Bio: Katharine (Kathy) Hansen, Ph.D., creative director and associate publisher of Quintessential Careers, is an educator, author, and blogger who provides content for Quintessential Careers, edits its newsletter QuintZine, and blogs about storytelling at A Storied Career. Kathy, who earned her PhD from Union Institute & University authored Tell Me About Yourself (April 2009), Dynamic Cover Letters for New Graduates, A Foot in the Door, Top Notch Executive Interviews (fall 2009), Top Notch Executive Resumes; and with Randall S. Hansen, Ph.D., Dynamic Cover Letters, Write Your Way to a Higher GPA, and The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Study Skills.
1.What is Storytelling? and why are you interested in it?
I am among the storytelling fans who do not like to be boxed in by a specific definition of “story” or “storytelling.” I’ve found in the more than 57 interviews I’ve conducted with storytelling practitioners that most of them, perhaps surprisingly, prefer not to define “storytelling.” (However, a few feel a strict definition is vitally important.) Of the definitions offered by the practitioners who prefer to define story/storytelling, I’ve liked some more than others. One of my favorites is: “Story is context.”
I think I have been interested in storytelling for most of my life, but I didn’t really recognize the passion until I began my Read more »
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Press Play to hear Ben Nind speaking on how Storytelling is Essential to Community Health and Life on the Art of Storytelling with Brother Wolf.
Storytelling Is Essential to Community Health and Life.
Do we really have to justify why this is so? Are we so removed from ourselves as purveyors of stories that we actually need to rationalize, in some manner or form – why storytelling is essential? This is an odd question because it means that I have to somehow divorce story from the human experience and that is an impossible task.
The glue that holds all of the pieces together is story past, present and future. Read more »
Press Play to hear Jimmy Neil Smith about the future of the International Storytelling on the Art of Storytelling Center with Brother Wolf.
Photo Courtesy of Fresh Air Photo
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Jimmy Neil Smith
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The Future of the International Storytelling Center
Jimmy Neil Smith writes…
In the early 1990s, I attended a conference of the Tennessee Arts Commission in nearby Johnson City. During the session, potter Bill Strickland spoke about the arts-based Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild and Bidwell Training Center in inner-city Pittsburgh an institution, founded by Strickland, that teaches low-income, inner-city youths an employment skill.
Strickland spoke eloquently about his institution and its program. His address was stirring and powerful. Then, as a closing, Strickland said, “I challenge each of you to go home and build an institution that confirms and makes real what you know.”
Strickland’s challenge inspired me.
Less than a year later, the National Storytelling Association announced the development of what would become the International Storytelling Center the organization’s first permanent home in 30 years and a “launching pad” for a series of national and international programs, products, and services.
It was Strickland’s challenge that would give birth to the institution that has become the International Storytelling Center. The Center campus now composed of the elegant Mary B. Martin Storytelling Hall, Historic Center Inn, and the Storytelling Read more »
Press Play to hear Carol Mon speak on applying fairytales to business on the Art of Storytelling with Brother Wolf.
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Applying Fairytales to Business.
Carol Mon writes… Why tell stories to our children? Because it helps prepare them for life. An added benefit though, is we re-learn the important lessons within each tale. This reminds me of Robert Fulghum’s book “All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten.” Definitely true if someone read or told you stories during your formative years.
Folk and fairy tales are full of values and morals that we learn through repetition. Generally, as children we don’t stop to think what moral is being taught we are just enjoying the story for entertainment. The characters in the story model good or bad behavior and we see the consequences of their actions. Without receiving a lecture from parents we learn appropriate behavior.
As an adult storyteller I am often re-learning and telling favorite childhood stories. A funny thing happened; I started Read more »
Press Play to hear Ben Sota is the Artistic Director of the Zany Umbrella Circus and he speaks on the Art of Storytelling with Brother Wolf about the art of showmanship.
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A Conversation on Showmanship.
Ben Writes…
Thoughts of showmanship.
As a circus performer I able to show people fantastic things. Performances on the trapeze, tight wire. juggling seven balls, and give them a glimpse of what many think is impossible.
For me showmanship is about connecting that fantastic to my audience. For me showmanship is inclusion….
As a circus performer my characters stride to be unassuming and unpretentious. The performance uses storytelling to bridge that fantastic to Read more »
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Arts blog
Artistic Marketing, Professional Development, Storytelling Digital | Brother Wolf | 
July 8, 2010 10:25 pm | 
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