The Art of Storytelling

Interviews Conducted by Leslie WessonLS5633 Student

Spring 2012

What do you most enjoy about storytelling?“I love to see the look of delight in my listeners’ faces.”

Gwen Caldwell

“Too many to list – a few: listening to a well-told story, the process/work in crafting a story for performance, telling a story, being touched by a story.”Jiaan Powers

What are the qualities of a good storyteller?

• Good imagination• Enjoy exploring many kinds of stories• Good mental focus• A willingness to take risks Gwen Caldwell

What are the qualities of a good storyteller?

• Someone who has done the work to bring a story to it’s fullest

• Lived with the story • Crafted the story • Found stories appropriate for the venue • Loud enough to be heard• Speaks clearly• Doesn’t distract me with presentation – jewelry,

clothing …Jiaan Powers

What type of story is your favorite to tell?

“I suppose my favorite is the inspirational story because I feel blessed to share a sacred experience.”Gwen Caldwell

“Folktales –many layers of meaning – always provides something for the listener.

Ghost tales – really good ones are satisfying… not blood and gore … provides the listener with some mystery or authenticity of the fearful and can be fun.

Snippets of personal tales – useful to connect stories and fun to tell. Jiaan Powers

What challenges have you encountered in storytelling?

“I have always had the challenge of performance anxiety but my desire to perform outweighs that difficulty. Also, I still fight the belief that stories are just for young children. Many schools only want a storyteller for the youngest grades. Yet many of my best stories are directed at older elementary and middle school students. Adults are often surprised how much they enjoy storytelling when the right stories are told well.” Gwen Caldwell

What challenges have you encountered in storytelling?

“Teachers talking out loud in the back of the room as if they can’t be heard or that it doesn’t make a difference that they are talking.”

“While many storytellers hate for teachers to haul in papers to grade, as a former teacher, I have some empathy for teachers’ time crunch and therefore, don’t object. Makes me wonder though if they allow students to draw and write while listening to the directions or readings done in class and again that would be okay by me in some instances.” Jiaan Powers

What challenges have you encountered in storytelling? (continued)

“Teachers climbing across children to shush some child when I haven’t indicated it is a problem – and therefore creating a bigger problem in the moment.”

“The child throwing up in the middle of a group – this actually was easily and quickly remedied.”

“Not being clear myself on the expectations of the venue’s request and not having all the information about where and to whom I’m telling.”

Jiaan Powers

As an educator, how do you envision the art of storytelling in a classroom/school setting? and

How should it benefit students?“There is SO much that storytelling offers students in the classroom.

Here are a few:

• Stories stimulate the imagination• Enhance good listening skills• Instill a love of language and motivate students to read• Enrich vocabulary, comprehension, sequencing, and recall• Foster problem-solving skills• Encourage creative writing• Teach lessons without didacticism• Listeners find reflections of themselves (both good and bad)• Allow listeners to look through the eyes of others which expands their horizons,

and promotes tolerance and understanding.” Gwen Caldwell

As an educator, how do you envision the art of storytelling in a classroom/school setting? and

How should it benefit students?

“Storytelling provides so much for students and can be used in all disciplines. We humans remember more when we hear a “story” so any unit of study can be introduced with story. Students who hear many stories, all kinds of stories internalize the language, the narrative structure, the nuances of characters, feelings, culture … the list goes on and on and on.”

“Kendall Haven has this great book:Story Proof – The Science Behind the Startling Power of

Story. CT: Libraries Unlimited, 2007. “ Jiaan Powers

Are there certification programs for storytellers?

“There are a number of courses in storytelling that offer a certificate but I don’t know that there is one recognized across the board.”

Gwen Caldwell

Are there certification programs for storytellers?

“At one time the Houston Storytelling Guild had some sort of certifying program.”

East Tennessee State University in Johnson City, TN offers: Master’s Degree Program - Master of Arts in Reading/Storytelling with a

Concentration in Storytelling Graduate Certificate - 21 credit-hour Graduate Certificate in Storytelling.

Training in Storytelling Performance without certain academic requirements required by the degree program.

Interdisciplinary Coursework - Exploring the intersections of storytelling with education, theater, communications, folklore, Appalachian and other ethnic/regional studies, linguistics, psychology, business, music, ministry and more. Jiaan Powers

What makes a powerful story?

“Any story that takes the listener outside of himself allowing him to view the world from a different perspective.”

Gwen Caldwell

What advice do you give beginning storytellers?

“Read LOTS of stories from 398.2 in the library so they get the feel for the elements of a spoken story. “

“Start ‘collecting’ stories and find an effective way to organize them.”

“Do at least ONE thing every day that would promote the goal toward being a storyteller.”

“Listen to as many different tellers as possible to start to find your style.”

“Join a storytelling guild and start telling there to get good feedback.”Gwen Caldwell

What advice do you give beginning storytellers?

“See as many storytellers as possible.”“Attend festivals and conferences.”“Join a guild.”“Find stories you love and want to tell.”“Jump right in and find a safe place to practice

your stories and get feedback.”Jiaan Powers

If you could only tell one story, what would it be?

“If you want a specific story from my repertoire, it would be, ‘Galax Cove,’ a story about forgiveness and reconciliation. But I suppose the only story that can only be told by me is my own personal story (of course, it is made up of many, many parts!)”Gwen Caldwell

“It is ‘The Three Wishes’ – fits me well for many reasons, and I have found it well adapted to many uses.” Jiaan Powers

These interviews are published with permission.

Thank you, Gwen Caldwell and Jiaan Powers. You can visit their Web sites at:

Gwen Caldwell: http://www.gwencaldwell.com/

Jiaan Powers: http://www.jiaanpowers.com/

This PowerPoint is illustrated with Microsoft Clipart and a photograph of the tellers.