An outing for National Storytelling Week

Yesterday morning found me taking a phone call from a radio station shortly after 8am. In that phone call, the presenter laid down a challenge for the launch of National Storytelling Week. Could I take a set of ‘story ingredients’ supplied from listeners’ texts, and combine them into a story live on air?  I accepted the challenge and waited for my call back.

Just over an hour later, the presenter called me back live on air and presented me with the following story elements:

• windy weather
• an umbrella
• Mrs Mopple

At this point, I took a deep breath and launched into the story of Mrs Mopple’s adventurous and unexpected journey to secure a pint of  milk for her early morning cup of tea. If you click on the picture below you cane hear how it went.

CLICK to listen

The question, both then and now, is why I would bother to do such a thing? There are several answers. The first, and simplest, is that it was fun! Secondly, I believe in the power of story, and will take any opportunity to promote it. Thirdly, like a professional in any other field, I need to exercise my skills in order to keep them. The ‘storytelling muscle’ will waste if not used. Finally, it has been my experience that far more people have the ability to weave stories than might be imagined. If my rather stumbling little outing live on air with Mrs Mopple encouraged someone to ‘have a go’, then it was a good morning’s work.

Will you tell a story today?