Improving Your Storytelling (American Storytelling)

First of all, reviews should be more about what the book is about and it talks about, rather than just general praise because for the written content.

I purchased this book because of the positive reviews. I wanted a self-help to learn "how-to" tell a story. I wanted to learn how to tell a story when I am with my friend in casual social situation, regardless if the stories are true or not. I wanted to learn a skill that could be picked up from this book...

instead what did I get?

Endless fluffs!

This is NOT a self-help book.

The book only talks about the "what" and the "why" and the author's life and experience, like I actually cared about that and what the author did in his life. There is NOT a single practical thing you can take from this book, unless you want to waste time indulging your mind in useless fluff.

I wanted this book to teach me something that could be used in the real world, and this book failed to delivered that.

I have waste my time reading this book and money.

Very good book that reveals the truth of storytelling!
Buy it - read it - tell a story!

Even if you are not necessarily looking to be the next best storyteller. This book is overflowing with such smart and interesting ideas about language and people and communicating. Maybe you want to improve your imagination, or maybe your communication with others, or maybe even just improve your voice. This book is all of that!!!

Successful use of stories is an important, and often under-rated, aspect of public speaking, particularly in the workplace. It is also critical to developing well-received speeches in Toastmasters clubs.

This book provides a wealth of valuable insights on developing engaging stories that will carry your message.

Frankly, I was unaware of Lipman until I read his Foreword to Annette Simmons' The Story Factor. Favorably impressed, I then read Improving Your Storytelling which was first published in 1999. Of course, people have been telling stories for thousands of years. My own list of history's greatest storytellers includes Homer, Plato, Aesop, Jesus, the Brothers Grimm, Hans Christian Andersen, Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (Lewis Carroll), Joel Chandler Harris, L. Frank Baum, and E.B. White. All of the great storytellers are guided and informed by the same basic principles: They use compelling language and powerful images, establish an appropriate context (physical, intellectual, emotional, and social) within which to place a story, and then develop a relationship with both their audience and their story. As Lipman suggests, the storyteller, audience, and story "form the three corners of a triangle -- the storytelling triangle."

He offers material "beyond the basics for all who tell stories in work and play." Obviously, "play" includes situations in which stories are told to "children of all ages" primarily to delight and entertain them. But what about "work"? While reading Lipman's book, I soon realized that his insights and advice are at least as relevant to "work" as they are to "play." Effective storytelling skills are indeed valuable in all forms of communication between and among people.

Only in recent years, however, has there been significant interest in what is generally referred to as "the business narrative." I shudder when recalling countless formal presentations I made in the past when droning on and on much as then Governor Bill Clinton once did at a Democratic national convention. Thousands roared their approval when he said "In conclusion...." and then groaned as he continued on for another 35 minutes. He indicated little (if any) respect for his audience. Had Lipman been given the opportunity to help Mr. Clinton to prepare his remarks, presumably the length of his speech would have been reduced by half, if not by more. Lipman would also have formulated an interesting "story" to be told with authentic passion or at least enthusiasm while investing the narrative with vivid images and compelling details and, in countless other ways, enable Mr. Clinton to establish, immediately, a close bond with his audience and then nourish that relationship with empathy, respect, and (yes) humility.

The material in this book is carefully organized and developed within five Sections after Lipman briefly reviews "storytelling basics and beyond." He explains how to transfer imagery. How to establish relationships with the story told, with the given audience, and with yourself. Then in Section Five, he explains how to integrate each component of the storytelling event, noting that "the components are only important insofar as they contribute to the overall effect" of the event. That is, as "an invisible whole." The focus in Chapter 18 is on the four "layers" of attention. In the next chapter, Lipman explains how a storyteller can direct her or his attention "in a way that helps to connect each moment in the story to [her or his] overall goals for the storytelling event." He concludes by examining what he calls "the mystery of transformation -- the sometimes elusive result of perfect balance among all the components of the storytelling event."

It is important to keep in mind that, although Lipman briefly reviews the basics of storytelling, he goes "beyond" them (or at least explores each in much greater depth) than would, for example, an author of Storytelling for Dummies. A story will be told best by continuing to shape it while carefully observing those to whom it is told. Only then will the "storytelling triangle" have a "dynamic balance." To me, the single most important point which Lipman makes is that the storytelling event is the result but never the conclusion of a process. Revision of material and refinement of presentation are inevitable. The storyteller's journey never ends and sometimes no transformation occurs. What then? According to Lipman, "change the path, dance backwards, or leap into the unknown."

Those who share my high regard for this volume are urged to check out Simmons' aforementioned book, The Story Factor, as well as Robert B. Miller and Gary A. Williams' The 5 Paths to Persuasion, Stephen Denning's The Leader's Guide to Storytelling, and Storytelling in Organizations co-authored by John Seely Brown, Denning, Katarina Groh, and Laurence Prusak.