Storytelling is as basic as breathing. The first caveman to return from a hunt no doubt squatted in front of his family and described, with words and/or animated gestures, how he had stalked the game and what the result was. This inate compulsion to storytell is why some anthropologists describe humans as "homo narrans,"--narrators. Stories are the hieroglyphics of the soul.

A story is something that, like a fabled time machine, has the ability to transport us from our normal circumstances to the wild West, or deep in the jungles of Africa, or far off to the outer galaxies. A story may place us in a warm, fuzzy fantasy or in a state of acute and painful wareness of who we really are.

In a sense, a story takes on a reality of its own. And so the telling may cause the audience to rock with laughter or to cry with sorrow and sadness. That is simply part of the mystery and magic of storytelling. No wonder small children are eager to have someone read a story to them. But telling a story is even better.

Many cultures, such as our Native Americans, long depended on oral histories--i.e., stories--to convey their past, their traditions, their hopes, beliefs and dreams for the future. It was their way of organizing and remembering information, interpreting events, and creating a sense of belonging by sharing intellectual and emotional data.

That oral tradition continues today. Each year the National Storytelling Association sponsors a nation-wide event in November called a night of "Tellabration". Local chapters organize and put on an evening of storytelling for the communities in which they live. And that organization has defined storytelling as: "an art form through which a storyteller projects mental and emotional images to an audience using the spoken word, including sign language and gestures, carefully matching story content with audience needs and environment. The story sources reflect all literatures and cultures, fiction and nonfiction, for educational, recreational, historic, folkloric, entertainment and therapeutic purposes."

If you're like me, pardnah, you may have to go back and chew on that definition a time or two until--like good beef jerky--you really begin to taste it and ingest it. Take a moment and read it, again.

Where are the storytellers? Everywhere. Almost every family--or at least each extended family--has a storyteller. That person remembers and shares, orally, the family history and tales. One of my favorite family storytellers was Bill King, my wife's sister's husband. A farmer by desire and a truck driver by necessity, he never had a course in oral interpretation or oral history, much less in storytelling. But he was a storyteller who captivated the family gatherings with his humorous rememberings of past family foibles and events.Fortunately, he made a series of tapes--while on his trucking runs--remembering the stories about the family over the years. So when he died those wonderful, warm stories did not die with him. All too often, that is not the case.

The storyteller is a walking and talking library of fact and fiction, of history and truth as well as tall tales and mythology. It is his or her job to take the bare facts or story lines and inject them with life and rhythm, to make them laugh with joy or shout with rage or whimper or snarl or roar or sing. The story itself may or maynot be true.

And that brings me to tall tales. You know, the Paul Bunyan kind. A tall tale is sorta like an acorn. Once you dig a hole and plant that acorn, it is set to grow and grow until it becomes....shazam!...a mighty oak. Now, tall tales are meant to entertain not to deceive. They stretch the truth, sometimes until it snaps. But tall tales are just meant to make you listen and think and, usually, to laugh along the way.

Storytelling by definition is an oral experience. One tells a story. And in the telling before a live audience there is an interaction that influences the development of the story, usually to the extent that no two tellings are exactly alike. One audience may at a particular point in the story interrupt the telling by their delightful applause or laughter, when the next audience may appear to be entirely unresponsive at that point. And the differences in the audience reactions may cause the storyteller to change how he moves on to the remainder of the story. So in this oral experience, the storyteller influences the audience and the audience influences the storyteller.

This also needs to be said: Storytelling is for everyone! It never has been just for kids, though we may need to pinch ourselves and say, "Oh, yeah, that guy/gal was doing storytelling and, well, I liked it." The best preachers have always used storytelling effectively (Jesus, Robert Schuller, Norman Vincent Peale). The best teachers and politicians and afterdinner speakers all know how to tell stories (and some of them true ones!).

How does one become a storyteller? There are books you can read and college courses you can take that probably would be very helpful. The place to begin, however, is to find a good storyteller and observe what he or she does. That storyteller may be an aunt or an uncle, a teacher or a grandparent. Find a good storyteller and pay close attention to how they interact with the listeners. Understand, though, that the better the storyteller is the easier the process will look to the observer. Someone has said that fine art conceals art, so beware that you don't adopt some bad storytelling habits that are simply more noticable because the teller is not polished in that area.

Then find or create a story with which you are comfortable and find a small audience (your children, neighbors, or friends) before whom you can tell the story. Practice telling that story dozens of times, changing your facial expressions and gestures and vocal patterns until you know the story line or plot and the key ways you want to tell it---but do not memorize it word-for-word. Except, of course, for stories told through rhyming poetry and then the parts must fit together exactly the same way each time.

A word of caution: Do not expect money and publicity to overwhelm you. Many people do not know what storytelling really is, especially when you do it for adults. And do not put much stock in the praise you get from people you know. Discount it by 50 %. Many of them will tell you that you were wonderful when you were awful. They are kind and want to encourage you. Just keep in mind that the acid test, the encouragement that really counts, are the smiles (or tears)you bring to the faces in your audience. You will know when you connect, and that feeling is marvelous.

Please keep in mind that what works for Storyteller A may not work for Storyteller B or for you. Mac Parker, with a Yankee twang and dry sense of humor and stoic facial expressions, tells wonderful stories about his life as a dairy farmer in Vermont. Jackie Torrence, with wide-eyed facial expressions and broad gestures, tells equally intriging stories about her life was a young Black girl in South Carolina. Neither style may work for you. So let me shell the corn and show the cob: There ain't no "right way" to tell a story. Just lighten up a little. Both your style and your stories will evolve with each telling, until you finally find your own "voice" and your own repetoire of stories.

Keep practicing your craft in private, learning more stories and perfecting voices and gestures. And volunteer to do storytelling as often as you have time. Nursing homes, assisted living centers, senior centers, nursery schools, and elementary schools are always eager to have storytellers who know what they're doing. Eventually, someone will offer you an honorarium for performing and you've taken another step toward becoming a professional storyteller.

The next best thing to hearing a story told, though far inferior, is to read a story. So you will find here at "Storytelling Station" a number of stories by some of the best storytellers. Just keep in mind that the written word is static and cannot gesture or yell or whisper or make funny faces as storytellers regularly do. Still, we hope you enjoy them.