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Five professional storytellers offer tips on how to tell a good storyOnce a popular leisure pursuit, storytelling is fast falling out of favour as people turn to movies, digital games and the Internet for entertainment.儲存But professional storytellers - those who are paid to tell stories to audiences of all ages and lead storytelling workshops - say it is important to carry on the tradition of storytelling as it puts people in touch with their cultural roots.Kamini Ramachandran, 44, who grew up hearing about Indian folklore told to her by her grandfather, became a professional storyteller 11 years ago partly to remind people of this oral tradition."In the past, we had shamans, troubadours and village elders whose responsibility it was to pass these stories on to the next generation. But the children have moved on, found other ways to make a living, and the tradition is dying out," says the mother of two boys.Storytelling, say the professionals, is not the same as reading aloud. Rather, it is recounting a story from memory - be it a story from your own life, your family or your cultural tradition - and sharing it with other people in such a way that the story comes alive in their mind.The audience can be an auditorium of thousands or your child or partner at home, and the storyteller adapts the story, changing the words or details, to suit the audience.In 2004, Ramachandran and her friend, writer Verena Tay, 48, started a storytelling company called MoonShadow Stories. It promotes and shares stories, mostly Asian folktales, with adults.Tay says: "A lot of what we know and understand about the world comes from stories. If you want to learn about people, human nature, history, myths and legends, why not do so through stories?"They touch you on a fundamental, emotional and psychological level beyond just the intellect."President of the Storytelling Association (Singapore) Sheila Wee, 55, says this is due to the structure of the human brain.She says: "Scientific studies have shown that our brains are hard wired for stories. Information is much more likely to be remembered when shared in story form, rather than bare fact."It gives the material context and meaning. It can teach vocabulary, different perspectives and values, and how to connect and interact with other people."The Storytelling Association (Singapore) was set up in 2006 to promote the telling and learning of stories.Storytelling also develops the creativity of both the storyteller and the listener, by activating the same parts of the brain responsible for imagination."Words are the tools the teller or writer uses to create an image in the mind of the audience," Wee explains.But stories and the development of imagination that comes with them have fallen victim to the digital and visual age of movies, iPhones and YouTube, she adds. "If we want to see anything at any time, day or night, all we have to do is plug in. The part of the brain responsible for creating images doesn't have to work because the images are already there on the screen."Ramachandran says another reason people have stopped telling stories here is the lack of confidence, particularly with language.Her advice? Get over it. "It doesn't matter. You are not a newsreader," she says. "You are a storyteller telling your stories to your own kids. Don't put so much pressure on yourself. Do it in your own language or tell it in two languages if you need to. There's nothing wrong with that," she says.Life! gets tips from five professional storytellers to get you started.vlydia@sph.com.sgCHOOSE A STORYSheila Wee is one of the pioneers of storytelling in Singapore, having organised storytelling groups, meetings and training sessions here since 1999.The 55-year-old is a founding member of the Storytelling Association (Singapore) and is its current president.When she started as a storyteller, she says she was surprised to find that students here were familiar with Western folk and fairy tales, such as Little Red Riding Hood or Three Little Pigs, but did not know stories from their own cultures."It's important that children grow up listening to stories of their own cultural traditions because to feel you truly belong to a society, you must know its history, the stories of your people and of your family. It makes one feel rooted and secure in one's own identity," she says."If you grow up hearing the stories of other cultures, doesn't that lead you to feel that these other cultures are better than your own?"When choosing a story to tell, she says, it helps to start with folklore because "they are stories that have come from the oral tradition and have been honed for telling".She explains: "They are usually easy to learn as they have been passed down through the generations and are the closest to the original repetitions and patterns of oral stories."It is especially helpful to use stories that have been written by storytellers because they are usually done so in ethnopoetic script, which means they are written to emphasise the way the words should be said.One example of a good book to start with is Twenty Tellable Tales by American storyteller and folklorist Margaret Read MacDonald.Wee notes that the National Library in Singapore contains some of the best selections of storytelling books in the world. These can be found in the children's section or next to etiquette books in the adults' section.Fo迷你倉 Asian folklore, she says the best collection can be found at the Asian Children's Literature Collection at the Woodlands Regional Library.BE CONFIDENTRoger Jenkins, 60, started his career as an actor and a drama coach, but switched to storytelling in the early 2000s.He now holds storytelling sessions and workshops a few times each week.He has published two books on how to tell stories effectively for juniors and teens, and is releasing a DVD titled Parent's Guide To Storytelling next month."When acting in a play, you ignore or pretend to ignore the audience. With storytelling, it's all about eye contact, and interacting and feeding off the audience," he says."You need to be comfortable with yourself and you need to be able to look your audience in the eye."If you need help building up confidence, he suggests using a prop, such as a hat, scarf or shawl."Put the hat on or drape the shawl over your shoulder or on the chair. Once that is on, once you are in the storytelling chair, you take on another identity. You become the storyteller."And fret not if you forget something in the story or mix up the story's sequence, he advises."You can always use phrases such as 'something you don't know' or 'what I haven't told you is' to include those details or to backtrack. Remember that stories are very fluid and informal."STIMULATE THE IMAGINATIONVerena Tay, 48, is a storyteller, writer and co-founder of storytelling company MoonShadow Stories.She focuses on storytelling for an adult audience."One of the skills of storytelling is that you are taking the listeners to the realm of the imagination," she says. "You have to build images in their mind."To do that, she says you have to have the characters and the stories pictured very clearly in your mind."What do the characters look like? How do they move? And as you tell the story you focus on that image. It gives you a connection to the story and you will be able to make the story come alive for your audience."To lure listeners into the imagined world that you are creating, she suggests adapting the story and the words, speed, tempo, rhythm and style to the audience,"The main thing is that you connect to the story, that the story's sequence is clear in your imagination and that you are clear on what it is you see," she says."Of course, whether for a professional or for storytelling at home, tons of rehearsals and retelling the story will help make the transition from your head to your mouth a smooth one."ADAPT TO THE AUDIENCEKamini Ramachandran, 44, is vice-president of Storytelling Association (Singapore) and co-director of MoonShadow Stories, a company which organises storytelling sessions and workshops.She grew up listening to her grandfather's retelling of Indian folklore and shares tips on how to adapt a story to one's audience: "The younger they are, the more visual they are as learners, so the more visuals I will use. I will draw while I am telling a story, have a storyboard with pre-set images or I might use puppets."Children are also highly sensorial, so she sometimes provides physical examples of items in the story, such as a seed or a leaf, that can be passed around. "You need to keep the little ones engaged because their attention span is short and they are easily distracted."Teenagers are more challenging. "They want to be seen as cool so you don't go in with a story about talking animals or cute things because they will immediately think it's juvenile."Teens love to be scared, she says. Start with a slow pace, a low voice or tone and lots of eye contact, using a story that builds up excitement."They will see the story unfolding in their mind... They love being drawn into a world of horror and fear."Adults are open to any genre, including themes such as incest, sex, violence and religion, she notes."This allows you to deliver the story as it was meant to be told, undiluted," she says. "Fairy tales are not as straightforward as you might expect, for example. They often have aspects of homosexuality or horrific violence which you might alter for a younger audience."PLAY THE FOOLRosemarie Somaiah, 57, has been a professional storyteller since 2000. She is one of the founding members of the Storytelling Association (Singapore) and a partner of the professional storytelling company Asian Storytelling Network, through which she also leads storytelling workshops, mainly for school groups."Parents sometimes worry that they don't have the language skills to tell stories, but a story is about much more than just the words you use," she says. "Don't underestimate the effect of body language, pacing and pausing."Depending on the context and the audience, she says she "plays the fool" when telling stories in order to engage and communicate with the audience."I embarrass myself, use big hand gestures or roll on the floor if I need to," she explains."You need to be willing to make them laugh at you. That's the part you play as a storyteller... It's about telling the truth of humanity and honouring the voice of the common man."But being funny should not detract from the poignancy of a story or from its bizarre or interesting aspects, she adds."You must entertain your audience but, at the same time, you must not treat them as foolish. Never underestimate your audience's intelligence."The Straits Times is the official media partner for the Singapore Writers Festival 2013self storage