Storytelling would be nothing without stories. What are stories? Back to the dictionary again! A story is a narrative account of a real or imagined event or events. Storytellers generally agree that a story is a complete structure of narration with a specific style and a set of characters. Stories are told to build knowledge, teach a lesson, relate a history of past events important to a family or a people, or simply told to entertain. Stories can be told through many mediums such as pictures, books, poetry, and song. But we are mainly concerned with oral storytelling. Oral storytelling involves a teller and a listener. Let's take a look at the telling.
What is a telling? The dictionary says it is the act of narration or informing by words. Thus "telling" is a live, oral presentation by one person to another. It involves a direct contact between a teller and a listener. Also involved in any telling is the physical presence and presentation by the teller. The teller uses gestures to reinforce and enhance the words he or she speaks. The listener actively creates vivid, multi-sensory images, actions, characters, and events in their mind forming a unique and personal story from what he or she is hearing. These images are dependent on the ability of the teller to invoke through words and gesture the emotions and memories of the listener. A complete and rewarding story then happens in the mind of the listener.
Simply put - storytelling is the art of telling stories.
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