Storytelling Workshops
Everyone has a story.
The question is: what do you do with it?
Storytelling isn't just for writers, performers or people who already think they are good at speaking.
It's for anyone who needs to make another human being listen.
I conduct practical, experiential storytelling workshops for students, educators, teams, leaders, founders and organisations.
We explore how stories work — and then, more importantly, we tell some.
What we work on
Finding the story
Most of us think we don't have interesting stories. Often, we're just looking in the wrong place. The workshop begins with learning to notice what's already there, hidden in the ordinary.
Building the story
Where does a story begin? What belongs, what doesn't, and when should you explain something versus let the audience experience it? We explore the details, structure and surprises that make a story feel true.
Telling the story
A story on a page is one thing.
A story told to another human being is something else.
We work on voice, presence, pacing, pauses, listening and the strange but useful art of not rushing to fill silence.
Finding your voice
Good storytelling isn't about sounding like someone else. It's about sounding more like yourself. The aim isn't performance for its own sake, but connection.
Who are these workshops for?
Students
Build confidence, observation, communication and self-expression through storytelling. Ideal for schools, colleges, universities and youth programmes.
Teachers & Educators
Stories can make a lesson memorable long after the facts have disappeared.
These sessions explore how educators can use storytelling to engage, explain and connect.
Corporate Teams
Presentations. Meetings. Internal communication. Team building. Leadership.
Storytelling can make all of these more human — and often more effective.
Leaders & Founders
Find and communicate the stories behind your vision, work, failures, beginnings and purpose.
Young Professionals
Tell your story with clarity and confidence in interviews, presentations, networking and public speaking.
Communities & Cultural Organisations
Explore how storytelling helps us make sense of ourselves and each other, through festivals, literary events and community programmes.
The format
There isn't one workshop. There shouldn't be. The format depends on the people in the room, the time available and what you want them to take away.
90 minutes
An introduction to storytelling through conversation, exercises and short storytelling practice.
Half day
A deeper, hands-on workshop combining storytelling principles, exercises and participant stories.
Full day
A more immersive exploration of storytelling — from finding the story to shaping and telling it.
Custom programmes
For organisations, schools and institutions that have a particular objective, I can design a workshop around the group.
What participants leave with
- A better understanding of what makes a story work.
- Practical ways to find stories in everyday experience.
- Tools for structuring stories for effective communication.
- A better sense of voice, pacing and presence.
- Greater confidence speaking in front of others.
- And, ideally, at least one story they didn't know they had before they walked into the room.
How I conduct the workshops
I don't believe storytelling is best taught from a podium.
So the workshops are conversational and participatory.
There will be ideas.
There will be examples.
There will be exercises.
There will probably be laughter.
And there will be stories.
The room does most of the work.
A little about the storyteller
I've spent years listening to people.
Long conversations. Interviews. Stories on stage. Personal narratives. Cinema.
I used to host conversations under the name Left Right Centre. That work continues now under my own name.
I've learnt that the interesting story is rarely the first one people tell you.
You have to stay.
Ask another question.
Listen a little longer.
Sometimes, wait.
That's the practice I bring into the workshop.
From the workshops
Finding the story in the ordinary — a workshop exercise.
A corporate storytelling session in progress.
A workshop group, at the end of a session.Want to bring storytelling into your room?
Tell me who the participants are, what you're hoping they take away, and how much time we have.
We'll take it from there.