Workshop to Teach Kids How to Tell a Story in the Theater and the Classroom

Kayla Desroches/KMXT

Storytelling isn’t just an activity for campfires and stages – it’s a skill that you need for everyday life. And for teens, everyday life usually means school.

Celia Whitehead will lead the last workshop in the Story Build & Tell series this month and says the class will be about sharing life experiences, among other things.

“It will be a workshop on brainstorming stories and sharing and creating a really safe, respectful space where everyone can feel like their stories matter. Creating connections between youth, through sharing their stories, and ultimately being able to hold a microphone in their hand and give it a try. See what it sounds like when you stand up and represent yourself, possibly to an audience outside of your family and friends.”

She says students will walk away from the workshop with more than the ability to tell a story to an audience.

“Public speaking is one of the big skills, and deep listening, being able to listen to each other and hear what they’re saying. Other skills would be giving useful feedback – how to give feedback to each other in a way that’s not harmful, but also isn’t just saying, oh, well that was great, but actually be able to be useful with the feedback.”

In addition to teaching the art of constructive criticism, Whitehead explains the workshop will help students identify highlights of an experience. What matters and what can you leave out? That’s just as vital to some of the less popular story forms, like “the essay”, which students need to master for everything from classes to college applications.

“I see this process of reflecting on the events in your life and how they’ve changed you  – that work is exactly the footwork that happens when you sit down to write the college essay. You build those skills of finding out what details matter and what is it about the stories in your life that make them important to you.”

Whitehead says students will warm up by talking about themselves and their lives.

“Like a favorite food or your first pet, just things to start sharing. We’ll be listening to some stories that other youth have told at slams around the country and do a little reflection on what students thought about those stories. What made them good, or what were the details that they really paid attention to.”

She says the workshop is for children ages 9 to 16, but the age bracket is flexible, and the class will be on Saturday, February 20 between 1 and 4 p.m. at the Teen Center. It’ll be good training for any kids interested in participating in a story slam this April, which you’ll hear more about on KMXT as the date approaches.