"The power of Storytelling - a circle of trusted listeners"

​I dropped into the session late after the unfamiliar international dial tone finished its atonal whine.  


I hastily typed in the meeting code and was met with the type of silence that crouched, poised to plié ,with a coiled unexpressed energy.


A warm friendly American voice rolled over the top of the quietude, inflected happiness cascading down like golden treacle.


“Niomi! welcome !”


“Hi Marc? Sorry I am late.”


“That’s fine. What we are doing is working with the prompt,  I won’t let you down….” And he launched into succinctly describing the task. To write without judgement for 15 minutes on the prompt or a topic of your choosing.


So I set to writing, encouraged by Marc to allow a narrative to flow from my fingertips onto the page.


Silenced ensued, occasionally peppered with mild reminders of the time remaining and the scratching of my pen, until we reached the 15 minute mark.


“Now,” Marc’s happy voice chimed in, “as we read our work I want everyone to address the person as “the author” {Cannot remember why Marc?}


Each “author” in the group read aloud their piece and the listeners were asked to provide feedback to the author. What captured them, what descriptive phase stirred an emotional or intellectual response and what held meaning.


The author was encouraged to respond with what landed for them and to further elucidate intent or narrative arcs.


Our facilitator Marc provided the architecture, cleverly interwoven teaching moments giving substance to pedagogy and warming the heart of an inexhaustible bibliophile and amateur scholar.


As “the authors” became emboldened, fledgling stories shifted in the basking glow of softly flickering literary flames. Voices swelled with confidence, amidst the welcomed discussions of those drawn to the safety of a familial fireplace.


The experience is in the title, writers encouraged to read their work with a circle of trusted listeners.


So, dust off your storytelling dreams and share your words, as doing what you love is never time lost and sharing what you dream is the fount and the source of creative expression.  

Shared by Naomi P.

If you'd like to join a Storytelling Circle - share your details via the contact page.