, social networking gurus, pastors, Sunday School teachers, camp leaders, VBS directors, brothers, sisters, conference speakers...everyone. Why?

Everyone has a story.

Walsh does an incredible job at introducing the idea of becoming a better storyteller. No matter who you are, you would love to have people remember what you said. Just for the few minutes that you are with them, you would like to have a captivated audience. There is no better way to do that than to tell a story.

Walsh explains in his book how to become better at telling the story and how to hone or fine tune your storytelling ability.

Throughout the book, there are exercises presented to you so that you can work on becoming a better storyteller. These exercises will help you no matter if you are telling bedtime stories, reading a book, or trying to make a presentation. If you are serious about becoming a better storyteller, it is a good idea that you do not move on through the book without walking through the exercises. It will help you become better.

Walsh also explains that body language is a huge part of telling your story. Your facial expressions, posture, hand movements all play an important role in helping you share your story. You want people to feel, see, smell, taste, what you are talking about. As you tell your story, you want the people that are listening to be with you in the story.

You may be thinking that professional speaking or storytelling is a weakness that you have had a hard time of overcoming. Walsh has already taken that into consideration. He has written this book to help you turn your weakness into an area of strength.

Your story is worth sharing. Share your story in such a way that makes it unforgettable.

The Art of Storytelling is the book to help you do just that.

[megHan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked up this book because I am a storyteller and wanted to learn how to be a better one. The full title of the book is The Art of Storytelling: Easy Steps to Presenting an Unforgettable Story. Had I just gone off of the cover alone, I would have been highly disappointed in this book (note: that is how I choose some of my books). The description does not mention all of the talk of religion that happens throughout this book (there's my warning: this book is religion based and the author talks about scriptures and ministry throughout). It does speak about him fulfilling his calling to be a preacher and that it is "especially relevant to those who teach through the stories of the Bible or who would like to do so." This statement is not until the end of the description, though. I assumed that this would be used as an example because the Bible is told through a lot of storytelling, that is how Jesus spread his word. It is not until you check the genre at the bottom of the Amazon page (which, in this case, I forgot to do, that you see "ministry," "Christianity," "clergy," etc.

I'm sure you're wondering, if I took issue with this, why I have given it a 4 star rating instead of something lower. My "warning" is followed by a "BUT": he makes very good points for public speaking and communication in general and a lot of these points could be very helpful for authors. He also includes exercises to help make you a better storyteller, a better presenter. I am a religious person so him speaking of religion is not what bothered me - it's the fact that there are some people who are not religious that will be offended and miss the good things that he had to say because of it.

Note: I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

[Yasi · Rating 2 out of 5]

While there are nuggets of good tips for all, this book is so clearly written by a Christian storyteller for others in the Church, that I felt misled by the title/description. There are better written, more succinct blogs on this topic.

[Venky Iyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I did not buy this book from Amazon, but got it free in exchange for a fair unbiased review. I hope this review helps tentative readers make up their minds.

As an yet-to-find-his-feet author and wannabe public speaker, I took up The Art of Storytelling with quite a lot of anticipation. My anticipation was based on my analysis of myself as a fairly good writer who needs some polishing, especially in the art (science?) of presenting a story in the most interesting way possible: did the book contain a magic bullet? Would it teach me what I wanted to know most: what elements of a story are essential, and what elements are extraneous?

I got a lot of answers, but no magic bullet. It was stupid of me to expect one. At the end of the day, all the advice in the world is just as good as your application of it, and not all of it is applicable for everyone. You have to cater to your own individual circumstances.

Does that take anything away from the book? No. The author made a damn good presentation of the art of storytelling, with a lot of guidance and case studies. His writing was eminently readable and understandable. I have only one gripe: I kept getting the impression the author promised to unload stories from the Bible as examples of master storytelling. I was disappointed.

Having said that, here is the million-dollar question and its answer: is The Art of Storytelling a good read? A good buy, worth the money? Yes, and oh yes.

[Linda Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

An instruction book about story telling.

John Walsh is a storyteller. He wrote this book to help others achieve this proficiency. In olden times storytellers were often the most respected and appreciated people of a tribe or society. These days they are relegated to the fringes, replaced by the ever-present TV with its collections of elegant celebrities or hyper-vocal politicians.

Yet story tellers are still with us and there are millions of people who would benefit from learning the techniques and skills of telling a story well. This book could help! Though there are a lot of secular lessons in the first eleven chapters of the book, the last three chapters are a "bonus section" that tell specifically about "Bible Telling" - the art of vocally re-telling stories found in the Bible.

Author John Walsh devoted a lot of his life to Bible Telling and even has an extensive website with his stories: btstories.com ... all the Bible stories he's identified are listed there along with videos of storytellers telling the stories! He refers us also to bibletelling.org for more information on getting involved.

I can't say this is one of the most exciting books I've read, but I did manage to power through it and learned a few things along the way. I read it to be better able to relate stories when I'm making videos.

[Wouter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short book about telling stories in public. There wasn't a lot of new things as it showed many similarities with public speaking in general. There are some helpful tips to use, so definitely not a waste of my reading time.

However, there is a heavy religious touch to this book. As long as you can cope with comments like 'nervousness is a gift from God', the book is a fine. There is a separate 'bonus' chapter on BibleTelling, which seems to me a good choice to keep that from the main book. It would have been better to put all religious comments in that 'bonus' chapter so Walsh could have picked a more neutral tone. But I guess that's just my secular point of view.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was very good information about storytelling. I did not go through all of the exercises that the author provided. I did a quick read through first and then plan to go back again and practice. I like the easy to implement steps he gives as well as good reminders about speaking/storytelling in general. A good read to combine with The Creative Bible Teacher. I especially appreciate his commentary at the end about Bibletelling.

[Maren Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very unique book that teaches am important principal for teaching or preaching the Bible- let the true story speak for itself in such a vivid way that people cannot help but feel the truth. It gets a but redundant, but overall is a great read!

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I plan to use this book as a public speaking curriculum for my homeschool. I read through it quickly to know what it would cover. I did not realize the strong Christian worldview and biblical ministry of the author before reading it (although for me, that was a positive discovery). I have not done the exercises recommended throughout, so I cannot speak to the effectiveness of his teaching, but the last section, which he considers “extra” material, really resonated with me. It was his section on telling Bible stories to children and adults. I actually read it aloud to my husband because I thought it was so thought-provoking. John Walsh has inspired me to rethink our family devotions in a way that will hopefully be more engaging and effective for our family, and will possibly be helpful in our church’s Sunday school ministry. An especially great book for anyone engaged in ministry, pastors, missionaries, but very applicable to laypeople. It does emphasize how it can be used as a witnessing and ministry tool, but the concepts are presented and taught for people regardless of their goals.

[Lily Sharma · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was looking for a book that could provide some groundrules on storytelling.. This book is structured well to assist you to organize the speech, how to structure the speech , so that your audience can retain them after leaving the venue and never forget the core part of your speech.I am not a religious person so a lot of the analogis were irrelevant . But at its core the author talks about structuring your speech for your listener ,which resonated with me and that was my major takeaway from it .

[Larry Richardson · Rating 4 out of 5]

For a novice or an experienced storyteller, this book is full of great information. Some have given it bad reviews because of some of the faith based discussion, but the main storytelling instruction is not. It works for all kinds of stories.

[Hailey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is written from an obvious Christian narrative, but the storytelling principles can be applied to all. It contains useful exercises to help practically anyone become a better storyteller and even a better public speaker.

[Richard Van proyen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Worth while read for everyone

I plan on having anyone who speaks on a regular basis at our church read this book. It is good for the experienced and novice speaker.

[Stephen Carrier · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it and found it to be very helpful.

[Jevgenij · Rating 1 out of 5]

Religious crap

[Clivemichael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fairly helpful guide. The religious influence is present but not intrusive. Good directions and examples

[Jean Philippe · Rating 4 out of 5]

It had some good tips in there, kinda forced myself to finish reading and when it got too religious I stopped . So I’ll give it a 4/5

[Stefan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book. The author is a pastor, so he teaches story telling from a Biblical perspective.
Regardless it's a very insightful take.

[Matt Spaulding · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good information but too Christian.

[Gonzalo Pozzoli · Rating 4 out of 5]

No te va a cambiar la vida y quizá nunca lo uses si no te dedicas a contar historias, pero está bueno y creo que cumple su objetivo.

[Stone Johnson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Again, read for a class.

[Mathher Abbassi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Many techniques and instructions about telling a story. I have found it very useful and will apply specific ones.

[Brian W · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very basic book on the fundamentals of how to tell stories.

[passionerd · Rating 2 out of 5]

Decent book. Very much beginner. Would be more suitable for students, I supposed.

[Pablo Cañadas · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cuántas juntas no hemos entrado y hemos intentado aguantarnos los bostezos? Aunque The Art of Storytelling es un libro para aprender a contar cuentos, John Walsh nos enseña el secreto para atraer y mantener la atención de nuestro público.

[kaushal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully penned

Sweet and subtly written, though inside most of the things were common sense yet loved the book in totality for the perception.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Making Stories the Point of Storytelling

People of all ages enjoy listening to a good story told. Stories are often a more effective means of conveying instruction and truths than didactic, analytical teaching. John D. Walsh, in The Art of Storytelling: Easy Steps to Presenting an Unforgettable Story gives readers, whether new to the art or are already experienced public speakers, tips and tools for improving their craft. Through numerous exercises and activities, the reader is encouraged to participate and practice honing skills that are introduced in each chapter.

John wants stories to become the point of telling stories. Too often in modern public speaking, stories are relegated to "spice up" sermons and presentations and to illustrate some points in them. The modern mindset has been conditioned to accept that stories are for children (and must have a stated application or moral), that "real teaching" happens in didactic lectures. John discusses how people relate to and recall stories far better than didactic teaching - lectures and sermons with "the big idea" or "here are three points."

The book itself is divided into three sections. Part one, the longest section, teaches the aspiring storyteller fourteen steps in preparing to tell a story. John further subdivides these steps into ten essential steps toward telling a good story, and four optional steps that may be taken to raise a good story to a great one.

Part two covers seven tools that the storyteller should be cognizant while telling a story. These tools cover the "how to tell" aspects when actually in front of an audience. These considerations include things such as gestures, voice, facial expressions, and nervousness.

The final section of the book focuses more narrowly on retelling Bible stories. John discusses why churches ought to be telling more stories instead of preaching more sermons and making people sit through lectures. He discusses how the storyteller, the listener, and the Bible stories interact. He refers to two resources, available on the web, in which he has taken part developing. (www.bibletelling.org, www.btstories.com) He relates his experience teaching skeptical adults on the values of stories.

Right near the end of the book John ponders the conventional wisdom in many churches about evangelism and faith. This conventional wisdom states that if a person doesn't accept Christ by the time he or she is twelve years old, the chance that they will later is almost minuscule. He writes how the stories of Acts goes completely against the conventional wisdom. In Acts, all the conversions are of adults. As he thought about he, he writes how he realized that in modern churches, age twelve is about the time stories stop being told (because stories are for children) and so-called "solid food" of doctrine and ethics start being taught didactically. John suggests that if churches continued to use stories as the primary vehicle of communicating faith, adolescents and adults would come in to the church and stay.

This book is written by a Christian with the Christian audience in mind, but it can be valuable to anyone who speaks to an audience, whether to one or a million or anywhere in-between. Particularly, sections one and two are applicable to all public storytelling engagements. Even the third section can be valuable as case studies on how to turn written materials that may not initially strike the reader as a story, into an engaging story that can be told to an audience.

I highly recommend this book for all public speakers, but especially for pastors and church teaching staff.

(This review is based on an advance review copy provided by the publisher through NetGalley.)

[Juergen John Roscher · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book from a Goodreads’ Giveaway. As in all of my reviews, I rate a book according to its information, relevancy, and quality for non-fiction and interest and entertainment for fiction, regardless of how I obtained the book. Thank you to author and Goodreads for giving me this book.

I want to be a better storyteller and writer so I thought this book would be beneficial in helping me in these two areas.

This book is a non-fiction book that attempts to help improve an individual’s ability to tell a captivating story. It is broke into three parts:
1. Steps to crafting a captivating story
2. Tools for presenting a captivating story
3. And a bonus section – Bibletelling

Section one identifies 14 key steps in crafting a captivating story such as selecting a story, Planning your first words, and arranging practice audiences. Section two describes seven tools that help in presenting a captivating story. These tools affect not what you say but how you say such as facial expressions, body movement and how to handle nervousness. The third and final section is deals with telling stories from the Bible. The section teaches how to simply tell Bible to have a powerful affect on the audience.

I liked that the book was easy to use. That each of the sections had steps to help a storyteller prepare and deliver a better tale. There were several steps that I felt were helpful to me in my story telling and writing of stories such as to eliminate needless details (I have tendency to add side stories that might be interesting but add no value to the main story) and adding necessary description and detail. It is sometimes difficult to differentiate between needless and necessary details.

I want found several comments about the book that noted that it dealt with the Bible and telling of Bible stories. I feel sorry for individuals who are so closed minded that they can’t learn many of the key concepts of storytelling because the author decided use the Bible as a source for stories. I had a boss who told me that a smart man can learn from any fool (and I am not saying that John Walsh is a fool) but a fool can’t learn from the best teachers. I think there a lot of fools when it comes from learning principles from the Bible. Now I will get off of my soap box.

I recommend this book to individuals who love to share stories or are required to share stories in their vocation. This book will provide solid information in making the stories we tell better and have greater impact.

Favorite Quotes
You have too much to offer to allow the attention of your audience to wander from what you are saying. Pg 14

Today your audience thinks in stories, they remember stories, and they will listen if you tell stories. Pg 21

Men tend to think in pictures, while women tend to think in words. Pg 22

A librarian is a storyteller’s best friend. Pg 27

A memory hook id a phrase, song, concept, or attitude repeated throughout the story. Pg 46

Several skills are common to good storytellers. One is the ability to pull the audience into the heart of the story within the first few sentences. Pg 53

Making a story memorable requires that you create a mood that will stay with the audience after you have finished. Pg. 58

A story that captivates an audience is 1/3 details and 2/3 description. Pg 66

People don’t want to listen to your story; they want to experience it. Pg 70

The voice is a tool we must develop, train, control, carefully use, and never abuse. Pg 105

[Beverly · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Storytelling is not just for children. It is an advanced method of communicating with people, both publicly and one-on-one."

The Art of Storytelling is brimming with activities and step-by-step instructions how to improve your communication skills. All of us tell stories whether we realize it or not. Besides the retelling of the tale about "the big one" that got away, we may share an interesting story or picture we saw on Facebook or Pinterest to friends or family. Perhaps you want to convince a friend to see a favorite movie, watch a certain DVD, or read a book you enjoyed. You may have a project in school to present to a classroom of peers. Some may need to present a project or goal in a committee meeting or to a supervisor. A job interview needs good conversational skills. You may work in children's ministries, or want to get more out of your Bible reading.

One key to good storytelling is knowing your audience. Did you know that men and women receive information differently? Men tend to think in pictures; women tend to think in words. Some people are analytical thinkers while others are story thinkers. Knowing this makes a difference how you communicate with others. Another key in keeping the attention of your listeners is to allow them to experience the story, lesson, or presentation. If your listeners are engaged, their attention is riveted. It is the difference between just hearing and truly listening.

There are three parts to this book. The first section presents the steps necessary to craft a captivating story. There are many tips and tidbits, activities and exercises that make this process fun. Section Two is about the tools we need to present a captivating story. The author's experiences are invaluable here and imminently practical. I have been an upper elementary teacher, Junior church leader, CEF worker, children's choir director, AWANA leader, etc. and so much of the book resonated with me. Most of what's written I had to learn the hard way (making lots of mistakes). But there were still plenty of information I did not know when I read this.

The third part of the book offers some practical examples and applications. The author introduces a concept called Bible Telling. Mr. Walsh shares with his readers a technique of biblical storytelling he has developed and used around the globe. The experiences he shares in the final chapters are intriguing and the results gratifying for those of us who have a heart for missions. I personally believe this book is a must read for all church ministry workers.

I loved this book. It is easy to read and immensely interesting. It is well organized so that you can find segments you need to return to later. I am excited how this information and know-how can apply to all kinds of communication in our every day lives.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary review copy of this commentary from the Story Cartel on behalf of the author. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

[Spencer R · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read my whole review on my blog: http://wp.me/p3JhRp-6U

Honestly, this book was not what I thought it would be. I'm not a good off-the-cuff story teller, and I thought this book would be helpful in forming a story-telling mind (which it wasn't but wasn't). Though it wasn't what I thought it would be, let me review it based on what it is intended to do and how well it accomplished its goal.


The book itself is divided into three sections.
Part 1: "How can you create a captivating story?" (14 sections),
Part 2: "How to tell" a story tools when in front of an audience (7 sections - gestures, facial expressions, voice, nerves, etc.)
Part 3: "Why is storytelling needed?" This section focuses on retelling Bible stories, along with how and why you should tell a story effectively.


The Chocolate Milk

+ Walsh has activities at the end of sections to practice what you have just read. I'm glad to see this part in here, for it's one thing to read how to tell a story, it another to actually have to do it. I do foresee success to those who do practice these exercises.

+ This book is very easy to read. This is one reason I know the activities would be good practice, because this guy knows how to write well! Reading was no hassle, and, if I remember correctly, I believe I read this in two sittings.

+ Walsh gives tips on how to "get to the mountain" in the story without burdening the audience with too many details. Often people want to tell every detail when they tell a story when, really, we don't need every detail. Get to the mountain quick before you lose everyone's attention.


The Spoiled Milk


- I wish Walsh would have elaborated more on what he meant by sermons as stories instead of lectures. Much of the Bible is narrative, but what about the epistles? The psalms? The proverbs? Parts of the prophets? It's not impossible to do, but a few examples would have greatly helped. Also, how does a pastor teach sanctification and justification in the form of a story?

+ I can't be too negative. His links (www.bibletelling.org, www.btstories.com) do help give a summary idea of narratives and letters in OT and NT. While, as a pastor, you may not have much help from this if you preach through the Bible a chapter a week (a la Calvary Chapel), but if you need a story-form summary of the epistles and topics, these links are good to go.

Recommended?

Written by a person who started out as a stutterer, John Walsh is a Christian who has the Christian audience in mind, but his book can be valuable to anyone who stands in front of audiences of 5 people or 1,000 people. Learn it well, then teach it well.  If you’ve been looking for a book like this, and you’d love to work with the exercises at the end of the sections, then you should look into getting this book. 

If you're interested, then you can read my full review on my blog (http://wp.me/p3JhRp-6U) where I explain a little more about what is in this book.