"Gee, I’m a good storyteller! I get applause, I get paid, I’m always told my work is good."

Ok fine; the above may apply. Is there room for improvement?

Suggestion: get in front of a video camera and record a stock story; one you know and have readily told at the behest of anyone over 3 years old. Now test for these criteria during the viewing.

1. Nonstop sentences. Do the sentences habitually start with conjunctions or connective sounds? Like, And, But, Uhh, Then, When, Well,...y’know what I mean? Don’t browbeat yourself for the occasional usage. (I know of a story where every sentence starts with AAAaaannnndd in great exageration so that children chime into the telling by the third usage. Just note if a specific word is a habit and does the use detract from the telling. Rule of Thumb: no more than one conjunction word or Uh, Err, Umm, Ahh per minute of telling.

2. Null words or phrases. Do I need to tell you about this? Y’know, that-sort-of-thing, okaay, now, and-then-there’s, kind-of-like, ... I can’t think of any story enhanced in any way by these phrases unless a part of character dialog. Basic Rule: drop this habit like the proverbial spud.

3. Repeat gestures. If you want to see these made manifest, do a fast forward of the visual, no sound necessary. See that hand sweep? Up and down or side to side, along with touching the face or hair or (and here every Grio, cuentista, Geschichtenerzähler, narratore, and conteur turns over in their grave) scratching an itch? You might want to be aware of those actions. Basic Rule: if the movement does not add to the concept of the words, drop them, hold still, put the energy into your voice.

4. Voice pitch. This is not a bad thing, just not a good thing if you allow it to happen more than three times in a row. The typical habit is when the ending tone is the same most of the time. Rising note. Dropping note. The cardinal sin, monotone. If listening to yourself, try to hum along with the video, creating a duet of the pitch with what you hear. Notice a pattern? Basic Rule: listen to yourself and be aware of any rut in your delivery.

5. Voice phrase. The most common error; when the spoken phrase is always the same length, usually lasting as long as a tellers’ breath. This is like Essay 101 with the same rules as for interesting writing. Break it up. Some phrases long and only addressing one subject. Some phrases short and sharp and placed for impact. And as a bonus, pause. Hold it. Start again at a different pitch or pace. Basic Fix: ? Read the last seven sentences again...

6. Voice pace. Ever listen to someone tell a tale with an contiguous, unbroken, Celtic lilt, Carribean patois, or a wonderfully pedantic Southern Preacher articulation? Now listen to the video and notice; do the words come out at the same speed of delivery most of the time? Problem. The fix is simple; just listen to any raconteur who captures a group with a joke or the latest news. You will not hear anything that implies the communication is being read aloud at a constant plod.

7. Voice power. In this you are on your own. Every storyteller has to feel their story such that at given moments of narration, here a whisper is required, there a welling shout, at this point a choke in the words will bring forth emotion more than any amount of vocabulary can convey. Basic rule: vary your delivery or be bland.

One last thing you may notice, Eye Contact. Shame on you if you look at the floor, through or past or over the audience. Twice shame if you so much as glance at the ceiling! Every fact you present in the plot should be presented to one person with a minimum of 3 seconds eye contact. Sweep the corners far back to far left or right, wherever a listener is wanting to be included. No particular rule here, just make eye contact.