About

Storytelling Australia (SA) is a not-for-profit group who love to tell and be told stories.

As members, we do this at our meetings by:

• practising the art of ORAL storytelling - spoken live,
• cultivating our appreciation as story-listeners,
• discerning what makes effective and timely stories to tell.

We also promote the art of ORAL storytelling in the wider community

How do we vary as Storytellers?

We tell stories to a live audience via the spoken word, and without notes.

As oral storytellers, we vary in:

• the types of story we tell – folk tales, wisdom stories, crafted personal stories
• our purposes when we tell – entertain, convey insight, express ourselves
• the occasions and settings where we tell – regular story sharing meetings, concerts, festivals.
• the way we adapt and bring a story to life each in our own way
• Members who tell professionally and also the wider community of professional storytellers may vary even more in these aspects.

What is our take on storytelling?

We view telling stories orally as an art; which all people possess to some degree, by virtue of possessing speech or access to its alternatives.

Accordingly, we acknowledge that storytelling can range from a hesitant recount of an anecdote over a family meal to a full blown solo concert performance requiring sustained preparation, and underpinned by great artistry and skill.

While we recognise the value of using notes in public speaking, our standard practice at meetings is NOT to use notes for storytelling. Similarly, while we value reading aloud from a book as a skill and art in its own right, we do NOT promote reading aloud as oral storytelling.

About Storytelling