| 1. Hook them with something to get immediate interest and have a focal point for where the story is going. "OMG - did I tell you about the time I almost got arrested?"
2. Set the scene - paint a picture. Once you've hooked them, and they're interested, you can spend a bit of time setting up the situation so that they become more invested in where they story's going, and can relate and understand it better, since they can more easily put themselves in your shoes.
3. Use language that appeals to as many different senses as possible. Many people respond to visual language, others to auditory, and some to kinesthetic, etc. Most people, ESPECIALLY WOMEN respond to emotional content.
The bad story-teller simply recites the basic events in the order they happened (this is what makes learning history from a bad teacher so BORING!) - "I went here, this person said that, then I went there, then this thing happened, and then we all laughed...uh, you had to be there I guess..."
No, fuckface - it's not that I had to be there, it's that you didn't paint a VIVID PICTURE of what it was like to be there in the first place, and didn't tell me what you were thinking and feeling so that I could IMAGINE being there and start to feel the same emotions, see the same colours, and therefore get the full impact of the punchline.
So - where are you, what's happening, what kind of mood are you in, who else is there, etc. The idea is to get people to experience as much as possible in their imagination, what you experienced at the time. Another important reason for this is that it builds EXPECTATION, and starts making them wonder what's gonna happen next.
4. Have a proper punchline or ending that in some way goes against the expectation you set up. This is the basis for good humour - there's a connection between the punchline and the setup, but it's not the one you were expecting. Make sure you deliver it after a pause CLEARLY, and DO NOT LAUGH until at least a few people are already doing so, if at all. (Paul Merton extends a laugh another few seconds by looking around, as if he's confused as to why people are laughing in the first place - comedy gold!)
General tips
• Speak slowly and clearly, and enunciate and project your words
• Spread eye contact evenly around a group so they all stay focused on you
• Don't be afraid to raise a finger (with a smile!) and get someone to wait until you're finished if they butt in
• If a punchline flops, don't act apologetic or embarrassed, either carry right on as if nothing's happened, or make a joke about how badly your joke failed (Conan O'Brien's speciality)
• Absolutely believe that your story is interesting and/or funny. If you simply have passion about what you're talking about, it will infuse your every word.
- Extra tip for 1-on-1 storytelling. In a 1-on-1 situation, you want to get information out of her, rather than just talk about yourself the whole time. In this situation, it's OK to let her butt in and ask questions, because that allows the possibility of opening new conversational threads and getting into that conversational pattern where it's like you two never run out of things to say to each other. You can CREATE that, by taking the time to stop and ask "have you ever felt like that," or "have you been in that kind of situation," or "don't you hate that too?" or whatever, so she can maybe give you a story of her own. (This will tend to break up a story in a large group and make a them lose interest, so it's only for a date situation or after you've isolated.) _________________ SEX Technique Material http://bit.ly/iFdky0
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