Both Barrels Storytelling?

What I call “both barrels storytelling” combines the two main approaches to storytelling skills:

Barrel #1: The Big Picture of your story: what it’s about, what it means, and what you most want your listeners to get from it.

Barrel #2: The “Hidden Skills” of adjusting the details precisely: what do you say? How do you say it? How can each moment of your story simultaneously engage your listeners and further the big picture?

Many teachers and coaches of storytelling focus on #2: what you say and how you say it, including description and characterization. This is important but only goes halfway to great storytelling.

Other teachers and coaches emphasize what is commonly (but mistakenly) believed to be “the one right structure for all stories.”

In the past, hoping to provide an alternative to “the one right structure,” I have mostly emphasized #1: clarifying and conveying the intent, meaning, and effects of your stories (to allow your story’s structure to flow from that).

But each of these approaches (as useful as they can each sometimes be) leaves out a crucial stage of story-work:

Making sure that "what you say and how you say it" is fully coordinated with your Big Picture goals.

For a story to work on a high level, of course, it needs more than a good plot, vivid characters, and clear telling—as crucial as those elements are. It also needs to be expressed in language that fully engages your readers or listeners.

Over time, I have taught both parts of the full range of storytelling skills—but I have never before taught them both in a single course!

For example, I have taught numerous storytelling courses that offer you the big-picture tools for stories, such as:

a) Clarifying the "most important thing"(MIT) that a particular story needs to convey; 
b) Making sure that the story allows your listeners/readers to experience your MIT clearly and engagingly.

In a smaller number of other courses (e.g., "Your Hidden Storytelling Skills") I have tackled the question of how to adjust the detailed language of your story—so that each key part of the story is both vivid and satisfying.

But, until now, I have never included both kinds of skills in a single course—along with important insights and strategies that allow you to coordinate the big picture with the details!

How to use the Both-Barrels Storytelling Strategies to craft your stories

For the first time, I'm offering this 8-lesson course, to begin in October 2023 (and to end in January 2024—with ample time out for the November-December holidays.)

You’ll leave the course with a clear picture of (and substantial practice with) the key skills to coordinate

a) the detailed language with

b) the big picture

—and, therefore, to make all your stories simultaneously meaningful, vivid, and engaging!

Hands-On Learning

Rather than rely on extensive lectures, this course will highlight ways to apply the insights you'll be learning to stories of your own (of any kind: personal, traditional, original fantasy, etc.)

By applying this powerful combination of concepts and techniques to your own stories, you'll develop a working knowledge, not only of the two realms of storytelling tools but also of ways to use, choose between, and even combine the techniques you'll learn.

Plenty of Chances to Tell—and To Be Coached!

Each student will get chances to tell stories to partners, to be coached by me directly during classes, and, if you desire, to work together between sessions with other course members.

In short, this course is both

• highly unusual in its far-ranging content, and also

• highly practical and participatory.

To be sure, this course includes several skills and techniques that I've covered in other courses—but I will present them in a more comprehensive way that takes us into new territory as storytellers!

When? and for How Long?

This course consists of eight lessons, beginning the week of October 23, 2023 (with ample time off for winter holidays) and ending the week of January 27, 2024. There will be two make-up dates, just in case we need them.

All the lessons will be recorded. The recordings will be made available only to you and your fellow course members. Further, I promise that the recordings will remain available for your review and study—at least for one year after the course ends!

How do you know exactly what needs to be improved in a particular story (written or oral)?

In this course, you'll gain a clear, comprehensive understanding of three key areas:

1. What to consider when trying to improve a story;

2. Your full options for making changes—in the service of the impact you want to make; and

3. How to coordinate:

   a) your work on the details with

   b) your evolving understanding of the big picture!

Skill SET #I. Developing the big picture of your story

Tools include:

1. Creating a BRIO (like an outline, but streamlined),

2. Telling to “helping listeners” (listeners who agree to keep your needs and desires in the forefront—and who agree to specific suggestions for how to keep the focus on you, your story, and your goals for it.)

3. Getting appreciations and helpful suggestions,

4. Coming to understand what is most important in the story, and

5. Creating a BAC-Bone diagram (a more purposeful form of an outline).

Skill Set #II. Perfecting the details

Tools include:

What I call the "story sliders,” namely:

A set of adjustments that great storytellers typically use unconsciously,
but that are even more powerful when brought to your conscious awareness!

Skill SET #III. Balancing the Details with the Big Picture

For the first time ever, in this course, I will go over both the “big picture view” and the “detail view” of storytelling—and specifically teach you to integrate the insights gained from each view!

To do this, you'll use a story of your own that you'll have a chance to work on extensively during the course. You'll tell and be coached on the story, then encouraged to apply the story sliders to the story's key moments. (You’ll be able to switch stories along the way, if that seems helpful.)

In short, I will both:

a) help you access all your options for creating, adjusting, and revising any story you might choose to tell.
b) help you apply those options to a story or stories of your own.

Small class size!

To ensure that every course member gets ample help with these processes, the course will be limited to approximately ten students per section (there will likely be three different sections, each meeting on its own day and time).

The course will meet weekly for eight sessions, beginning in mid-October 2023 and continuing into early 2024.

By the end…

By the course’s end, you‘ll have a comprehensive knowledge of how to balance these specific approaches to story improvement. These skills will enrich your storytelling (and your effectiveness as a helper to other storytellers) for the rest of your life!

This course extends and enriches what you may have learned in my previous courses. Yet it can be profitably taken by someone who has never taken any previous course from me!

Structure of the course

The class will meet via Zoom. Each meeting will last two-and-a-half hours.

There will be eight class meetings for each "section." You will be able to attend your choice of sections—even a different one each week (or more than one a week) if that suits your schedule and desires.

I will introduce new skills in each lesson, as well as give you opportunities to try things out, then ask questions and further refine your understanding during the lesson.

When and How Will This Course Meet?

We’ll meet by Zoom.

There will be multiple sections each week. You’ll be able to attend whichever sections are convenient for you, even a different section for each of the eight (8), 2.5-hour class meetings.

The section days and times will be finalized in early October, after you’ve filled out a survey of convenient days and times for you to attend class.

If none of the section times work for you, you’ll have the option of a complete and prompt refund.

You will have access to the recordings of each 2.5-hour meeting. The recordings will be available for at least a year after the course begins, so you can catch up on (or simply review) past lessons at your convenience!

As usual for all my courses:

• We'll meet live via Zoom;

• There will be a private web page where I'll post the links to the class videos after each week of lessons.

• You will have at least one year of access to the course videos and any other files.

• Refunds: If you attend the bulk of the sessions and, for any reason, you don't feel satisfied with the course, I'll give you a prompt refund.

To Register

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