A Storyteller Must Remember The First Time And Hold It Sacred

Otherwise we stop serving the work and those we do it for

a storyteller entertains a crowd of copies of himself reflected on mirror, digital art — by DALL·E

One thing I learned after many years of telling stories professionally was to remember I was a conduit, a channel, not a protagonist. This is a simple idea that any self-respecting storyteller will identify sooner rather than later. It revolutionises how we understand the art of conveying fascinating facts while transmitting relatable emotions. Inevitably, when the storyteller takes a step back, the story and the audience move to the fore.

I must have been delivering the same tour for several years when the realisation hit me. In a way, I had always known, but complacency had my standards slip. A friend, who had been on one of my tours when I was starting, visited me years later. He told me the hour and a half of thrilling tales around the town had been excellent, that I had possibly performed better (as you would expect after so many hours of storytelling experience), but that he hadn’t had the same strong reactions he had the first time.

Granted, the first time always packs an extra punch nobody can experience again, but he knew what he was talking about: the stories had been fun and pleasurable to listen to, but they hadn’t been as scary or emotional as he remembered them. I knew he was…