Cinderella's Coach
Q: When is a pumpkin a coach?
A: When it carries someone to The Ball.
Where are you going? Do you want to craft your story? Improve your
art? A coach can carry you closer to your destination.
When a small group of storytellers gather to work on their craft
with the aid of a coach, there is no set curriculum. The combination of artists
forms a unique opportunity for discovery.
Serving as a coach for fellow storytellers is an opportunity to
practice listening, discernment and discovery.
When coaching, I bring the following premises concerning
storytelling:
1. Storytelling is a conversational art form.
This is where we begin, in conversation. There must be a dynamic
relationship between the story-teller and the story-listener. This is where we
look for the involvement strategies to engage and manage a listener’s
attention.
2. The art begins with listening.
It is easy to think that the role of the listener is to pay
attention and the role of the teller is to receive it. But keep in mind that a
currency is being exchanged. If the listener “pays” attention, what are they paying for? Often, they are
paying attention in order that attention will be paid to them: the story is for
them, it concerns them, it is relevant to them. This is where we look for the
teller to make choices based on an awareness of the needs of the listener.
3. The storyteller is a living body-of-text.
The "living literature" of the modern storyteller
includes narrative, anecdote, poetry and song. Are you drawing fully on what
you know? Understanding how your story fits in with your body-of-text
strengthens your personal authenticity.
4. Storytellers must be concerned with the context of the
telling.
Where are you? Why are you here? What just happened? Who are these
people? What is this place? The storyteller is concerned with telling the right
story at the right time for the right reason. We must learn to associate our
body-of-text with our awareness of place, time, society, and circumstance.
5. All stories change value when put in relationship with other
stories.
What do we discover about your story when it is shared between one
story and the next? This is where we have our greatest opportunity: discoveries
revealed to us in a group process. No matter how random the assortment of
stories may appear, we will find lines of relationship within and among them
that will reveal new considerations of the individual story and the story
program.
6. To tell means to discern.
We often think that the story is the most important concern. But
“story” is the object, “telling” is the action. Telling is, in part, tallying:
the recounting of events. But the more important function of telling is
discerning. Discernment makes the art of telling distinct from other story art
forms. The storyteller practices this in choosing stories and in finding latent
values in those stories to serve the present discourse.
Finally, each person in a group coaching session has something
valuable to offer. Coaching is neither auditing nor judging. But there is
evaluation.
Evaluation is the act of finding value. A coach listens for the
particular opportunities your work presents and from that, creates a valuable
experience for the entire group.
For me, coaching is a way-finding art, an improvised curriculum
for getting us to The Ball.
