Latest / The Starfish Storytellers / Season 2, Episode 6: So, You Want to Be a Storyteller? The Making of a Skilled Storyteller Through Community w/ Peter Ash

Transcript

Season 2, Episode 6: So, You Want to Be a Storyteller? The Making of a Skilled Storyteller Through Community w/ Peter Ash · The Starfish Storytellers

• 0:00
  Welcome to the Starfish Storytellers, the podcast that makes a difference one story
• 0:04
  at a time by bringing storytelling to life.
• 0:16
  November, the traveler walked down from the snowy western mountains and onto the broad
• 0:24
  plain. He was an older man with white hair and a salt and pepper beard. Tall and erect,
• 0:35
  the traveler had the posture of a military officer or possibly an ascetic and had a
• 0:42
  scar across one cheek. He wore a heavy dark brown cloak and carried a tall staff.
• 0:54
  At first, the only people who saw him were cleaners, poor folk rummaging through the
• 1:02
  yellow brown stubble for food for the winter. They were amazed because people rarely crossed
• 1:12
  the mountains alone and no one had ever crossed the mountains so late in the year, but no
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  one greeted him. All foreigners were suspect and police spies were everywhere, even among
• 1:30
  the poor. Anyone who spoke to the traveler would be risking their life. Besides, the
• 1:40
  traveler did not seem to need any help. The traveler walked on and after a few miles,
• 1:49
  he came to a group of soldiers. The leader asked him what he was doing there. Perhaps
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  the traveler did not understand the soldier's language, but the soldier's body language
• 2:03
  was clear and the traveler responded by reaching inside his cloak. One soldier thought the
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  traveler was reaching for a weapon, so he threw his sword and cut off his head. When
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  the soldiers examined the body, they found no weapon, only a leather water bottle and
• 2:30
  a black velvet pouch. The pouch held some dried fruits, nuts, a stone, and a few sheets
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  of parchment. The stone seemed an amulet, a heart-shaped piece of pink quartz. The parchment
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  was filled with writing and a language that meant nothing to the soldiers. The story could
• 2:59
  have ended there, but somehow the fame of the dead traveler spread during the years that
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  followed. He was given a name, Barah Ache, which meant in the language of that place
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  the man who crossed over, and he was the subject of endless speculation. Some thought he was
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  a spy and the soldiers were right to kill him. Others thought that his heart-shaped
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  amulet showed he was an obfelterer who had crossed the mountains to escape a vengeful
• 3:39
  husband. Another story fastened on his facial scar and thought he had killed a man in a
• 3:46
  duel and was hoping to start his life over in another way. Others focused on the parchment,
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  felt that the traveler was a holy man hoping to spread his religion or his mystic insight
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  to the people who crossed the mountains. And some said he was an adventurer crossing
• 4:10
  the mountains so late in the year just to show he could do it. What do I think? I think
• 4:20
  Barah Ache was a human being like you or me following whatever path he had to follow.
• 4:50
  Hello, my name is Rihanna Henry and welcome to the Starfish Storytellers. I'm the CEO
• 4:56
  of the Black Dog Group, a Marcom and Project Management firm headquartered on the east
• 5:00
  coast of the US in Quaint Colonial Bedford, Massachusetts. I'm your host and passionate
• 5:06
  about storytelling. I'm actually on a mission to raise up the next generation of storytellers.
• 5:11
  We've named ourselves the Starfish Storytellers after the Starfish Story. The moral of the
• 5:16
  Starfish Story is based on the power of one. No matter how big the challenge, each action
• 5:21
  we take makes a difference and has an impact. One step, one starfish, or one story at a
• 5:28
  time. Every episode we welcome a new storyteller who will share their story meant to inspire
• 5:32
  and connect with you. Then we'll break it down and offer tips for any listeners who
• 5:37
  are ready to tell their own stories. So thanks for tuning in. Now let's get started.
• 5:42
  Today's episode is about So You Want to Be a Storyteller? The Making of a Skilled Storyteller
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  Through Community. And with me today is Peter Ash, who is a writer, a storyteller, and a
• 5:54
  toast master. Peter tells all kinds of stories, retelling traditional tales and literary works,
• 6:01
  moth type true personal stories, humor stories, dark stories, fantasy stories, and various
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  combinations of all of the above. So thank you for joining us today, Peter. We're really
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  happy that you're here. You're welcome. So we usually get started by having our storyteller
• 6:20
  introduce themselves and tell us a little bit about themselves and tell us your background.
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  Would you like to share a little bit about you with our listeners? I retired professor
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  of mathematics, 79 years old. In the course of my career, I've also worked as a software
• 6:39
  engineer and as a courseware developer. And I have been engaged in the practice of San
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  Buddhism for 55 years. So I've done a lot of things in my life and I didn't get into
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  storytelling really until I was about 50 years old. Great. So I really appreciate the
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  story that you shared. Now, this is a story that you wrote. It is. So we wanted to talk
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  today about being a good storytelling or how to become a good storyteller. There's so much
• 7:21
  that goes into becoming a good storyteller. So when we were preparing for the podcast,
• 7:26
  you talked about how important it is to read. Read a lot and a lot of the storytellers who've
• 7:31
  come into the studio have also said that they were readers first and they read a lot of
• 7:37
  good stories. But then there's also the importance of developing active listening skills. There's
• 7:44
  the storytelling part of the equation, but there's also the story listening part of the
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  equation and being an active listener means people absorb information. They empathize
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  with others. Those who are creating stories have very creative imaginations, obviously
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  based on the story you shared. It was very creative. And being able to, as a storyteller,
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  and I know this, and we'll talk about this, I know in a little bit, we'll talk about
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  Moth, because I'm also a Moth storyteller, being able to create sort of those more simple,
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  concise stories that have a little bit more punch to them. But of course, then there's
• 8:21
  the character development and language techniques delivery and making stories relatable and
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  authentic so we can grab an audience. And I think I know we're going to talk today about
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  community and sort of feedback loops and circles and things like that. So getting and giving
• 8:38
  feedback is also really important. So why don't we get started about hearing a little
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  bit more. You said you didn't get started in storytelling until you were in your 50s.
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  Can you talk a little bit about that?
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  Yeah, I live in the Boston area, actually right here in Bedford. I was at an alumni
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  party. I got my bachelor's degree from Reed College in Portland, Oregon. I went to a local
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  alumni party here. And I met a fellow who seemed very interesting. We talked for a while
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  and he said, why don't you go to the storytelling workshop that I've been to, which is run by
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  Brother Blue. So I started going there and I haven't stopped since.
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  So what is Brother Blue?
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  Brother Blue was a name adopted by a man named Hugh Morgan Hill. He's a doctor of divinity
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  from Harvard Divinity School and is kind of the most well-known name in storytelling
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  probably in the Boston area. He did an incalculable amount. So here you have this doctor of divinity
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  who would dress in an all blue suit with butterflies all over it. And he would go to Harvard Square
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  where the hippies would hang out and he would be barefoot and he would perform. So he was
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  dedicated to the storytelling and the spiritual aspects of storytelling. And he ran a weekly
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  workshop for anybody who wanted to come in and listen to stories and tell stories.
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  Now you said you got involved in that. Were you and you're still participating with that
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  organization?
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  Well, yes, Brother Blue himself passed away in 2009. So a lot of the people who regarded
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  himself as his disciples, if you will, wanted to carry on his legacy. So the same Tuesday
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  night became a story space instead of Brother Blue's workshop.
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  And that's what you participate in now?
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  Yes.
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  Yes.
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  So what is the sort of the format of the story space? I think you had shared with me the
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  link one time and I went to check it out. But I haven't actually attended any of them
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  yet. How does that work? Is it like weekly?
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  Story space meets every weekday evening from 7 to 9. And it is met that if you count Brother
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  Blue's, it's well over 30 years going. And up until COVID, we met in person. So it went
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  for two hours and the first hour was an open mic and the second hour was a featured storyteller.
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  And after the pandemic hit, it became a virtual space. So you can find it at storiespace.org.
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  And that's how I tune into it now.
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  And when you say open mic, do they take draw names from a hat or how do people get chosen
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  to get to speak or just raise your hand?
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  Yeah, you put your name in the hat. And if someone is a first time teller, they will
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  or guarantee that they will be one of the people big. But for everyone else, they're
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  picked at random. It generally works out if I have a lot of stories I want to share that
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  I usually never have to wait more than one week to tell the story.
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  Got it. Got it. That's great. It is so important, I think, to have a place to tell your stories.
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  And there's lots of ways and places people can go. I don't just think people maybe don't
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  always know where they are. So it is nice to have those options.
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  So one of the things that we talked about was the communities that you've been a part
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  of. You named one. And why would it be important for a new storyteller to engage with a community
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  like this? And maybe you can tell us a little bit about the ones that you would recommend
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  for a new storyteller.
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  My favorite question. I think it's very important to be part of a community because of the nature
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  of what storytelling is. Now, for an actor, it only has to communicate with the other
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  actors in the play, which is storyteller is making a direct connection with their audience.
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  So if you're trying to practice storytelling without an audience, it's kind of like playing
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  tennis without a net or without a partner. Not easy.
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  And basically, most people I've talked to who want to get started in storytelling says,
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  I have no idea what I could talk about. Well, after you've heard dozens and dozens of people
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  in various storytelling venues, you begin to think of, oh, yeah, that reminds me of something
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  that happened to me that I bet people would be interested to hear about. So it's a great
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  source of inspiration. Of course, in any community that's a great store of help, you can find
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  out what's going on and what's happening. If you try to become a professional storyteller,
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  you can find out where you can get a gig. I haven't really been on a specific stage,
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  except you might say I was when I was the feature teller at Story Space one time, and
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  that I think was a very high honor for me. So I got a whole 50 minutes to tell some of
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  my favorite stories of all different types, and it was a blast.
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  Now Story Space is the one we were just talking about. Now there isn't any, like I know like
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  Moth has a very set structure. You know, you have to be true, it has to be authentic, it
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  can't have isms. There's a whole structure for the types of stories that they want you
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  to tell from their stages. Does Story Space have the same sort of, do they have like a
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  format that they want you to follow when you tell your stories? No, we're pretty kind of
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  proud of the fact that we're open to just about anything as long as it's not hateful
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  or hurtful to people. So anything that's spoken word is okay. We never have a theme
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  that you have to follow. Of course around Halloween and Christmas, things like that,
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  a lot of people will focus their stories on those particular things. But you can tell
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  any story you want. People have, it doesn't even have to be original work. So definitely,
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  it doesn't have to be something that truly happened to you. Truly in quotes, I guess,
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  because sometimes things which are fictional are more true than your best recollection of
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  something that was true.
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  Yeah. Besides Story Space, you know, talked about, Ma, talked about Story Space. What
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  other story communities do you, like I've heard of, you know, I'm a member of the National
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  Story Network. And I've heard of Nest and Fire. And there's one, what is it? There's
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  one like down south that is really big. They have a large festival every year in like Virginia.
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  That's always really popular. But what other sort of story communities can you think of
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  that would be useful for somebody to look into?
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  Well, I think this is something that people have to find for themselves. And I think you
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  need to start out with, if you're in the Boston area, I would start out with Nest. It
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  stands for Northeast Storytelling. You can find all these places with a simple Google
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  search. As you mentioned, that's the National Storytelling Network, which is headquartered
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  in Jonesboro, Tennessee, but has events all over the country. In fact, National Storytelling
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  Network is having their big annual meeting in Seattle on Puget Sound in July. So if
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  you had to bear with all that, that might be a lot of fun. But the point is to get
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  started. If you're thinking of getting into storytelling, I'd say you want to get, don't
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  put it on the back burner and wait for the perfect opportunity. It just sees the day.
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  And the New England Storytelling and National Storytelling Network both have calendars,
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  so you can see what events are going on in your area. So for example, you'll find Story
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  Space was there every Tuesday night. So find something that's convenient for you. Find
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  something that sounds interesting to you. There is many paths to storytelling development
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  as they are storytellers. And the Nest puts on a yearly event called Sharing the Fire.
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  I believe it was started by Brother Blue. It's been going on every year for years with
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  a short IATS because of COVID. And this year, it's meeting in Sharing the Fire, that is,
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  is meeting in Portsmouth, New Hampshire on March 22nd through 24th. It's a Friday through
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  Sunday. And I go virtually every year. I make time in my calendar to go to this. And so
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  going to something like this can really get you jump-started and allow you to make contacts
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  that will be incredibly important to you as you develop.
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  That's, this couldn't be more true. And it's very inspiring to go to these events. I know
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  that I looked into a couple others. It was the Passam Club, which does a lot of music,
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  but they also have some storytelling events. And then Fugitive Stories, which is, these
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  are both New England-based organizations. They do sort of music and storytelling events
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  as well. And they're sort of all over New England as well. So those are other good places to
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  look. So kind of segueing into storytelling, story coaching, because you had talked about
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  that when we were getting ready for the podcast. You know, I teach storytelling classes and
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  I've had a few people come to me one-on-one as story, for story coaching. And some of
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  them have come with great ideas of things they wanted to use their storytelling for,
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  but they really weren't sure how to get started. I had one gal come to me. She wanted to take
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  sort of her heritage stories and infuse them into some ministry that she was going to start.
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  And she really wanted to know sort of what was sort of the framework that she should follow
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  and use in order to do that. I believe you're an advocate for story coaching as well. And
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  so my question for you is, when should someone look for a coach? And what should they be
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  looking for in a coach? You know, what is a great way for them or a best way for them
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  to maybe choose one? Okay. Well, I think this is a case where going to sharing the fire would
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  be my number one suggestion. There are workshops all through the weekend. So it's not just
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  a matter of listening to stories. There are participatory workshops. There are workshops
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  that include coaching where they will coach a couple of people maybe. So the coach will
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  coach two or three people and everyone else will get to see how they do their coaching.
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  So I think that I didn't do any coaching until I had been storytelling for a number of years.
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  I felt that I was learning what I could learn just from watching people. And at some point
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  I realized I wanted to knock my story telling up to the next level. And that's when I started
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  working with some coaches. I worked with a great Diane Edgecomb who unfortunately is
• 25:44
  not doing coaching anymore although she's very active performing. And I worked with
• 25:56
  online with coaching with Jim Brewe and Doug Whitman. Each experience is very different.
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  Most of my coaching has been in small classes. So sometimes that can be a very good format.
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  If you have maybe a dozen people who are being coached at the same time and by listening
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  and watching you can learn as much from how the other people are helped as you can be
• 26:47
  helped directly yourself by the coach. Well that is all the time we have for today. I
• 26:54
  want to thank you so much for being our guest. I just loved having the conversation about
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  the different communities and where people could go to learn more and to express themselves.
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  And it was just really resonated with me. So thank you so much for being here and for
• 27:12
  sharing that. It was my pleasure. Thank you. And to our listeners, whether you hear us
• 27:19
  locally from the BTV studios in Bedford, Massachusetts or across the globe on such podcast channels
• 27:24
  as Spotify, Apple Podcasts or Amazon Prime, thanks for listening. We hope you enjoyed
• 27:30
  this episode and we'll see you next time. Happy Storytime.