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TALES TO BE TOLD


OK, I admit it, I'm two days late with the blog.
I know you've been desperately checking your Inbox since Monday  - not really - saying to yourself in a worried tone, "When oh when will that blog from Lynn come?"  -also not really - but as I work in a business which is about telling true stories, I figured it's only right I should start with the truth.
So, I'm sorry I'm late.

The reason my blog is late is because Mark and I have been wrestling - don't worry, this isn't about to get dirty -  Mark and I have been wrestling with putting together,  "Blog Camp." 
Yes it is a bit embarrassing to admit that I'm late with my blog because I've been working out how to teach other people how to blog, but I got a little obsessed.

As you know I've been teaching storytelling for a wee while now, and my methods are a little bit different. A In my way of teaching, it's not so much about presentation, it's about helping people access their 'story voice' as it were, and then the presentation totally comes from there.
(Because basically when people are comfortable telling their story, you could stand them outdoors in a thunderstorm wearing a chicken suit and they'd still be able to present it beautifully.  Worrying about presentation before content, is a bit like worrying about frosting before the cake.)

Anyhoos, so I've seen how telling their own story in front of a live audience actually changes people. (Not physically, it's not plastic surgery. They're just much happier that's all.)
So, while working with one of my Grad classes, it became apparent to me, that a place where people could really use help with their 'story voice' is online.
Because some people understand technology but don't really know what they should be saying, and others have plenty to say, but technology confuses them, and so Blog Camp made perfect sense.
In each of my courses, I'm basically helping people to wrangle out stories on a weekly basis, so the process is very similar whether a person is telling their story to a live audience or whether they're writing it down in a blog.
Thunderstorm/chicken-suit right?

So you think it would be simple. Oh so very simple. But no, that is where the wrestling came in.

You see, Mark loves technology - oh how he loves technology. Mark loves technology, like I love Elvis - and when I said to him, "I think we should teach people how to write and set up blogs."
that was the equivalent of him saying to me, "I think we should watch Elvis in the movie 'Stay Away, Joe.' "
I don't think I'm over-reacting when I say that he looked at me like I might have just pooped on his shoe.

He was like, "Surely everyone who's ever thought of writing a blog is blogging by now?"
I smiled at him with a smile I've cultivated through 15 long years of marriage. "Not everybody". I said, 

Then there followed a whole - I would say discussion, but in fact I had nothing to do with it - where Mark listed all different sorts of apps and forms of online communication that were amazing, and everybody should try and blah blah blah.
I would list them for you all in detail, but the truth is that I switched off. 

Finally I said to him, "Technology moves faster than I can even think of, and just when I've learned how to use one thing, there's another thing.  And just when I'm thinking I might use this new thing, it gets bought over and then doesn't exist any more. In my mind, blogs are the online equivalent of story class - they;re about setting the tone of your voice,  and once you learn to be comfortable in your online voice, it doesn't matter what form you use it in. "

Mark looked a tiny bit intrigued. I was encouraged.

"In the same way that people take stories from story class and turn them into plays, books, theses," I said, "Once people develop their online voice in their blogs, they can use it in any of the apps they want to. Thunderstorm/chicken suit. Frosting/cake."

I would love to say that Mark looked at me with some new found respect, but he blinked, thought a little, and then said, "The thing about blogs is you have to be regular with them. If you're regular with them, then they direct people to your website - In fact, if you do a regular blog, that kind of is your website, because that's your online presence and in some ways it's more effective than a ...."

And then, reader, I switched off again.

In the years we've been married, I've noticed that Mark's facial hair seems to get more gingery when he's happy, and I was pleased to see he was starting to sport a more orangey hue.

So we worked up a lesson plan for the Blog Camp, and yesterday we taught our first class as a team, using my storytelling techniques and his technical know how. I was armed with my customary story-topics, timer and come-what-may attitude, whereas Mark had worked up a graph and visual display.

At the end of class, Mark was quite invigorated. "I like Blog Camp," he said. "But really we should make a online version of it. And I know just the app to use...."

It is possible I may have created a monster.

If you're looking to hear some brand new stories being told be real live, get out from behind that screen and come to our next story event on January 27th

Peace and love,

Lynn
xox

Book Tickets To the Next Story Event
Burbank / Toluca Lake
 
Live storytelling event  
Jan 27th, 7:30pm at
Sidewalk Studio Theatre,
4150 Riverside Dr,
Burbank, CA 91505

A live story event with a stimulating mix of new storytellers.

Hosted by Lynn Ferguson.

Storytellers:
Chris Cassone
Matthew Gehman
Brent Boyd
Monte LeMonte
Alison Taylor
Nicole Gabriella Scipione
Kathleen Ingle

Doors Open at 7:15pm and show starts at 7:30pm.
Tickets are just $15 and routinely sell out.
 
Online

Develop Your Unique Voice In 7 Interactive LessonsImprove Your Communications Through Storytelling. (Includes Direct Video Feedback). We took what we learned from our Tell Your Story & Get Yourself Heard course to achieve a simple 7 lesson format and adding direct video feedback. So no matter where you live you can get the same storytelling experience available in our classes in Burbank.

GIVE THE GIFT OF STORY: We've created a way to gift our course - Develop Your Unique Voice In 7 Interactive Lessons - Just click here

LIFT Your Public Speaking: A FREE checklist for public speaking. In a single 6 minute video, this 4 point checklist will help you immediately gather your thoughts and deliver a better speech or story to your audience.
Book Tickets To the Next Story Event

Watch & Listen


We feature one of our storytellers from the Burbank classes on our Podcast & YouTube.






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