The Art of Storytelling

Easy Steps to Presenting an Unforgettable Story

By: John D. Walsh

Narrated by: John Walsh

Many of us would love to hold the attention of a crowd, a classroom, or just a group of our friends by telling them a great story. We have felt the pressure of a public presentation or the disappointment of a story that is ignored and we are ready for more.

In The Art of Storytelling, John Walsh talks through the steps to presenting a compelling story, outlining the strategies that helped him move from stutterer to storyteller as he fulfilled his calling of becoming a preacher. This audioook will help any person with a story to share, as it talks through all aspects of presentation, from what to do with your hands as you speak, to crafting a killer ending. It is especially relevant to those who teach through the stories of the Bible or who would like to do so.

©2003, 2014 John Walsh (P)2014 John Walsh

The best book so far about story telling

I have listened/read several books about storytelling and this one has been the most practical and understandable book. I appreciate how I as structured.

Anonymous reader

Great tips for story telling! I can not wait to implement some of these when teaching children.

Oriented for Bible Story telling

If you're ok with reapplying the lessons to more general stories, this book will be useful to you. I myself am not Christian and I found some helpful points. However if you strongly dislike hearing anything about the Bible then this book is not for you. I personally found it kind of annoying but I suffered through it to glean what I could.

I felt the need to write it from the perspective of telling Bible stories was unnecessary for teaching how to story tell. it could have been written more generally then reapplied to Bible stories on one's own, but I'm sure the author felt that his mission in life was to help people tell Bible stories so here we are. I just wish the cover had stated that clearly so as not to mislead people.

off topics of religion

A lot more on the bible and the guys own faith and ego than the art of story telling. Joseph Campbell is a much better perspective. but the book had some useful tips.

Helpful

What did you love best about The Art of Storytelling?

This was a helpful book as you think through what makes a good story. Especially if you are interested in telling Bible stories in a more compelling fashion.

What about John Walsh’s performance did you like?

He was authentic.

Great book

This book balances enjoyment with the technicality of storytelling. The author infused humor often. The book shined a light on mistakes I had been making. Grateful for the help!

Storytelling strategies are amazing

Has very good strategies to become a more captivating and effective story teller. Very good exercises and methods for all seeking to learn this beautiful art of communication. His perspective and examples are from a Christian perspective but strategies can be applied to all worldviews and stories you intent to convey.

Overall I really enjoyed the book and recommend it as an effective tool for discovering the components of storytelling.

Changed my life

5 stars

If you follow each of the steps you will come out a better storyteller.

Most practical advice for how to capture and hold

Where does The Art of Storytelling rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I've read many books on storytelling and story development. A reason why I've read so many is that none have actually given specific, practical advice. All specify the same ideals of using emotion, humor, and animated expressions to capture an audience's attention, but none provide simple, understandably steps to achieving this. Perhaps that is why I kept moving on to the next book. But this book is different. The author truly wants to teach you how to tell a story, and he gives examples of what has worked for him. Because these are real-life examples, they are easy to understand and put into practice. He takes a very difficult art (and storytelling is an art), and provides practical advice and exercises to how improve your storytelling ability. By contrast, all previous books I've read attempt to break down this art into abstract ideas, with minimal practical application. The author is a minister, and therefore his examples (and experiences) involve moral and bible stories, but this is to be expected. The same would be true if he were an rocket scientist telling stories about NASA. The subject of his examples does not distract from his advice.

Have you listened to any of John Walsh’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No

great practical as well as inspiring book

awesome book, read it twice now, just got it yesterday..would recommend it to anyone who would like practical advice, exercises and demonstrations in learning the art of story telling..a lot of Christian religious sentiments but don't let that scare you if you are not of that religious persuasion..there is so much good solid principle in the art of telling stories..a must read