Leisure Courses for Lifelong Learning
- Once Upon a Time: Storytelling Skills for all
2 Days (Weekend)
For Beginners and Newcomers
- Storymakers
2 Days (Weekend)
For Storytellers with some experience + Writers, Performers, Creative Professionals
- Telling Tales: Introduction to Storytelling
Half Day or 1 Day
For Beginners
These courses are available through Farncombe Estate Centre in the Cotswolds (see link) and by arrangement for Business Training and to private Leisure Groups.
- Facilities required for Business or Leisure Groups: Training room with electrical socket.
Catering etc. A large sitting room, village hall, hotel lounge or clean outbuilding will suffice!
Once Upon A Time: Storytelling Skills for All
2 Days (weekend)
For Beginners and Newcomers
In a safe and stimulating environment you'll explore
- Voice skills and stagecraft - storytelling is not acting, even so you need to be heard and you need to hold the audience's attention
- Structure and fail-safe memory technique
- Creativity in retelling traditional stories
- Choosing and preparing tales for telling
Creative games and exercises involve talking and listening as a whole group, in pairs or mini groups and individually.
Sessions lead up to a final Story Round in which everybody is invited to tell the tale they've been working on. You can choose to tell your story by yourself or with others. You're encouraged to take part in this final session - especially if it's your first ever storytelling or speaking to a group - however it is not compulsory.
You'll work as much as you wish and you'll laugh a lot! Nerves about speaking usually dissolve in the supportive atmosphere, in the wonder of the stories themselves - and in the sheer fun of it all.
Preparation
You might like to bring with you a favourite folktale, family anecdote or (very!) brief literary story. DO NOT learn any story by heart - this isn't about delivering a script - just know the story well enough to outline the plot.
If you're stuck for source material, be reassured: Chloë brings 2 or 3 trunks full of story books...
Storymakers
2 Days (Weekend)
For experienced Storytellers and everyone who loves words
Share what you know, gain insights and new ideas. Spontaneous storytelling is a great cure for writer's block! Together we explore how different stimuli influence creativity - discover what gets your imagination going.
In addition to classic training exercises for storytellers Chloë facilitates creative games and introduces you to sense stimuli ranging from incense to (possibly) chocolate; plus new ways to look at the landscape, assorted sounds and purposeful frivolity...
Participants will work as a group, in small groups, pairs and individually. Whatever our usual craft or art, we undergo a creative process - here we will learn from each other.
By the end of the course you will tell (or somehow perform!) your story or extract segment - either yourself or with others - reflecting your experience on the course. You will take away new approaches and new techniques to apply to your own work, and with a little luck you'll feel creatively refreshed!
Preparation
You are invited to work on a story or segment thereof. This can be a traditional tale, a short story or your own. Stuck on your plot or script? - Bring it, let it run in a different mode, see what happens...
Telling Tales: Introduction to Storytelling
Half Day or 1 Day
For Beginners
Everyone can find their own way of telling stories. This workshop will inspire your confidence and imagination, and introduce you to essential skills. You'll go home with a story ready to send out into the world.
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