You already know what you need as a storyteller: you need to keep at it. You need information about how best to tell, create, and work on stories. You need to interact with experts, so you don’t need to re-invent the wheel. You need to make sure your development as a storyteller doesn’t take a permanent back seat to everything else in your life. But, as parenting expert Haim Ginott used to say, "The problem with life is, it’s so ‘daily’!"

When I say, "serious about storytelling," I don’t necessarily mean that you plan to perform professionally. I mean you care enough about the power of storytelling to try to become a clear bearer of stories for those in your audiences, whether you reach them in auditoriums, at work, in your community, or in your home.

Let’s say you’re like Joe. He’s a devoted teacher who has experienced the magical effect of storytelling on his classes: how they become rapt, stop fidgeting and even breathe together. How they become motivated to learn more about the subjects of his stories. How they remember the facts and ideas he told them about.

But Joe has lots of demands on his time. He kept meaning to work on new stories and new ways to use stories–after all, it made his other teaching easier and more fun. But where would he find time to leave his family for a weekend to attend a workshop? And even if he got away once a year, does that mean that he would just stagnate for the other eleven months?

Here’s what Joe says happened after he became a Charter Member of the Storytelling Workshop in a Box™:

Or think about Jody (not her real name). She’s a professional storyteller, performing several times a week. She’s so busy nurturing her audiences, she doesn’t get much nurturing as an artist! She spends some of her time working on new stories and improving old ones, of course–but she’s sure she could be more efficient, if she just had some good coaching. But where she lives in Montana, she’d have to drive eight or twelve hours just to find a committed group of storytellers, never mind an experienced coach!

Here’s part of an email from one of the "Jody’s" in the world:

"Each month…I can't wait to listen to it!" —Amy Crane, Norcross, LA "It’s wonderful! I look forward to its arrival each month and can’t wait to get in the car by myself so I can listen to it–usually several times. "There is not a strong storytelling community here and I feel very alone sometimes. The Workshops in a Box help me feel connected to a community of tellers in a 21st century sort of way. Thank you!"–Amy Crane, Norcross, LA

How about Nancy? She’s created a community of storytellers around her by starting an organization, a festival, a troupe of storytellers - and much more. She’s received a national award as a storytelling leader in her part of the country. But she knows she needs to shoe-horn something into her life that lets her nourish herself as a storyteller:

Then there’s Connie. She teaches storytelling to adults and children in schools and arts centers, even at a theater. She’s always looking for new ways to teach, for new activities and resources for her work:

"A fantastic storytelling tool!" —Connie Dodge , Atlanta, GA "I play it again and again in the car. I love being able to go to the written text as well when I want to ponder something more deeply. "I use the reference library function extensively in my teaching. It’s wonderful to be able to lift a lovely quote to share with my students. I am more likely to sit down to read or listen to these short monthly selections than I am to wade into one of my many reference books."I love having the choice of reading, listening, and doing the exercises. At different times each thing is the most useful. Congratulations on creating a fantastic storytelling tool!" - Connie Dodge, professional storyteller, Atlanta, GA

The problem I gave up on

As you may know, I offer dozens of weekend (and longer) storytelling workshops every year. People pay up to $895 to travel (sometimes across the country) and join a small group of other storytellers. For three or four days, they form a supportive community. They help each other solve the various problems that storytellers face. With my coaching, each person gets the information, techniques, and feedback they need–and (sometimes) a loving shove in the direction they know they want to pursue but lack the confidence to tackle.

These workshops are effective. That’s why so many people come back year after year. But they only solve part of the problem! Often, people come back the next year saying, "I left the last workshop having leapt a hurdle in my storytelling. But after a few months, I was in a rut again–a new rut, but not growing as quickly as I knew I could!"

Hearing these comments, I always thought to myself, "That’s just how it is. There’s no way to give all of these people a booster-workshop every month!" Boy, was I wrong!

The first session came out in 2001. Did it succeed? I don’t expect you to take my word for it. Listen to what these members say–all kinds of storytellers, from all walks of life:

I felt I owed it to you, those committed to storytelling, to let you know about this innovative concept. As I wrote this letter, I thought, "Why would you refuse this? What could you possibly object to?"

Try as I would, I could only come up with six reasons why you might not believe the Storytelling Workshop in a Box™ to be an absolutely essential part of your ongoing life as a teller or teacher of stories:

Problem #1: Is it hard to cancel?

Personally, I hate signing up for monthly programs. They are always hard to get out of. Usually I have to write my mother’s maiden name spelled backward on a 3x5 card and mail it on a full moon–and even then they still bill me for the danged thing.

My solution for this problem: To cancel at any time, just contact me. In whatever way you prefer. Email, write, call, or fax. Just tell me you want to cancel. That’s all. No questions, no guilt. And keep the free gifts, no matter what–even the free telephone coaching certificate! (Note: if you cancel, you’ll have to stop using the private bulletin boards and email discussion group. They really are only for active members.)

Problem #2: Is it really interactive?

"Wait a minute," you say. "A real workshop is face-to-face. How can a long-distance workshop allow me to learn from other storytellers? How will I get feedback from you?"

Well, I have to admit you’re right about this. No long-distance program can ever give you the sights and sounds of an in-person workshop. No recording–even combined with written materials, electronic interaction, and telephone coaching–can ever match the magic of being behind those closed doors at a private workshop.

But I think you’ll agree I’ve found eight ways to give you the next best thing:

1. I welcome your feedback, problems and success stories. I will incorporate them into future sessions.

2. If you sign up for a Deluxe Membership, I include a free "Brain Picking" Certificate. Just write or email me your most pressing storytelling problem–the place you get stuck or just need personalized information–and I’ll give you a written answer!

3. With a Deluxe Membership, I also include a free Telephone Coaching Certificate. This entitles you to thirty minutes of free, one-on-one coaching with me–just like an in-person workshop.

That’s three powerful forms of interactivity. But I admit that isn’t really as much as you deserve. So, to make the Storytelling Workshop in a Box™ even more powerful, I’ve added these opportunities for interaction:

4.

Free membership in my Supportive Coaching email list–formerly restricted to veterans of my in-person workshops. Now, even if you can’t afford the travel and expense of a private workshop, you can join the discussion about storytelling and coaching. Send your questions and experiences to the participating members of the workshop–all at once!

5. A private password to my soon-to-be-established web-based bulletin board, just for Workshop in a Box members. Bring up topics, ask your questions, tell your experiences (the disasters and the flabbergasters, the debris and the victory), and read and reply to what others have posted. Unlike the up-to-the-minute immediacy of the email list, these conversations will always be archived and threaded–so it’s easy to find just the topic you want to read about or contribute to.

6. A private password to the new "Story-Buddy Board" on my web site (just for Workshop in a Box members and select others) where you can look for rehearsal buddies and coaching partners–either in your geographic area or who want to work together via telephone. End your artistic isolation by finding others to listen to you as you tell and develop stories!

7. Notification of the members-only Call-In Hours. Only for Deluxe Members, these are quarterly sessions when you can call me for free (you pay only for any long-distance charges) and get 10-20 minutes of my time–depending on the number of callers–to ask that pressing question or run by me a bit of a story.

8. Deep discounts on any upcoming single-session tele-seminars. These will be one-hour workshops via conference call. I’ll present some information about a pre-announced topic, then answer your questions. You’ll actually get to hear each other’s voices and get answers in real time! As a Member of the Workshop in a Box, you’ll get a substantial discount on these unique experiences. (Deluxe Members, of course, will receive even greater discounts.)

I understand this problem. I don’t subscribe to the newspaper, because I hate to see all those un-read papers lying around my house. And besides, I get most of my news from listening to the radio as I drive.

But the Workshop in a Box is designed to be used the way YOU want to use it. You can listen to the tapes in the car, as you walk, or as you exercise. (Need CDs instead of tapes? See below!) Or you can ignore the tapes and go straight to the activities, which are included in written form. With a Deluxe Membership, you can even read complete written transcriptions of the tapes–or scan them as a quick way to review the lessons. "Read, listen or do–whichever works for you!"

Beyond that, I’ve designed the Storytelling Workshop in a Box™ to serve as a permanent reference library. Over time, you will collect an invaluable trove of information that is not available anywhere else. When you need it–to solve a future storytelling problem, to teach others, or to re-visit a session for even greater depth of learning–it will be there!

If, after listening to any three of the sessions, you are not convinced that the Storytelling Workshop in a Box™ is an indispensible part of your storytelling life–if you don't find that it motivates, informs, and enlightens you as a teller of stories–then just return it for a full refund. No hassles. You have been a valuable part of my professional community. I don’t want you unhappy. I guarantee this unique product unconditionally!

Do you really want to miss these sessions?

The Starter Kit sessions of the Storytelling Workshop in a Box™ cover basic and advanced topics like these:

The remaining sessions—most of which build on concepts introduced in the Starte Kit—give unique perspectives on these issues:

7. Unlocking the power of oral language
8. How to be at your peak with a story in time to tell it - without wasting effort or worry.
9. The art of making suggestions - and how to train your helpers to give you the helpful prodding you need
10. Is storytelling irrational and based solely on feelings? Learn how storytelling is actually a form of thinking - and the implications for learning and telling
11. Using your body and voice for characterization
12. How to be clear about what storytelling is - and when and how to stretch the limits of the art form.
13. How do you find or create a story from a concept? In other words, how can you start with a topic and end up with a story on it?
14. How do you find your own style? How do you identify what unique strengths you have, and then offer them through your stories?
15. The key skill in storytelling is imagining. The more effectively you imagine what you are telling, the more impact your telling can have. What techniques can help you imagine more fully? How do you imagine with all your senses? How do you transform your own internal imagery to give it more richness and power?
16. Often, problems with your storytelling don't stem from your choice of story, your technique in telling, or your preparation. Instead, they arise directly from a confusion about your role with respect to your listeners. How do you create clarity and avoid disappointment, no matter how convoluted the circumstances?
17. Storytelling, like all performance arts, requires you to "be present" in the moment of telling, actively gauging and responding to your listeners. What can you do, to reliably "enter the flow" that leads to your best telling?
18. It's common for workshop leaders to give storytellers a series of steps they can follow to choose a story. Learn why this is an illusion - and an approach that will pay off in the long run - by saving misdirected effort and producing a more effective result.
19. You've probably heard the writer's and actor's adage, "Show it, don't tell it." But how does that apply to storytelling? Contrary to what you may have been told, both "showing" an actual event and "telling" about it have their place. Learn to use this continuum of ways to present information to streamline your exposition and make the "background" as interesting as the main plot of your story.
20. Many stumbling blocks storytellers face can be removed by the judicious use of other people - of helpers. Sure, we've all used so-called helpers who were more trouble than they're worth. But, with a little careful delimiting of helping relationships, you can learn to maximize the value of your helpers. Learn to use helpers for learning stories, processing emotions, keeping projects on track, and more - even to help you "get to" the tasks you really have to do yourself. Learn clear guidelines for getting helpers, nurturing beginning helping relationships - and more!
21. Learn to fine-tune your characters by harnessing the hidden powers of oral language. Learn the powerful concept of "meta-messages" and how to use it to convey your characters' intentions, make them recognizable and consistent, and portray their transformations convincingly. Learn the four most useful postural qualities that indicate character, the three key ways you can define how a character talks, and the important difference between characterization that is consistent and that which is congruent.
22. Do you have storytelling talent? Before you try to answer, learn the hidden biases in the question that steer us away from the true strength of our art. Learn the single most important question to ask yourself as you try to develop your abilities, and the 10 abilities that, together, account for nearly all masterful telling. Learn the reasons why our society believes in "talent" and why that belief is destructive to your art!
23. The moral of the story? When should you state what a story means? Never? Always? What are you choices short of bald statements? Learn to be artful in using a spectrum of possible ways to suggest meaning. Learn the three "dimensions" that add to your ability to point your listeners in the direction you intend, without unduly depriving your listeners of the opprotunity to discover personal meanings for themselves.
24. Can you entrance your listeners? Learn how to know when and how to stimulate your listeners to "lean back" into the storylistening trance, and when and how to get them leaning forward, "on the edge of their seats." Learn the six key techniques for entrancing your listeners, the six other techniques for involving them in "leaning forward," how to take care of an audience you have entranced, and ways to create a balance in a storytelling program between these two modes of listening.
25. How to Integrate Your Emotions Into Your Storytelling, part 1.
26. How to Integrate Your Emotions Into Your Storytelling, part 2.
27. How to Elicit Stories from Others.
28. How to Show Transformation in a Story.
29. How Am I Doing? Evaluating Your Storytelling.
30. How to Make a Scene Dramatic.
31. Storytelling Obstacles and How to Overcome Them—Part 1
32. Making Your Story Fresh and Alive.
33. Overcoming Obstacles, Part 2: The Categories of Obstacles
34. Should You Use Other Art Forms with Your Storytelling?
35. How to Guide Your Audience: the stages of a relationship-based performance
36. How to Improve Your Storytelling: the essential for long-term growth.
37. The Storytelling Table: Supporting You Wherever You Need Help

Where else could you learn all this?

I’ve been telling stories since 1970. I’ve been navigating the icy waters of self-employment since 1971. I’ve been coaching storytellers professionally since the mid-70s. I’ve performed at the National Storytelling Festival twice, offered workshops at nearly a dozen National Storytelling Conferences, and traveled as far as New Zealand and Switzerland performing and giving workshops. I’ve coached scores of professional storytellers. I’ve taught storytelling to hundreds–if not thousands–of professionals in other fields…from nurses and therapists to lawyers and oil company executives.

I’ve had four books published, eleven audio recordings, and an instructional video. I’ve won awards and been chosen for numerous blue-ribbon committees, from consulting for the International Storytelling Center and the non-profit Center for Creative Leadership to the jury for the Parents Choice Awards.

More than that, I’ve been deeply committed to the storytelling revival. I helped start storytelling conferences, festivals, performance series, and sharing groups. I’ve been a board member of national storytelling organizations for the last five years.

But I’m not satisfied. I want the storytelling movement to thrive. I know that some people will jump on storytelling as a fad, profiting from it when it’s easy and abandoning it as soon as the going gets rough. Yet I know you are out there: the folks who care about storytelling as an art and a professional tool, as a public expression and as an intimate way to communicate with your family. When the "me too" storytellers have jumped ship, the rest of us will be left. And I want you, my partners in this movement, to be strong. I want you to be well-informed. I want you to thrive. I want you to have the help you need, in order to bring the light of story into this troubled world.

The best way I know (so far!) to help the largest number of you is through the Storytelling Workshop in a Box™. If you want to take advantage of this tool, which draws on my thirty years of experience and activism in the field, order today!

If you prefer, you can fax me or mail me. Or you can leave the information on the protected mailbox of my toll-free voice mail.

Where else could you get any workshop for as little as $.39 a day? Where else can you get comprehensive help without leaving home? Not to mention the services of the coach who "wrote the book" (literally!) on storytelling coaching?

Don’t miss this chance. The Storytelling Workshop in a Box™ is something inexpensive–and essential–that you can give the artist in you. Why miss it?

P.S., I guarantee the Storytelling Workshop in a Box™ unconditionally. Cancel at any time! Listen to any three tapes and, if you’re not convinced this is the best, most useful tool for advancing your storytelling, return everything for a full refund. And keep all $349.95 worth of the free coupons–even the Brain Picking ($125 value) and Free Coaching ($100 value) certificates!

Here’s how to get all the member benefits and keep your storytelling moving:

1. Fax your information to (206) 202-7719, anytime, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

2. Call my office toll-free 1-888-LIPMAN-1 (1-888-547-6261) or 781-837-1940.

3. Order on my secure web server, http://storydynamics.com/swborder.