If You Want a Man to Listen, Tell Him a Story! ELLING

Narrative is the most natural form of communication; we all love to hear a story!

Since ancient times, storytelling has been the way communities pass along wisdom, affirm spiritual truths, share knowledge, illustrate cultural beliefs and connect generations. Even now, as soon as two people meet, they begin telling each other their stories. Sharing our experiences is a powerful way to both connect with other people and explain our individuality. We crave connections of the world to our own experiences!

While television, film and literature offer stories. Narrative in religious texts, fiction, biography, history, motivational collections and creative non-fiction are among the most popular genres in bookstores. Nothing can replace the magic of an animated speaker offering vivid narratives to a circle of spellbound listeners!

Even so, for many, the idea of "storytelling" is limited to a bedtime routine for children or entertainment for radio audiences. Today however, oral storytelling is transforming our world as a valued tool in classrooms, faith communities, corporate leadership, conflict resolution, non-profit visioning and international reconciliation efforts. In fact, stories may be the single most powerful element of spiritual, political, corporate and social interaction. In fact, studies are showing that listening to a story engages both sides of our brain, leads to more intential listening, increases retention of important information and strengthens bonds between members of groups.

While we can learn stories to tell or recall stories we have been told, we all have our own life stories to tell. Storytelling allows us to use those memories and experiences to find common ground with other people, to build communities, to network with new acquaintances, to create new paths forward, to see the past in transforming ways, to learn from each other, to affirm our beliefs and to celebrate our experiences.

Best of all, all stories are the same story: a person wants something to happen, takes action, deals with problems and is changed by the experience. That means, our problems are more than problems: they are our stories! Each time we share a memory, a photo, a challenge, a dream, a conversation, a death, a birth, a decision, we join the global circle of storytelling! Whatever your life has been like, your life is a gift to others who are also living their stories. Think about how you might share your own narrative to empower a child, to offer hope to someone hurting, to lighten someone's load, to connect to a stranger, to offer a solution to a problem, to memorialize a loved one.

Each time you tell a story, you offer a chance for your listener to say: ME TOO!

HERE ARE SOME IDEAS FOR STORIES YOU CAN SHARE:

When in your life or work have things unexpectedly changed for you?

What experiences have impacted your perspectives?

Whose life story or professional accomplishment has inspired you?

What amazing events have happened during your life?

What is the story of your company or group or school or church?

What have you or others overcome and what wisdom have you gained?

Listen as Anne tells InSpiritry Stories!

For More Inspiration,

Check Out Anne's Question-for-the-Day Story Prompts

on FaceBook & Twitter

Would you be willing to share a story?

If so, email your story to annemccrady@inspiritry.com.

InSpiritry readers can be blessed by its telling!

Would you like to learn more about using stories?

If so, contact Anne McCrady at InSpiritry.

Because of its power to open hearts and minds, storytelling is at the heart of Putting Words to Work for the Greater Good, Greater Good Thinking and InSpiritry. As a Storyteller and Story Consultant, Anne is ready to inspire and teach you to embrace "story" in your personal and professional endeavors, to use your unique story as a marketing or fundraising tool, and to live your life as an ongoing narrative still being written!

Check out Anne's InSpiritry Storytelling

Programs and Presentations below!

ANNE MCCRADY - InSpiritry STORYTELLER

A consummate believer in the power of story and with twenty years of experience as a professional storyteller, Anne McCrady takes narrative to its highest potential by making storytelling an act of InSpiritry®. With each casual story or formal presentation, audiences find empowerment as Anne shares universal dilemmas, improbable heroes, triumphant solutions and powerful connections, all the while illustrating the InSpiritry® values of Community, Compassion, Creativity, Collaboration, Courage, Consilience and Celebration.

Anne's repertoire includes global events, international folktales, creative history and contemporary heroes, as well as her own original fictional and personal stories. Many of her narratives are taken from everyday life with each one selected to give audiences a glimpse of our human foibles as inspiration for our untapped potential. Her program offerings range from delightful stories for families to heart-warming narratives for mature audiences.

Best of all, she sees "story" everywhere and can be commissioned to develop the inspirational stories of companies and organizations. As a story consultant, Anne helps organizations use the wealth of their own personal and group narratives for mission setting, marketing, branding, fund raising, change management, morale building, conflict resolution and leadership. Anne's three decades of experience in business, non-profit and spiritual settings in addition to her literary and speaking success have given her insights she can put to work for you and your group!

Want to Know More? Click Here For:

Do You Wish you Knew How to Use Stories in your Workplace?

Would You Like to Learn to Tell Inspirational Stories?

Do You Want to Discover How Your Life can Offer Hope to Others?

If So, Anne McCrady is Ready to Celebrate Story with You!

InSpiritry® STORYTELLING WORKSHOPS & PROGRAMS

Who We Are: Organizational and Corporate Stories
Stories are unmatched for illustrating the history, culture and mission of an organization or community. This presentation offers creative ideas for developing organizational narratives that can be collected and shared. This workshop can be transformative for corporate as well as non-profit branding, strategic planning, fundraising, leadership development, internal culture building and external mission development.

Recommended for: Corporate Groups, Employee Events, Campaign Kick-offs, Non-profit Groups, Faith-based Groups, Strategic Planning Events

Everyday Wisdom: Telling Your Own Chicken Soup Stories

The popularity of collections such as Chicken Soup for the Soul remind us of how deeply we enjoy hearing (or reading) everyday stories of inspiration. What most people don't realize is that they have had those kinds of experiences in their own lives--they just haven't seen them as "story." This presentation guides listeners to mine their memories and experiences for powerful wisdom stories, best practices examples, inspirational narratives and faith narratives, that can be shared with others.

Recommended for: Civic and Corporate Groups, Faith-based GRoups, Therapy Sessions, Storytellers, Women's Groups

That Reminds Me... - Personal Stories
Some of the most powerful stories are personal narratives. This workshop leads participants to recognize, develop and share the story treasury of their own experiences and to value the story treasure of others. Also a great program for those who want to move from telling traditional folktales to personal stories or anyone who remembers and wants to share the "good ole days."

Recommended for: Storytellers, Civic Groups, Retreats, Family Reunions, Social Studies Units

Once Upon a Future – The Stories You Will Tell Later
Personal stories can be more than memories; our narratives include what’s happening in our lives right now! Realizing our actions now will be told later as narrative can help us reconsider our circumstances and choices...and even help us create happy endings. This workshop can also be adapted for developing faith stories.

Recommended for: Storytelling Festivals, Writing Retreats, Faith-based Events, Couples Retreats, Faith-based Groups

Organic Storytelling – Growing Stories
Using the elements of story structure, Anne leads participants in both group and individual story creation. This energizing collaborative activity is perfect for storytellers who are ready to tell original pieces and for language arts teachers and their students who want to explore the creative process of writing fiction.

Recommended for: Storytellers, Schools, Youth Groups, After School Programs, Youth Organizations, Language Arts Classes, Storytelling Events

Storytelling 101 - The Art of Telling a Story
Telling a story is more than memorizing and then reciting a plot. This program leads participants on a journey to find, internalize and develop a story as a performance piece, then to add personality and style. Great for anyone who has a favorite family narrative to tell, those who want to learn to take a story from the page to the stage and those who enjoy public speaking.

Recommended for: Storytelling Events, Language Arts Classes, Speech and Drama Classes, Writing Workshops, Civic Groups

The Healing Art of Storytelling – Stories We Need
Stories can be powerful therapy when we are hurting physically or emotionally, when we are losing our memories, when we have lost our way and when we need to reframe our world. Sometimes that means accompanying each other into the past. Other times it means imagining the future. Often it is simply letting our hearts create a metaphorical narrative that makes sense to us. Ever attuned to the heart and a master storyteller, Anne has decades of experience leading narrative development groups of all ages and situations. Recommended for: Health care professionals, Hospice Volunteerssettings, Alzheimer's groups, Law Enforcement settings, Storytellers, Youth Groups, Families in Crisis, Poverty Programs, Hospitals, Mental Health facilities, Grief groups

For Other InSpiritry Speaking Topics, click here.

Once in East Africa, on the shores of an ancient lake,

I sat alone and suddenly it struck me what community is.

It is gathering around a fire and listening to someone tell us a story.
-Bill Moyers

InSpiritry® STORYTELLING CONCERT TITLES

Speaking Peace: Sharing Wisdom
This presentation by a performing storyteller and life-long advocate of diversity and social justice is an inspiring sampling from Anne's collection of wisdom tales. Taken from a variety of ethnic, cultural and faith traditions, it is a wonderful way to broaden perspectives and envision a world at peace.

Recommended for: Adults, Secondary Students, Conflict Resolution Sessions, Corporate Settings, Churches, Civic Groups, Peace or Political Events

Back Porch Stories
Some things never change - like the joy of sharing stories that honor the history and humanity of rural life. This heartwarming collection of original narratives is perfect for reminding older adults, families and secondary students of the value of our story heritage.

Recommended for: Retirement Centers, Civic Groups, Historical Groups, Family Reunions, Schools, Festivals, Conferences

Kevin and the Seven Prayers

This moving performance is the on-stage version of Anne's original parable published by InSpiritry Press. Inspirational and compelling, it is a narrative of peace and healing that offers the audience seven one-line prayers to use for spiritual discovery. A blessing to those who have found that when we serve others, we gain more than we give.

Recommended for: Religious Settings, Faith-based Organizations, Peace Efforts, Book Clubs, Grief Counseling

Stories of the Songs - How Our Christmas Carols Came to Be

Do you need an uplifting, entertaining and informative program for the holiday season? Anne presents the heartwarming and surprising stories behind our most beloved Christmas carols and hymns.

Recommended for: Corporate Holiday Gatherings, School Assemblies, Senior Centers, Civic Club Events, Church Services, Sunday School Parties.

Tell Me a Story - Stories for Children       
Designed for elementary student audiences, Anne's storytelling concerts for children keep audiences spellbound. Each performance includes traditional tales along with some original stories, many of which feature participation, humor and food for thought.

Recommended for: Elementary Schools, Camps, After School Programs, Youth Organizations, Festivals

Parables for Little People
In this program, Biblical parables, wisdom tales and original stories have been adapted for energetic young audiences to include music and participation.

Recommended for: Churches, Vacation Bible School, Church Camp, Christian Schools

Cactus, Coyotes & Cowboys
This program for elementary age children includes Anne's original songs and stories along with some traditional Texas tunes and legends as Anne celebrates the great state of Texas. Recommended for: Schools, Early Childhood Centers, Western Days, Texas Celebrations

Ballads: Stories in Song
From earliest recorded times, stories have been told in song form to make them more entertaining and memorable. This program features historical musical ballads and stories. Recommended for: Adults, Secondary Students, Medieval Units, English Classes

Sing and Dance, Shout and Tell
This celebration of the African-American story tradition includes several adaptations of African tales along with folktales associated with the history of the American South. This program can be adapted for any age audience.

Recommended for: Adults, Schools, African-American Month Events, Civic Clubs, Heritage Events, Youth Events

For Other InSpiritry Speaking Topics, click here.

Here is one of Anne's poems, dedicated to those who love a good story!

Story

(click on the title to listen)  

There is no home to hold a story.

Each one is a rambler, a rover,

a raconteur chasing the moon.

Up with the sun for its next trek,

it is grateful for what is left over

from late night carousing:

a hard biscuit, a cold square

of cornbread, a wedge of cheese.

On the way out the door,

it throws a memory over its shoulder

with a smile that makes us cry.

Dressed in borrowed clothes,

it is a master of disguises,

some days dressed in sacred tales,

others barefoot in daydreams

or wearing a soldier’s fatigues.

At the market, it makes every man

a friend with its admissions of guilt,

its honesty to a fault, its found wisdom.

Ever sure strangers share its woes,

it tells and retells universal truths.

In love with life, it is the perfect date,

not least of all the light

that pulls its soul mates

like moths to flame.

Answering to nicknames we assign—

scripture, fiction, history, lore—

it hides in sermons, journals, letters home.

Road-hardened. Happy to meet

every ruinous rock in the road,

another lesson to add to its wealth,

it is the bearer of sweet treats

and melancholy food for thought.

Gathered round a fire of hard times,

it softens, no longer a rogue.

as it reminisces in city pubs

or whispers in hospital rooms

or spins yarns from a porch swing.

Now as at our final end,

it is a son, come home at last,

or a daughter, ever devoted,

who sits a spell to talk

and promises to stay as long

as we have an ear to listen

to one more story.

          

                        Anne McCrady, 2007

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When You Tell Your Stories -- You Can Be a Blessing!

SInSpiritry