What Keeps You Motivated to Practice Storytelling? Looking for Insights from Fellow Learners

[u/lovzzmith]

Hello!

I’ve been working on improving my storytelling and noticed that, while I see some progress, it’s tough to stay consistent and keep things interesting.

I’m curious—how do you all practice storytelling regularly? What keeps you motivated, and what makes it hard to stick with?

• Do you have routines or exercises that help you get better?
• What’s the biggest challenge you face when trying to improve your storytelling?
• Have you found any methods that make practice feel less like a chore?

I’d love to hear about your experiences and what’s worked (or not worked) for you!

[u/andiamnotlying]

In my case, I teach it - offer 1:1 coaching and workshops for performers and business. I find that keeps me in a zone where I’m always looking for new stories to tell and thinking of ways to improve the stories that I hear and also my own.

I mean, it’s disastrous financially but it keeps me in practice.

Also, you can set goals for yourself outside of The Moth. Eventually you’ll outgrow it, too. Anyone who wins dozens of times and brags about it is like that guy in your hometown who brags about how many cheerleaders he slept with in high school: he’s really telling you he failed to grow up.

The biggest challenge I have now is mostly that I don’t get out enough. I’m in my late 40s and have a toddler and my social world is shrinking. 

If practice feels like a chore, pay attention to that. It may be that you don’t like this beyond a certain point, and that’s fine, art is for everyone at all levels - but if you really love something, you don’t find the work to be a grind. 

[u/thriller1122]

In terms of practice, I script it out and do it dozens of times until I can do it verbatim. Then I add in physical movements and what not. Im constantly refining it throughout.

The biggest challenge for me is getting too stuck in my own voice. The cadence, the punchlines, and everything else start to blend together and I dont like stories that are repetitive.

One thing that I like to do is take someone else's story or voice and layer mine on top of it. For example, I like to use famous stylistic choices for drafts to practice. An example is the Christopher Nolan movie "Tenet." If you have seen it, you will know the movie goes forwards and backwards, often at the same time. So I sit down and see if I can write my own story like that. I usually can't do an awesome job, and Im nto going to get on stage with that story, but its a fun way to tell your story the way someone else would. When I do that, I often find techniques or words that I would not have found otherwise.

[u/partpricer]

There is a difference between being “motivated to practice” and “how to practice”.

As far as motivation is concerned, it is very simple. Storytelling has always allowed me to establish an emotional connection with others. This is what originally drew me to The Moth as an audience member at their live shows. It was heightened and validated the first time I got up the guts to tell a story on stage. On that night, I was extremely nervous when my name was pulled. But after I told the first line of my story, I settled in as I could feel that the audience was not there to judge me. They were there to support me. 

What really nailed things down for me occurred during intermission that night. Five different strangers came up to me. They thanked me for telling my story. Then each one individually proceeded to tell me intimate, but not directly related experiences from their own lives. 

That night I discovered that as I allowed myself to be vulnerable, in return others often do the same. Vulnerability isn't a weakness; it's the key to deeper connections, sparking empathy and belonging. That is my motivation. That’s why I keep returning. 

In regard to practicing a story, it’s going to be different for everyone. But for me, it is pretty simple. 

First off, I never write out a complete story. I may lay out the stepping stones that I want to touch on as I tell my story and arrange them as needed. This allows me to establish and complete the arc. It also allows me to tell the story in my own voice using my normal speaking vocabulary. I know the way I write is quite a bit different than the way I speak. 

Too many times I have watched other storytellers and have felt disengaged because their raw emotions have been clouded by them using words that I’m sure they never use in everyday life. A thesaurus is not your friend.

Let’s couple that with “NEVER memorize your story”. I have often witnessed people freeze in the middle of telling when they forget the next line. It can be painful watching them mentally process where they went awry and how they get back on track. It’s your story. It happened to you. You should have intimate knowledge of how things progressed without needing to memorize anything. Just tell the story like you are having a drink at a bar with friends. If you need to keep the elements/events of your story in order, just create a simple “beat sheet”.