Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/finding-your-voice/5018142/
We sat at her feet in the garden, listening to stories. Aunt Dollie had been a missionary in China, so most of her stories were based on Biblical characters and themes. But as a young child all I knew was that she could make the lions roar and the road dusty. She was my first encounter with a gifted storyteller; the power of her stories created images that still live in my brain after 54 years.As an adult I tried my hand at capturing the attention of a class of kindergartners. I put on a floppy hat and a shawl (don't ask me to explain this costume) and I tried my voice at telling stories. I wasn't very good at it. The children spent most of our time together trying to get me to admit that I wasn't really the story lady, but, in fact, myself.
During the evolution of my professional career, I was challenged with the opportunity to give presentations. I knew that every good speech begins with a joke or a story; but imagine a person who can't remember a punch line embarking on a telling in front of 300 people (pictured in their ...