Page 19 - September 2017 Voices

SUCCESSFUL CLUB

Storymasters: From “I’d Never”

to “Yes I Can”

by Joe Anthony, ACG, ALB

Last Thursday I got to witness something so barbs and witty
rare in public speaking that it might as well be asides. With a few
the unicorn of oration. I watched a Toastmaster’s audience prompts about a clock-maker, a burglar,
“I’d never.” turn into an enthusiastic “Yes I can!” and a vault, he held us captive for six minutes.
And it only took two years in Storymasters to It was brilliant, and the audience was suitably
find that enthusiasm. impressed.
If you’ve ever seen an improvisational group, On the way home I caught a ride with a
friend and fellow Toastmaster, Brice Elmer,
who told me he would never, ever do something
like what Tom Cox had done. The thought of
it made him perspire. During past attempts
at impromptu speeches he’d given at Liberty
Talkers, Brice’s stories were sometimes halting,
involved unnecessary caveats, and followed

L to R: Brice Elmer, Jonathan Burgess

or an improv troupe perform, then you might
already know the prompts I’m going to ask for.
We need a time in history, a location, and a
handful of characters. Good comedians know
how to capture these random audience-selected
prompts and turn them into humorous scenes,
but they have tricks they can rely on. They have
other comedians to pass the ball to if they forget Tylor Merritt
a prompt or lose momentum. They have rules the conventional narrative arc about as well
of engagement like ‘Yes, and. . .’ or ‘Always make as a bumblebee in a windstorm. It was a hard
declarative statements.’ They have guidelines. “I’d never.” But that was before he joined
Training wheels, if you will. What does a Storymasters.
Toastmaster have when issued this challenge? Our first year as a newly chartered storytelling
Five to seven minutes to make it work, and the club was exciting and enthusiastic, but we
eyes of an expectant audience. struggled to find our footing. Our club culture
In May of 2015, during the charter party of hadn’t cemented. We didn’t know what one
Storymasters, I watched Tom Cox take up this another were capable of. Most of the time our
challenge with gusto. Professional as he was, he members gave standard Toastmasters speeches
spun a compelling narrative with humorous instead of narrative-driven stories. But we

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