Secret of Storytelling to Kids (and Adults)

“A person’s a person no matter how small.” ~ Dr. Seuss

If there is anyone that speaks the language of children, it is Dr. Seuss. With stories like Green Eggs and Ham, the rhythm and cadence, the visual imagery, the silliness … everything also speaks to adults.

Andy Offutt Irwin, a master storyteller, comedian, and all around nice guy, performs for both adults and kids. He told me his secret.

Children just want to be treated with respect. Don’t talk down to them. Treat them like grown-ups… And adults … they just want to be treated like kids. They want to remember how to laugh and play. If you can remember that, you have mastered the secret of storytelling.
~ paraphrased from Andy Offutt Irwin

I have watched master storytellers perform for large crowds of  children, and it is like watching them play a musical instrument. The connection that they create with the children is palpable, and the audience becomes their instrument. They take the children up through laughter and down to touching moments. The children, captivated and entranced, enter into the imaginary world of the storyteller. Just like the pied piper who plays for the children and leads them away from the village, the storyteller does the same. However, the storyteller brings the children back to the village, safe and sound, … but transformed by the magic and meaning central to the story.

Remarkably, performing for adults is similar. While the content is sometimes different, even adults are captivated by storytelling and just want to be treated like children. Don’t talk down to them. Treat them with respect!

We are all children at heart, no matter how big and grown up.

For more advice on telling stories to audiences of children, visit the blog post of the Florida Storytelling Association by Mij Byram.

In the great paradox of life, everything is the same … but different.