How to Tell a Story: The Essential Guide to Memorable Storytelling from The Moth

everyone has at least one story to tell. It’s all in the way you tell it.

remember texture, detail, sense memory, and what you felt like when the story first took place.

when faced with the daunting task of making conversation with someone new, try to think of a question that might bring about a story from them. The tried-and-true “How do you know our host?” is an easy place to start. Compliments are always nice and can often break the ice.

The act of sharing personal stories builds empathy, and out of many stories, we become one community. It starts with a single story.

the horrifying feeling of pressure was necessary, because by the time I got to the big stage, I had already faced my fears.

We didn’t always understand all the details, but seeing our mother light up while telling us stories made us light up too. Her excitement became our excitement, her sorrow our sorrow, and so on. Telling those stories is what kept my mother alive, kept her heart beating through loss after loss after loss—that is how I came to understand the power of

remember that everyone is entertained by, and relates to, a train wreck. Stories about failure and learning can be powerful.”

Think about a time when you… Felt an emotion: doubled over with laughter, burst into tears, or lost your cool. Did something you never thought you’d do. Tried to be something or someone you aren’t. Discovered something about yourself, your environment, your family, or the world. Changed your relationship with someone—for better or worse, a little o

You have important stories to tell. They are stories that no one else can tell. But you have to be willing to do the work of developing them—and then work through your fears to share them.