Coach's Corner with Niigon presents:

An Essential Improv Skill: Narration!

Hey all,

After our Lab Theatre Show the other day, some of you asked if I could put something up here on the aspects of narration, so I found an article from www.thestory.net on exactly that! I have cut it up a bit (since it was geared towards a speechwriting class) but here it is… the "The Story Spine" game is an excellent way to break a story down into its key elements - it's basically the five elements explained in a different way! Enjoy!

Niigon

How to Use Storytelling to Increase Learning

by Kat Koppett and Matthew Richter
featured in The 2001 Training and Performance and/or Team and Organization Development Sourcebook, published by McGraw Hill 2001.

Stories are all around us and they are evident in all of the obvious places: TV, movies, books, etc. They are also present in the way we interact with each other. Think about the various encounters we have throughout a typical day. We meet with our boss and give her a project update. We chat with our colleagues about our children. We tell our spouse about our day. All those reports include vivid characters, evocative settings, and, often, story twists that are stranger than fiction. Stories are the foundation for how we communicate. They enable us to make a personal connection to content on a deeper and richer level, more than a mere list of facts can. And how we narrate and read facts determines how we will remember and integrate them.

Here are some structure "games" that will help you develop your storytelling abilities:

Storytelling Tools and Exercises

As we have said, all of us are natural storytellers. Some of us, though, may feel frightened at the idea of having to actively create a story. Or we may feel that our stories do not highlight the point we are trying to make, thus failing to create the intended impact. Or, when we are narrating a story collaboratively, we may get lost in a forest of conflicting ideas. Below, we have included two exercises to guide individuals and groups through a conscious process of story creation.

I. The Story Spine

The Story Spine is a template originally created by Kenn Adams, a playwright and improvisational actor, to aid improvisers and writers in creating "well-made" stories. The flow or structure of a story is very important. Whether it is organic or cultural, most of us have a strong visceral sense of what makes a story satisfying. This template can help us create well-built narratives. In addition, it provides participant storytellers with a structured freedom for developing their tales, thus enabling them to build on the content and not get bogged down by the process.

Begin each sentence or part of the story with the following:

"Once upon a time…"

This is the introduction to the setting and characters in the story. The platform. The exposition. It gives listeners the context and sets the stage.

Example:

• "Once upon a time in the same city, there were two prominent families who despised each other.

"Everyday…"

• The platform continues and develops.
• Example:
• • Everyday the families feuded, fought and killed each other's members."

"But one day…"

• This is the catalyst. The reason that the story is being told. Why today is different.
• Example:
• • "But one day, the son of one of the families crashed the birthday party of the other's daughter."

"Because of that…" (repeat at will)

• This is the heart of the story. The consequences that ensue from the catalyst. Each event leads to another event building suspense and tension.
• Examples:
• • "Because of that, the son and daughter fell in love."
  • "Because of that, they secretly married."
  • "Because of that, the son wanted the killing to stop."
  • "Because of that he stepped into the middle of a fight and inadvertently caused the death of his best friend."
  • "Because of that, in agony and rage, he killed the killer, his wife's cousin."
  • "Because of that, he was banished."
  • "Because of that the lovers needed to employ a complicated plan to be reunited."
  • "Because the plan was complicated, and depended on other people, communication broke down." (Does this sound like work?)
  • "Because the message didn't get to him, the son didn't realize his wife was only faking her death, and he thought she was really dead when he found her in the family tomb."
  • "Because of that, he killed himself."

"Until finally…"

• Here is the climax. The clincher. The moment for which we all wait!
• Example
• • Until finally, the daughter awoke to find her husband dead beside her, and she plunged his knife into her body, just as the members of both families entered the tomb to find their beloved children dead."

"And ever since then…"

• The resolution. The conclusion.
• Example:
• • "And ever since then, both families have stopped the nonsensical war between them and have learned to cooperate and live happily together."

II. Color/Advance

So, the example story above was pretty good, eh? But it wasn't Shakespeare. Why not? Why do we revere his version of Romeo and Juliet, even though the story has been told a million times before and since? It's all in the details. His structure is strong. His "because of that's" flow from one to the other, building in intensity beautifully. But mostly, it is the language Shakespeare uses, the descriptions he employs, the way he develops his characters that makes his work a masterpiece. What makes a story compelling is not just what happens, but how it is related, the specific moments, the images and sensory impressions that are created. Here is an exercise for adding meat to the bones of the story spine.

• Have each person create a story using the story spine.
• In pairs, have participants share their stories.
• Choose one person in each pair to be the "storyteller" and the other to be the "guide".
• The storyteller begins to tell the story again. Whenever the guide hears something that he wants to know more of he says, "Color the (blank)".
• The storyteller then describes, in as much detail as possible, that element of the story. For example:
• Storyteller: "because of that they fell in love…"
• Guide: "Color 'falling in love'."
• Storyteller: "Romeo risked his life to see her. He looked up and saw her on the balcony. He told her that she was so beautiful that the moon must envy her. He climbed up to her and kissed her and when the dawn came they swore their eternal love and spoke of the "sweet sorrow" of parting.
  
  OR:
  
  
• Storyteller: "Once upon a time there was a sales manager named Max."
• Guide: "Color 'Max'."
• Storyteller: "Max had been in his position for 26 years and he was tired. He weighed 347 pounds, ate 2 double cheeseburgers everyday for lunch, and wore a flea-bitten toupee."


• When the guide is satisfied, he says, "advance" and the storyteller continues on with the next part of the story spine.
• At the end of the story, the partners switch roles.
• Variations:
• Do this exercise alone, using a timer to switch from coloring to advancing.
• Have participants form groups of three. Use two guides, one in charge of calling for "color", the other in charge of "advancing".
• Begin from scratch with no story spine previously created, enabling the story to evolve and grow spontaneously.