Katie's Ch. 1 Reflection

As I read chapter one, I was struck by this comment: “Intelligence is bound in our ability to tell the right story at the right time, understanding a story means being able to correlate the story we are hearing with one that we already know (pg.21).” We hardly ever say something randomly, even in everyday conversations. In my personal conversations, the stories I share are ones that are similar in nature to what we are discussing. Usually what a person says will springboard what stories are shared next. In storytelling we can apply this the same way. We should tell the right story at the right time. Sometimes this refers to the audience, sometimes to the location, and sometimes to the theme of the program. For example, one of the stories in my repertoire is a historical account of a pioneer woman sacrificing all that she has for a better life. It is very religious, emotional, and touching. However, if I told it directly after a ghost story, I wouldn’t be telling it at the right time. It just wouldn’t work. How and when we share a story is an important thing to remember.

My final thought comes from page 10. “Stories give life to past experience. Stories make the events in memory memorable to others and to ourselves. This is one of the reasons why people like to tell stories.” I like this statement because this is why we tell stories. We tell stories that mean something to us. And as we do that, it becomes a memorable moment not only for the listener but also for us.