Storytelling is more than just reading the words of a story out loud. It takes other skills as well. It is important to be able to use different tones in your voice when you are telling a story. If your voice stays at the same level, it is boring! You will want your voice to go higher and lower. You will want your voice to go louder and softer. You can practice this with games. These games will help you develop the skills you need to make yourself a good storyteller.
Counting from 1 to 10
First, read a paragraph of a story, any story. Keep your voice the same level. Don’t go high or low or loud or soft. Just say it flat.
Now count from one to 10 (out loud!) in these different ways:
- As if you were an angry parent who said, “I am going to count to 10 and if you’re not in the bedroom by the time I get to 10, you’re in big trouble.”
- As a very little child just learning to count
- As if you were very sad because you thought everyone had forgotten your birthday, but then you walked into your living room and saw 10 birthday presents sitting on the floor. How would you count them?
- As if you were a referee for a boxing match and you were counting someone out.
- As if you were telling someone a telephone number when the phone was not working right.
- As if you were counting pennies as you dropped them into a piggy bank.
Read the same paragraph again that you read before. This time, let your voice go loud and soft. Go high and low. Go fast and slow. Do you hear the difference? Which way sounds better?
Walk the Walk
Storytelling isn’t just words; it’s motion, too. You will have to move around while you tell your story. You will use your arms and legs. You will use your hands and face to tell the story. Practice storytelling motions with this game.
Walk across the room six times. Each time, pretend something different:
- You are coming home from school and you know you have a lot of chores to do when you get there.
- You are walking through a foot of snow.
- You are walking barefoot in a very sticky, squishy swamp.
- You are walking across a blistering hot desert.
- You are in a graveyard at night walking through the tombstones.
- Your right leg is in a cast.
- You are walking through honey.
Good job! Now you are ready to find a story to tell!
http://www.mensaforkids.org/teach/lesson-plans/the-art-of-storytelling/