Here's how you can captivate library users and promote literacy using storytelling techniques.

One thing I always remember is the audience is in partnership with my storytelling performances. A dreaded drone link way of telling a story, will not create the energy necessary to captivate the audience. A storyteller takes words and brings them to life using expressive language, rich characters and vocal cadence.

One thing I must tell is that while telling a story the expressions of a storyteller please and important role for the perception of the listener. The more expressive the storyteller is with the words, the more meaningful trait he can deliver to the listener.

The first “rule,” if you want to call it that, is that the character has to seem authentic. If it is faked or seems contrived, the reader is less likely to be engaged in the story you’re telling.

The character of your story is the heart of what you want to convey. The character should be authentic in whatever is to be conveyed to the listener. The character should motivate the listener to involve in the whole story. In away the character is a channel to channelise the whole idea or the message of the story.

Story telling should be so interesting that the listener gets excited to know more and more of the story. Continue with more description of minute things and adding more feelings, powerful dialogue and giving an idea of the whole set up of the plot of the story. This will immediately instigate the interest of the listener, and in turn the listener will never leave you.

I think story telling is an art. The more descriptive you are, the more drama you create by your words, your thoughts will be inbibed in the listeners mind and heart. Along with that if you make your story telling interactive, if you ask more questions then the listener will be glued to your story. Your listener should be engulfed and mesmerized by the art of your story telling. Asking more questions will involve and immerse the listener more to your story line.

There is a seamless process between the speaker and the listeners, here it is essential for the speaker to know how easily he is able to reach the listeners and the listeners to the speaker. This is a very sensitive flow of exchange from both sides.

Flannel boards are always a favorite, the children get to see the story unfold before their eyes! Youth Service staff at the library I work at often create their own flannel board pieces to go along with a story.

Foster curiousity through critical thinking and asking questions during and after the story. Encourage students to come up with their own story archs - let them draw story maps or comics. Get creative and have fun!

One other important aspect to consider is the role of conflict frames in storytelling. We often assume conflict is demobilizing, that it leads to resignation or hopelessness (e.g., climate doom-and-gloom, compassion fatigue, if it bleeds it leads, etc.). But conflict narratives (stories) about interesting people standing up to some status quo, injustice, or inequality can be really mobilizing. I guess this is is one way to stir emotions (point #1). The key is to do it in a generative and respectful way. The Civil Rights movement, or the fight in the 1980s for access to AIDS meds in the U.S., plus all sorts of 'colour' revolutions in Europe, are all reflective of how mobilizing conflict and great storytelling go hand-in-hand.