Storyteller
What does a storyteller do?
Well, the simple answer is, “Storytellers tell stories.” Storytelling is live performance art — it’s not reading aloud, nor is it acting. It’s sharing a story through language, facial expression, body language, tone of voice and — most importantly — through imagination. The storyteller holds the story in her imagination — the images, emotions, characters, motivations, etc. — and she helps you experience that story in your own imagination. Storytelling is not about memorizing words and reciting them — the storyteller knows the story but is free to watch and respond to the audience, adapting the language, tempo, sound effects, gestures, etc., as needed.
Why is this kind of work important?
Another simple answer: Because we are human. Anthropologists tell us that storytelling is central to human existence. From the beginning of time, storytelling has been the way cultures have preserved and celebrated their memories, passed on their values and belief systems, entertained, instructed and reported. Our world has changed, our stories have changed, but our brains are still hard-wired for storytelling.
What is a typical day like for you?
When you’re a full-time storyteller, there is no “typical” day — that’s one of the joys of storytelling for me. I abhor routine! As a storyteller, in a typical week I might spend Monday performing five sessions for kindergartners in Atlanta, then drive to Knoxville to spend Tuesday leading an all-day professional development workshop for teachers; Wednesday, rush back home to St. Louis to pack for a 24-hour journey to Taiwan to participate in a two-week storytelling festival, performing four or five times a day in schools, libraries and museums. Variety is exciting and challenging and keeps the work fresh!
However, having made that point, I should explain that I am a Storytelling Teaching Artist, which means that a great deal of my work is in preschool through high school classrooms, using storytelling as a tool for teaching creative writing or social studies or science or math. Storytelling is a great way to learn! So, a “typical day” might include four or five classroom sessions, perhaps working with 8th graders on researching and writing historical fiction stories about Westward Expansion, or with 4-year-olds who are using creative drama to retell a story.
And I finish nearly every day with preparation — working on proposals, invoicing clients, writing lesson plans and developing new stories.
When and how did you know you wanted to become a storyteller?
When I was a Children’s Librarian with the Miami-Dade Public Library System, our job was to motivate kids to read and use the library. My colleagues and I tried a lot of things, but what worked was storytelling. Once I experienced the power of storytelling, I never looked back!
What kind of training does it take to be a storyteller?
Storytellers come from all kinds of backgrounds, and so far, we have not standardized any criteria for “what it takes to be a storyteller.” Most storytellers have college degrees; many have masters and doctorates. It helps to have read a lot, listened to a lot of tellers, told a lot of stories to all kinds of different audiences and given a great deal of thought to what you’ve read, what you’ve heard and what you’ve learned. Storytelling takes practice, patience, reflection and the passion to share stories!
What do you love most about your job?
Travel! I have had the opportunity to work all over the United States, including Hawaii and Alaska, and in Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia, Ireland and the Bahamas. I get to meet all kinds of people everywhere I go — and I get to play with the kids and hear their stories. Can you imagine getting PAID to go to fabulous places to do what you love to do and meet fascinating people?
What is something challenging about your job?
Travel! Being on the road for weeks at a time can be exhausting and sometimes lonely. Some storytellers having a saying:
I drive for a living and tell stories for fun.
Why is it important for people to understand the world and cultures (and related stories) around them?
My friend Carmen Deedy — a truly amazing storyteller and author — says it best for me: “When a child grows up without hearing family stories, she enters adulthood with an incomplete sense of her personal history. This is loss enough. But when a child grows up without hearing folktales and fairytales, she enters adulthood with an imperfect sense of what it means to be a member of the human family.” So why is this work important? Because telling and listening to stories is an essential part of being human.
Is there something you wish more people understood about storytelling and its importance – if so what is it?
Perhaps this story, told by Metis storyteller Ron Evans, is my best answer:
A Peace Corps volunteer, or perhaps it was an anthropologist, in Africa was in a village when satellite television made its debut there. For a period of time, normal village life came to a halt as people watched, slack-jawed. Then slowly, things began to return to some semblance of normality. When asked why people were not watching as much television, a villager replied, “We have our storyteller.” “I understand,” said the volunteer, “but your storyteller knows a hundred stories — the television knows thousands of stories.” With a gleam in his eye, the man quickly responded, “That is true, but the storyteller knows me!”We can use machines, but we are not machines. We are human — and humans need storytellers!
Can you tell our readers something really cool about what you do that most people don’t know about?
Kids are storytellers, too! In many festivals across the country, kids are onstage telling stories. For example, the Timpanogos Festival in Utah features kids at every venue; the St. Louis Storytelling Festival showcases student tellers from Taiwan; the National Storytelling Network’s National Storytelling Conference annually presents a Youth Concert — and that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
What is your favorite thing to do when you are not working?
Visit the zoo! The animals have their own stories to tell — I love to watch them, listen to them, and imitate their voices and movements. I love to learn more about them so that they come alive in my stories. Recently, my husband and I watched a tiger being harassed by a fly. He tried to ignore it but couldn’t. He batted at it, swiped at it, and finally caught it in his mouth – then gagged and coughed and sputtered. It was hilarious – and that small story will end up in one of our stories soon!
Where can kids go to learn more about your work and other things related to storytelling and great stories?
If you want to learn more about storytelling, check out the links at http://www.storynet.org/resources/children.html. If you want to learn more about me, go to my website at www.sherrynorfolk.com. And if you want to hear stories, go to a festival — take a look at the event calendar on Storynet.org, the website of the National Storytelling Network: http://www.storynet.org/events/calendar.php.