How to Tell An Epic Tale
20. Apr, 2010 
13 Comments
Today’s guest post is by Colin from Exile Lifestyle. If you’re a traveler, being able to spin a captivating tale can be a survival technique. Here’s how to do it.
“…but it turns out that on the label it said ‘do not mix with alcohol, can cause vivid hallucinations.’ THAT’S how I ended up 8 miles from where I started, wearing half the clothes I showed up with, and why I no longer drink wine in hot tubs with French people.”
The people clustered around me at the party all display the ‘Ohhhhh!’ face of figuring out a mystery. Some laugh out loud at the surprise ending. Others give their sympathies/express their disbelief/nod in acknowledgment that, yes, these kinds of things happen, and yes, they are worldly enough to know about them.
The response is good and I take a mental note of how I told the tale this time around. Each time the pacing is adjusted just so, the milestones come earlier or later, and the intro completely changes based on how it’s brought up in conversation.
Telling a good story – especially if you’re a traveler – is like knowing verbal ninjitsu: being able to do so makes you a force to be reckoned with at any social event, job interview, court hearing or casual conversation.
Weaving a Worthy Tale
Storytelling has a history as old as articulate humans, and if you are able to improve your ability to take part in this tradition, others will be more likely to benefit from your misadventures, learn from your experiences and value you as someone who can hold their own in a crowd of two or two thousand.
There are a handful of things to keep in mind when telling a story that will elevate it from a potential snoozefest into an audience’s delight.
First
Remember that the point of telling stories is to educate or entertain, and ideally both. If you aren’t giving value to the people who are listening, then you may as well keep your mouth shut. That value can come in many forms – painting a picture of a location with your words, for example, is valuable to someone who hasn’t been there – but make sure that you’re not just making noise to hear your own voice.
It can also be quite valuable to tell people something they don’t know (“I had no idea that pouring cheap vodka through a water filter 8 times will make it the exact same quality as top shelf stuff!”) or to simply entertain with yarns about strange/awkward/unusual situations.
Second
Try to remember the details. These are the tidbits that make the whole story more vivid and believable. If you simply say ‘I got on a boat and it was the wrong boat and it was a nudist boat’ you’ve managed to take a potentially hilarious situation and turn it into a ho-hum-you-don’t-say moment.
On the other hand, if you were to say ‘As the ship jerked away from the dock, I could see the craft full of octogenarians come alive as freshly-polished brown wingtips were meticulously unlaced and removed, skirts were dropped to the deck like wadded-up Twinkie wrappers and shirts were ripped off with the reckless abandon of someone with nothing to lose and little time in which to lose it’ you’ve added a vast amount of detail to the story with just a few specific visuals.
Third
Use earth-shatteringly amazing words. Muster every erudite exclamation you can evoke and throw down those suckers like a handful of aces. In journalism school I was taught that we should write at a fifth grade reading level; keep the quarter words at home, they told me, the newspaper is a nickel-only publication.
You know what? Storytelling is no place for nickels. Body language speaks volumes, so even if someone doesn’t understand the words you use, they will get the gist of what you’re saying and very likely get more value from it than if you had used something simple. Big, crazy, fun words exist for a reason: they do a better job of elaborating and clarifying than their more commonly-used counterparts.
Fourth
Watch your timing, pacing and chronology. You needn’t tell a story from start to finish, the way it happened in real life. Real life is boring to hear about! You know what’s entertaining? Movies. And you know how many movies tell a story without any breaks or pull-aways or flashbacks or secondary-stories or plot-twists? Not bloody many, and with good reason.
Insert additional backstory when necessary! Start at the end and then go back to the beginning to show how you got there! Tell the story from a few different perspectives! Have fun with it!
I’ll tell you right now, it will likely take a half-dozen tellings before you really start to get it right. What seems interesting to you – having been there – will probably be much different than what’s interesting to the people you’re telling about it later. My best stories are ones that I’ve told over and over again, and that’s no coincidence; they’re as good as they are because I’ve been able to see over time which components of the tale get the best response.
Fifth
Know when to shut up. The only thing worse than someone telling you a boring story is someone who keeps telling it over and over again. While you’re telling a story make an effort to watch the faces and body language of the people around you. If their eyes drift, if their feet or bodies turn to point away from you, if they seem to be trying to come up with an excuse to leave the conversation, pick up on this and figure out an escape plan.
My favorite way to do this is to simply involve someone else and let them have the floor. One of the rules of being a good conversationalist is knowing how to ask good questions. If you can do this, you can control the flow of the conversation, learn a whole lot, and, most relevant to this topic, involve someone else in the story you are telling so that it spins off into a different story altogether (this one told by them). Doing this elegantly is a good way to show that you don’t want to waste anyone’s time with something that is clearly boring them and that you’re not trying to hog the spotlight.
As Good As Gold
Keep these five things in mind and your next story will be…about the same as the last one you told. But CONTINUE telling that story while keeping these things in mind and it will get better and better and better.
And you know what? As you invest time in telling your stories well, you’ll start to look at the world – your life – as one big epic adventure. The best story ever written!
Having your car burst into flames will become just another experience waiting to be dissected later in order to determine the lessons learned and hilarity captured. Each and every second that you live becomes a latent investment.
Keep oral tradition – and your next party – alive.
…and be careful around French people, wine and hot tubs; I’ll tell you why one of these days.
Pic: Brainpicker
About the Author:
Colin Wright is an entrepreneur who runs Exile Lifestyle and moves to a new country every four months. Keep up with him via Twitter, RSS and his newsletter.
Having met Colin in person in Buenos Aires last year, I can vouch for his storytelling skills!
We find ourselves telling a few select stories from our travels over and over again (almost getting crushed at the Uzbek-Kazakh border is a popular one), but it never really gets boring because we always have to adjust it to different audiences. Another great benefit of storytelling is that you (the storyteller) can feel a bit of that excitement, adrenaline or emotion of that original experience when telling that story to others.
Audrey´s last blog ..Antarctica, Part 4: An Audio Slideshow
This post is sickly genius! Very informative! Consider it Stumbled! Can’t wait to share this post. I did learn something AND I was entertained by the writing.
Jen Laceda´s last blog ..MoRoCo: Here, There, More Cocoa Everywhere
Thanks for this post. Beautiful advice for speakers, trainers, leaders, communicators and entertainers. Well done!
Adrilia´s last blog ..Do you have what it Takes to Provide Amazing Customer Service? Does your Company?
Whenever I think about how to tell a good story I always remember the advice from Reservoir Dogs. I really feel storytelling is something that, when done right, comes from the soul. It’s the most amazing amalgamation of all the different types of human communication.
Great post.
Waq´s last blog ..Why I run
I love the subject of this post. I think most of us have lost the art of conversation. So often people get together an turn on a movie, or just start gossiping. It would be great if we could revive this art.
Carmen´s last blog ..Please Help Our Reader Design Her Lifestyle
Great post! This is the essence of getting your readers to listen, making it interesting. I agree with sometimes embellishing the facts to make the story flow better. At the end of the day if you have informed or provided entertainment to your listeners that’s all that matters!
This reminds me of a recent book I read, “the beggar king and the secret of happiness” about a word traveler and story teller with a twist of a plot. I think I need a few more adventures under my belt and learn the ability to pull a ‘moral of the story is…” instead of just a comical ending of how this and that happened. Maybe I can get my own travel sized Wheel of Morality
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Great tips. I like the point about body language. I have spent many a time listening to a boring story and couldn’t understand that the person didn’t see that everyone’s eyes were glazing over. Paying attention to how people react is the key. If everyone is getting bored, wrap it up and fast:-) My husband is a good story teller when he gets into the mood.
Good list, useful. Just wished that some people realized that a story that might be fun for them, is not always interesting for others
Harry, BikeTravellers.com´s last blog ..Intermezzo: Interview with Ivana & Harry for Examiner
found this on Julia Dimon’s website, speaking of epic tales.
http://bit.ly/92WLIs
she makes it relate-able without sparing any of the gritty details. worth a read!
Having interviewed Colin as he just started his site and travels, I can vouch for his wonderful qualities. What I didn’t know is his ability to write a fantastic article. In keeping with Audrey’s comment, that’s why personal stories about travel resonate deeply over top ten lists. Lists convey quick information with bits of sharp wit, but stories bring a reader to the moment. And that’s what writing is – capturing itty bitty moments.
Nomadic Chick´s last blog ..Outdoor Adventure & Travel Show – Part 2
Thanks for the tips! I’m always conscious of trying to make the story interesting to readers, especially when they weren’t there to experience it. I fear that they will be bored.
Joya´s last blog ..Say Aloha to Hawaii and a Free Flip Video Camera!
That’s pure science in itself – and more complicated than I thought. I still like it – it shows your passion.
I even learned a lot from your entertaining approach – thanks a lot
See you at the next story
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