3 simple tips to become a better storyteller

Are you a good storyteller?

Storytelling isn’t just about entertaining people. A good story can create connections, build empathy and understanding, influence, persuade, teach, and even sell.

As far as we know, stories have been used throughout human history to do all of those things and more, and continue to be an important part of our lives today—whether we’re aware of it or not.

But good storytelling can also be a bit difficult to master. 

There's a lot to learn, and I'm not going to pretend I can teach you everything in one article. (If you're serious about developing this skill, I recommend picking up "How to Tell a Story" by The Moth.)

That said, let me share three tips that you can start practicing right now that will make a noticeable difference in how people respond to your stories.

1. Use descriptive language.

When you tell a story, don't just state facts. Paint a picture.

Instead of saying "I was nervous before giving my talk," describe what that nervousness actually felt like: "My heart was pounding through my chest, my palms were sweaty, and my knees felt like jello."

Can you feel the difference?

Descriptive language pulls people into your story. It helps them experience what you experienced, rather than just hearing about it.

When you describe how something looked, felt, sounded, or even smelled, you're giving your listeners something to connect with emotionally. And that, more than anything, is often what makes a story memorable.

2. Cut unnecessary information.

In a great story, everything you say should serve a purpose. It should either build up to your point, entertain people, create curiosity, or move the story forward.

But many of us, if we’re not paying attention, sometimes go off on tangents when telling stories by elaborating on things that don't matter.

A typical example is someone telling a story about what happened to them and their friend Pete, and halfway through digresses into a side-story about how they first met Pete—even though it has nothing to do with the original story. 

(Or even worse, spend half a minute trying to figure out what year something happened, even though the year is irrelevant.)

These tangents break the flow of the story, can confuse the point or punchline, and make it harder for people to stay focused and engaged.

3. Practice—verbally and in writing.

The most important part of becoming a great storyteller is to practice telling stories. But most people tend to only practice their stories in their heads, and that’s not a great way to do it. 

When we only think about what to say or what happened, we tend to bounce back and forth between parts, forget to include things that others need to know, or summarize rather than practice our wording.

If, however, we either write our stories down or speak them out loud, we’re forced to include everything and figure out how to say things, and we also more effectively store the stories in our long-term memory.

Writing stories down lets us reread them and figure out where we need more descriptive language, where we've included unnecessary information, and so on.

And telling stories out loud—even just to ourselves, our pets, or our plants—is a great way to rehearse them and get our pacing right.

It might feel a little strange to do these things at first, but this is what great storytellers often do. They rehearse their stories. They refine them. They figure out what works and what doesn't before they share them with an audience.

It’s no different than rehearsing a presentation you need to give at work, except a good story is one you can tell over and over again (preferably to new audiences) in a much wider variety of situations.

The bottom line.

Becoming a better storyteller isn't about memorizing a story word-for-word or following some perfect formula.

It’s about practicing the skills that make a story a great story, until they become second-nature.