Storytelling is an art form that has been around for thousands of years. It’s a way for people to share their experiences, beliefs, and values with others. Good storytelling forges emotional connections with the audience. The most powerful stories make the audience feel something, be it joy, sadness, fear, or excitement. To create this emotional connection, the storyteller must use a variety of techniques, such as

1. Characterization

Characterization is creating believable, relatable characters with clear motivations, desires, and flaws. Your characters are people your readers will come to know and care about as they drive the action of your story forward. There should also be a clear arc of change in the character(s) throughout the story.

2. Plot

The sequence of events that make up a story, a good plot has a clear beginning, middle, and end, with a clear conflict and resolution.

3. Setting

The setting is the place and time in which a story takes place. It should also add to a story’s atmosphere and mood.

4. Dialogue

Dialogue is the conversation that takes place between characters. It should be natural, believable, and reveal the characters’ personalities, emotions, and motivations.

5. Literary devices and descriptive language

Storytelling uses literary devices like symbolism, metaphor, and imagery, used to add depth and meaning to a story making it more memorable.

The language you use in your story is what brings it to life. Descriptive language uses vivid word pictures to help your readers visualize the world in which your story takes place. Use descriptive language to build layers in your story. This includes using symbolism (when an object or element is used to represent something else), metaphors (writing about one thing and describing it as if it were something else), and other literary devices to add depth and meaning to your story.

6. Balance showing and telling

The art of storytelling also finds a balance between showing and telling. Showing is when the storyteller describes what happens as the actions unfold (including thoughts and dialogue) while telling is when the storyteller simply gives information to state what is happening. Showing provides insight into the characters’ inner worlds of thought and emotion; telling lacks the same depth.  

Storytelling conclusion

The key to a great story is the ability to create an emotional connection with the audience, and with the proper techniques, you can create stories that will stay with your readers long after they’ve finished reading.