So You Think You Want to Become a Storyteller... How the Five Sense Enrich Your Stories
\u201cBlack belt, don\u2019t think!\u201d Those deep, stern words from the Grandmaster echo across the dojo and ring in my ears like a loudspeaker at full volume.
Eight fellow black belts surround me in a circle with weapons in their hands while I have none. We\u2019re doing a dynamic circle knife drill exercise where, one by one, they attack and I have to disarm each weapon and take the attacker down while avoiding injury myself.
When the exercise begins, I\u2019m full of adrenaline and can feel my heart racing like a race car at the Indy 500. I\u2019m trying to outthink my opponent, contemplating their next move, pre-planning my next move, and overthinking the entire scenario. I\u2019m not trusting myself or my instincts.\xa0
While I manage to avoid what would be serious injury on the street, my movements aren\u2019t fluid at all! Grandmaster calls me out and starts the exercise over. I take a slow breath and turn around in a circle to look at each of my eight opponents.
\u201cBegin!\u201d the Grandmaster orders.\xa0
I\u2026 close my eyes.\xa0
Now that I\u2019ve removed my sense of sight, I\u2019m relying solely on sound, touch, and trust in myself.\xa0
Each black belt yells \u201cKi-ai\u201d and initiates their attack. I respond and disarm the first one, then the next, and the next. The disarming goes significantly better, and I\u2019m reminded of how powerful the senses are and how harder the others work when you take one away.
In this next episode of the \u201cSo You Think You Want to Become a Storyteller\u201d master series, I talk about how the five senses can enrich your storytelling. Once again, I have my interviewer extraordinaire (Mark) ask me some tough questions on this topic such as:
How do you incorporate the senses into your storytelling and make your stories come alive? Do you even need all five senses, or will just one or two do fine? And can you overuse senses in your stories?
What you will learn in this episode:
-How you can use the senses to describe anything in a story
-What sense tends to get overused and underused by storytellers
-How you can use the five senses to evoke specific emotions in your story
A little about me:
Hi there. I\u2019m Kymberlee.
As a Speaking Strategist and founder of Storytelling School, I\u2019ve had the pleasure of working with over 500 speakers, business leaders, and entrepreneurs worldwide for over a decade. No matter if those folks were getting ready to take the TED or TEDx stage or preparing for a high-stakes presentation with everything on the line, my specialty is High Stakes Short Form Communication. I\u2019ve seen what works when influencing change and what doesn\u2019t. It turns out storytelling is one of the most powerful tools you can have in your arsenal. That\u2019s why I\u2019m building a movement of master storytellers to affect change in the world on a global scale to help people tell real stories that have influence and impact. With effective storytelling, you change people\u2019s lives.
Since competition for potential client attention is fierce, a story can make the difference between being memorable or irrelevant. You\u2019ll find me sharing my matcha tea mishap to discuss perfectionism, my quest for Bruce Lee and Hello Kitty art to explore kindness, or the six months of live blade training I underwent to illustrate presence. I spend my days showing the power of using stories to help cement ideas and bring lessons to life and teaching my clients to do the same.
If you think business owners can\u2019t tell stories or don\u2019t have stories to share with their clients, staff, donors, followers, or investors, I invite you to reconsider your perspective. There\u2019s no better place than in business to tell your stories so audiences, no matter how big or small, can understand how you think and what you value.
Now it\u2019s your turn... If you\u2019re ready to become a master storyteller and effect change in our world, you\u2019ve come to the right place.
Links and Resources: