Visualization: The Most Important Storytelling Skill The key to storytelling, THE MOST IMPORTANT THING, is to see what you are talking about. This is called Visualization. You need to have clear, vivid images in your mind. This takes concentration and imagination. It is not easy to create a virtual world and then sustain it. It takes hard work and lots of repetition. Imagination means that you are visualizing completely the images of a story. Concentration means that you can sustain these images in your mind for more than just flashes of a second; it's more like a movie that continues without abating as images flow from one to another. Learn each of the sentences below and then perform it for a partner, focusing on the images so that they are crystal clear. Remember the senses: sight, smell, taste, hearing, touch, attitude, etc. and choose those senses that best invite the audience to visualize with you. Here's the catch: DO NOT LOOK AT YOUR PARTNER while performing these sentences (you can do that later; for this exercise, please avoid it). Focus on the images themselves! 1. With much effort, the wizard pulled the knife out of the now motionless chest. 2. As she entered the building, she noticed that the garbage cans hadn't stopped smelling. 3. As the leaves flitted all around her in circles, she could feel the chill of Autumn in the air. 4. The cake looked delicious, but what he really wanted was the ice cream. Okay, so how'd it go? It's tough to not look at the audience, and yet there many times in a story when you will indeed want to focus so completely on your images that you get lost in them. In a normal story, you usually don't memorize your words as you did above (though you may memorize certain specific and effective phrases once in a while). However, you MUST see and sense all of the images in a story. All of them. As humans, we have several senses: seeing hearing touching tasting smelling seeing dead people intuiting feeling things emotionally ...more? The term visualization referrs to all of these different senses, not just seeing. Depending on how our minds and imaginations work, we'll use each and perhaps all of these every time we tell a story. Most people remember things by seeing them in their mind's eye. Others use other senses as their primary rememberer, but we'll need to use each of these when it is called for in a story. If you mention the smell of fresh baked bread in your story you'd better be smelling it! When you note the cruelty of the king, you'd better feel his personality somehow or see a cruel king or his deeds. If a monster is flying down from the sky at you, you'd better see and be afraid! More subtly, and what can make a story truly outstanding, is to sense an image that is not obvious. When an ocean is before you in a story, can you taste the salty air, for example? If you are visualizing a scene completely, then you should use as many senses as you can, even if you don't describe them to your audience. The simple fact that YOU are seeing them will make your body and voice do amazing things that are subtle, but that will communicate generally to your audience that a complete world is present in your mind. Get INTO It! I often get asked what makes the difference between a great and a good storyteller. This is it: being "inside" the story. Being close to it. And being professional about it. This is what ultimately puts the art in the art of storytelling. As tellers we are often “outside“ of the story. In our casual storytelling, for instance, we often tell stories, but we aren‘t really close either emotionally or with our image communication. The story ends up being trapped in our heads or in our mind. When we are “INSIDE“ the story as tellers, we are more artistic, our senses, our voices and our bodies are tuned to communicating images as opposed to mere information. So here‘s how to get “INSIDE“ a story. Consider this checklist: To get “INSIDE“ to a story, the storyteller generally . . . : is emotionally close to the characters and action. As a teller, you are not watching from afar. Rather you are right there, INSIDE the character‘s mind (while still perhaps using 3rd person perspective). is more animated. Because you are so close to the characters and action, your body and voice reflect this. You SHOW us how the character behaves rather than just TELL about it. You SHOW us important images rather than just talk about them. is focused more on the images than on the audience. Because the images are so close to you as a storyteller, you focus on them for long periods of time—even many seconds. You can trust that your audience will see them with you—don‘t even worry about that! is more dramatized and communicative of strong emotions from the perspective of the character, especially fear, jealousy, joy, and just about anything but the sadness of a loved one‘s death. It is the difference between saying, “And it made him so mad that he stomped his feet and jumped up and down“ and saying, “And it made him so mad that he stomped his feet, I‘M SO MAD! I‘M SO TICKED OFF AAAAAAAAAAAARGH!‘“ (and as you scream this, you are jumping up and down). Some stories require you to be “outside“ of a story. Very sacred and close personal stories, for instance, may require you to be farther away, otherwise, you may be violating some kind of personal or emotional space (called aesthetic distance) of the audience. For instance, if I were to tell of my sister‘s death from cancer, some parts would in “IN“ but most would be "outside" because it is so emotionally potent. Some stories that rely upon mere information (as opposed to images) for their effectiveness may require you to be "outside" as a teller. However, about 90% of stories you will tell would be more effective if you are "INSIDE“ the story. Also note that you will weave IN and OUT of stories, depending on what must be communicated. The general rule: the more INSIDE the better! To Do: Learn the following sentences. Then make sure you are “INSIDE“ as you perform each sentence for somebody. In my experience, it will take at least 8-12 tries to do this, so do it at least 8 times. Yeah, really! 8! At least! Look at the criteria above and have your audience try to see if you are “INSIDE“ or “OUTSIDE“ of the story. Have them help you. DO WHAT IT TAKES TO LEARN AND TO IMPROVE! Once you learn whether you are “INSIDE“ or “OUTSIDE“ of a story, you can monitor yourself for future stories. To this day, this is my own greatest weakness when it comes to my own polishing of a story. Having seen many a teller, I think I am not alone! Slowly, deliberately, the axe murderer reached for another paper towel. As the snowflake gently landed on her finger, it was magically transformed into a tiny sphere of crystal water. As she ran breathlessly through the room, she had to stop when the scent of freshly baked bread suddenly came to her. Though the king was beloved by the whole kingdom, his wife, the queen, did not think highly of him at all. Be INSIDE! It's the right place to be!