In this bonus episode, Amy sits in the guest chair! She was hosted by the Two Marketing Mom's podcast for an episode on all things storytelling. Amy talks about her journey with Story District, the secrets to a well told story, and how Story District prepares its students to tap into that power. Take a few moments to fill out our podcast survey, see link below.
In this bonus episode, Amy gets to be the guest! She was hosted by the Two Marketing Mom's podcast for an episode on all things storytelling. Amy talks about her journey with Story District, the secrets to a well told story, and how Story District prepares to tap into that power.
Take a few moments to fill out our podcast survey here: https://form.jotform.com/241225432709149
Check us out on all social media platforms: @storydistrict
Join our mailing list: https://www.storydistrict.org/newsletter
Visit us at www.Storydistrict.org
Two Marketing Moms Podcast
https://www.instagram.com/twomktgmoms
https://twitter.com/twomktgmoms
https://www.threads.net/@twomktgmoms
Kelly Callahan-Poe
https://twitter.com/kellycall
https://www.instagram.com/kellycallpoe/
Amy: What's up, Storytelling fans, and welcome back to Story District Presents. I'm Amy Saidman. I'm the director of Story District, and I'm here to let you know that we have wrapped up season three and we are working on season four, but before we do anything, we want your input. We'd really love to hear from you, our listeners.
We want to know what you like and what you don't like. What are the things that we can do to make season four even better? Even better than all three first seasons. So to share your thoughts, click the link in our liner notes to complete a survey. We really value your input as always join our mailing list at story district.org.
Follow us on Instagram at story district and tell your friends to check us out. And if you haven't listened to seasons one and two, I encourage you to do that during this break. And while we get ready for the next season, we'll be sharing some extras with you when we can. Starting with this interview with me. Amy Saidman, Story District's founding director. Shout out to two marketing moms for having me as a guest. Get links to their podcasts, Instagram, and more in our liner notes, and enjoy learning more about the secrets to a well told story.
Kelly: Welcome to the Two Marketing Moms podcast. Today's episode is called Storytelling with Special Guest, Amy Saidman. Amy's the founding Director of Story District, which which was named the Gold Standard in Storytelling by the Washington Post. She's developed a unique curriculum to coach thousands of individuals, companies, and organizations with the support of a stellar group of storytelling coaches. In addition to producing hundreds of original storytelling shows at DC's premier venues, Amy is also the host and creative director of the podcast story district presents. She's a five time recipient of the individual artist fellowship award from the DC commission on the arts and humanities and a nominee for the DCW fifties, 2020 remarkable woman award. My gosh, that's a lot. Welcome Amy.
Amy: Thank you so much for having me.
Kelly: Thanks for chatting with me today. I'm so excited to learn. I've obviously checked out all your website, um, and your, your, um, your recorded shows, and I haven't had a chance to attend a live event, but I want to learn more. Let's start with your nonprofit story district.
Can you talk about how you came to start open forums for public speaking and storytelling and how your background led you down this path?
Amy: Well, it wasn't something I planned on. I didn't like grow up being like, I'm going to run a storytelling organization when I grow up. Um, but I was, um, in a job I wasn't that happy in. I wanted to, um, find a creative outlet. I was, I was doing comedy improv. When I was a kid, if you did ask me what I wanted to be, I'd say a comedian. I wanted to be like Carol Burnett, if anybody out there, um, was, uh, way back. But, uh, so one day I stumbled upon this, this, I was in the Washington city paper and this ad, um, for the black cat clubs had opened Mike storytelling. And I was so intrigued. I'd never heard of such a thing. So I got to go. I go, I liked it, I went back, I told a story, um, about my hair, cause it, about like how hard it was to be a curly girl in a non curly era, and I won't get into it, but, um, in the end I kind of fell in love with it, and it was a job opening, I applied, I got the job, and that's how I ended up working for Washington Storyteller, Washington Storytellers Theater.
Kelly: Yeah.
Amy: So that was sort of the beginning of my introduction to storytelling. But the real, um, hard decision came in 2005. 1999. Wow. And I was working for them as the program coordinator. And in 2005, that's when the real hard decision came to me, which was that they were going to close. The ED had left and the board was kind of tired and didn't have the gumption to keep it going.
And I was like, should I do? But I didn't know how to run a nonprofit. I've been learning about the . Yeah. But, um, but in the end, I had been hosting the once a month open mic storytelling night, which, which was called, um, the speakeasy at the time. Yeah. It was thriving. It was just we kept getting more and more people and more and more enthusiasm and I got my fix of being on stage.
So I decided to take a leap of faith. Uh, and, you know, long story short, that's how I got to where we are today. It built little by little. I found a way to find funding. I built a board. I built a team. I created this curriculum for classes. Now we work with consulting. In 2015, we changed the name to Story District and here we are.
Kelly: So what is your approach to storytelling at Story District? I know you've got a unique approach that you teach people.
Amy: Yeah, we do. Over time, we've really built a very distinct philosophy and methodology. So our philosophy, I would say for, for your, your listeners who are professionals and business people running businesses, one thing to keep in mind is that storytelling is, I believe, Quite distinct.
And people mistake other things for storytelling. They, they might be doing, all of these things are valuable. A lecture, a speech, these things are valuable, but that's not storytelling. Um, there are rules to storytelling and if you do it right, then you are Clicking into the magic of storytelling, and the magic of storytelling is that it's experiential, that you're inviting your listeners into your world, and by doing that, they're not just listening, they're experiencing it, they're living it, and by living it, they're connecting to you emotionally, they're literally, like, vicariously invested, um, and they care about it.
You know, what happens next in a way that there, there is no what happens next necessarily in a lecture. Um, there's a, I need to know what plays out. I'm invested in this character. I'm rooting for this character. What happens? And that's really what makes it so memorable and powerful. Um, so that's, that's a big part of our philosophy.
And our methodology, we do, we do, you know, group, when we're teaching folks, we, we do group trainings with sort of to help get out all the basics of storytelling narrative arc and scene and substance and style. But we also work one on one with people. And in those sessions, we ask a ton of questions. We help you find your story source material, and we, we start finding a shape.
And a meaning so that you can land that message.
Kelly: So when you say experiential, you really mean standing up on stage and telling a story in front of people that you don't know.
Amy: Yes. It might be a stage, it might be a conference room, it might be a social media ad.
Kelly: Yeah.
Amy: But the idea is that it's happening in place in time.
It's unfolding in the moment. You is, we don't know what's going to happen. So we're, our curiosity is peaked and we want to know what happens. Um, And, um, so it's very much, it's immersive.
Kelly: Absolutely. And of course that's got to be the biggest challenge for storytellers in terms of, um, those fears. What do you see the biggest challenge, um, uh, for, for storytellers on your side as a coach?
Amy: Oh, I'll go with three to my top three. Um, number one, so many people say, you know, I don't have a story. But they do have a story. Everyone has stories and people. It doesn't, it doesn't have to be the biggest story. Sometimes small things are very meaningful. Um, you know, you, you start to get good at identifying what has legs like what, what, what, what, what am I live experience.
Might I be able to turn into a story, which we can get into a little bit later, but one of the things we do is help people tap into their memories, help people think about what are what were meaningful moments in your life. Um, and really you, you do have stories. Um, the second thing, um, that comes up is there maybe just basic stage fright or shine it.
People sign up for our courses just cause they're like, I'm shy. I need to get out of my, or I'm scared to get on stage. And what's beautiful about storytelling is it's your life. You lived it. So it's not about getting your material just right. You, you're, you're, you know, your material, you lived it. Um, and so it's, it's, And at least what we do when we work with clients and, and individuals is we, we really do create a very safe nurturing space.
Everybody's in the same, sort of in the same boat, like feeling vulnerable, sharing, sharing their, you know, stories and getting up on stage, but they're all really rooting for each other. They see them, you know, we do these seven weeks classes called storytelling 101, or we do different versions of that, that we customize for businesses, whatever they want, but the group becomes.
Very supportive so that by the time you do get up, you've worked on your story. You've practiced your story and you're in an environment where other people are there to support you. So, so that's been, we have found that that's been a great way to overcome stage fright. And then the 3rd thing I would say that is super common is.
Is that people are all over the place that this was just incoherent and they want to do this and they want to do that. And sometimes they just, they're so knowledgeable. They don't even know where to start or end. They don't know what choices to make about what to keep, what to, what to, you know, put on the shelf for another time.
Um, and we really help them give it a shape and make sure that they, their message is clear and on point. That's great. Very common challenges. Sorry.
Kelly: Yeah. So the coaches work with you and the coaches work with individuals in the groups to shape those stories, or do they help each other a combination of both?
Amy: We do a lot. Um, the coaches are, are very, um, play a very large role in helping each person get to a stage ready story. I say stage ready again, with stage being like a broad definition of what your stage is. Yeah. But, um, but we do, we do, Open the opportunity for, um, the class, the classmates to and colleagues to to, um, help each other as well.
Kelly: And you're that when people get up on stage, is there a time limit for them to speak?
Amy: Well, for our shows, which happen around the DMV and DC mostly, we have a, we say seven minutes, but they tend to be more like eight to nine. Um, and that's partly because every time you get on stage, like time, you lose total sense of time.
Um, but, but usually our shows have seven to eight. You know, people in the cast and they're telling a story, uh, you know, true story on a common theme. So, um, you know, so it's like needs to contain within that 90 minutes basically. But if it's for a company, if it's for a company or an organization, then it really kind of depends on who they're, what the occasion is, who is their audience?
What is their objective? What is the setting that they personally have? So that it can really, um, that depends. Interesting.
Kelly: All right. So let's go back to basics. So what is the elements of a good story?
Amy: We stress three things, structure, scene, and authenticity. So by structure, I'm talking about the narrative arc.
And when we work with businesses, we try to make that as simple as you can. There's multiple ways to break down the narrative arc, but one real simple way to look at it is you, for every story and people who are afraid of formulas, get over it. There's a way to do this. Um, so embrace it. You need a champion, a challenge, and a change.
This is the simplest way that we talk about it. A champion is the protagonist. Now in our version of stage, you know, stories on stage, it's first person. I'm the champion. I'm the protagonist. I'm a character that the audience is going to follow, which, which by the way, is another distinction between, um, when, if you don't have a protagonist.
You're not doing a story that's that might be something that might be a speech or lecture, but you need a protagonist. I'm following this. So you need that champion and in order to really get in your job is to make sure. So let's say I'm the storyteller. It's my job to make sure you relate to my point of view.
And in order to do that, I have to let you into my thoughts and feelings. You have to understand what matters to me. For you to know what to care about. So that's number one, a change. And then you could also have a different protagonist. Like, um, if you've ever listened to something around story brand, the client is the champion.
So you have to understand, uh, you know, the client's, um, point of view. And then the, you know, and then the, the, the storytelling coach is like the agent of change. But anyway, um, the next thing is a challenge. If you don't have a challenge, it's not a story. You have to be overcoming some other, you want something and then there's these obstacles in the way of the thing you want or the, you know, and that's the only, cause you need that tension for it to actually just have a shape.
Without that, it's, it's just not a story. And then the last thing is a change. Story's not over until something changes. It could be big. It could be small. It could be as small as it could be a huge life change, but it could also be so small. Like I thought this way, but now I think this way. Um, I couldn't, I couldn't, I couldn't do a thing and now I can, it doesn't have to be huge, but it has to be, there has to be a before and an after.
And something has to be different at the end of your story. Cause why, so what, what's the, so what, why did we listen to this? Um, so those are three things. And then, and then as far as singing, that's kind of what I'm talking about with the experiential and making it immersive is it has, you know, you need to share your thoughts.
You need to paint a picture. It has to be taking as much as you need to share your thoughts and feelings. And I need to relate to the character. I need to know where I am. If I can't see, if I can't see in my mind's eye, a place, you’re not bringing us into your story. So place painting that picture and then be you going into the authenticity piece.
Be as you as you can be and be as honest as you can be. And sometimes that means being honest with yourself so that you can be honest with your audience. That's where you really make those connections because we feel it. If you're not being honest with us, if you're not being honest with yourself. It just doesn't work. Yeah. Um, and that, you know, sometimes people are like, so worried about being funny or something, but a lot of times like humor comes through just being radically honest. You know, so those are the things we stress the structure and scene and those are like a few like little insights to how we approach structure and scene.
Kelly: Did you come to this originally this structure of how you do storytelling or is this based on research or based on experience in terms of how you structure your programs and what makes a great story?
Amy: That's evolved. It's been very organic process. Yeah. I mean, without telling my own stories badly. God knows.
Don't look me up because some of my stuff is out there. Um, on YouTube, but I don't, I don't, I want to take it down. Um, but yeah, we, so we started out where we had this open mic, which was literally an open mic. You walk in. This was when it was called speak, the speakeasy walk in and sign up and we wouldn't have no idea what would come.
And then at some point I was like, this could be better because very hit or miss, we started offering coaching and then we started mandating coaching. And so just in the process of working with. So many people, we evolved this curriculum, um, which started out, you know, which was storytelling one on one, which started in 2007.
So now we've like had many, many years and thousands of students to go through it and thousands of people that like, um, you know, our shows also started out being curated and, and now we have like months’ worth of rehearsals. So just like over time, we've built this.
Kelly: Yeah, I love that. So the people that listen to this podcast are mostly advertising and marketing professionals, and we have to sell for a living, all of us in some way, shape, or form.
And so a lot of, most of the listeners are used to storytelling, but they may not be used to giving compelling stories, right? So what are the tips that you would give to professionals in the field that might help them, um, be better storytellers?
Amy: So some of the things I said, but, uh, and I'll, I'll sort of maybe, maybe reiterate, you know, again, the magic of a well told story is that I'm in it and I care about you, the protagonist or have you, you know, so that the, and the tricks to do that is establishing your point of view, um, creating a sense of place, um, having that, I need to know what you want.
And care about what you want or what your character, you know, whoever that character is, um, that is compelling and having that tension, having those challenges so that I'm waiting to, um, that's a really amazing, compelling story. And, and then the so what, why today? Why, why this today? I mean, no one being clear about what, what am I trying?
What point am I trying to make? What is this universal theme that that's going to land at the end of my story? Don't, you know, it's not just no, but don't talk for talking sake, like it's easy to be like, if you're talking socially, that's one thing. But when you have an audience and you, you need to know the point you're trying to make, um, a couple other tips about just making it entertaining.
Kelly: Yes.
Amy: Points. So I talked about place, but there's also voice. So if you have character, and you do that, we all do this naturally when we tell stories socially. You, you may say, instead of saying, Oh, my dad always told me, uh, he, my, my, you, you give the characters in your story, their own voice. You let them speak for themselves.
So instead of saying, my dad always told me he was proud of me. Instead, my dad looked me in the eye and said, I am so proud of you. See, I didn't have to do, I don't have to act, but I let him speak for himself. That is very dynamic. And that's goes back to the idea of scene making that's a scene, you know, so I'm, I'm learning I'm sure showing me how my dad felt versus telling me how my dad felt and it makes it so much more dynamic.
Um, and I'll give advice in terms of telling stories if you're telling them to an audience versus writing them somewhere because marketers obviously have multiple platforms. But we get so many questions. Well, how do I actually tell the story and remember it, you know, and tell it in a way, we really, really encourage you to find your national natural voice.
And to do that, you really, you can't read, no reading, and you really can't recite. So it's not about memorization, it's about taking your story, you can do all this writing, you don't even have to write honestly, you can start with an outline, but you need to get that down to a list. So that when you're telling your story, you're connecting to the scenes in your story.
So that I'm not thinking of the words, like the literal letters I wrote on a page and trying to remember them. I'm just trying to get, I'm just trying to go to that place. If I want to take you, my listener, to that place, I need to go to that place. The more I see it in my mind's eye, the more you'll see it in your mind's eye.
And the more you're connecting with your audience, you're like with each other. Um, and then the other thing I would say is keep it tight. Stay on the point. Stay on point. You can hop off. You can do tangents. But do not forget your main thread. You have one main thread and one main objective, not multiple.
So you can come back to it, but you cannot leave it and then go to another tangent and another, you can't leave it and never come back. Got to come back. And then the last thing, practice, get a buddy. Don't think you can do it great just by thinking it and doing it. It's actually hard work. It is hard work to do it well.
So if you can do a little bit of practice, say it out loud, if it's going to be, you know, a verbal. To somebody or even to yourself on a recorder. Um, there's really no way around. To make yourself a great storyteller. There's really no way around practice. Absolutely.
Kelly: Well, what about, um, obviously pushing stories out these days on social media is really the most important way to get them to spread and to go viral and You know, working in advertising, you know, our spots are 60 seconds most and 30 second most.
How would you recommend reshaping that narrative? Is it the same narrative that you would do for a short 60 second clip? Or do you tell a larger story and you pull clips? What are your recommendations on that? Yeah, you can tell a full arc.
Amy: And in a minute, you can tell, you can, um, you, you can have scenes.
You can use these tricks in a minute. Um, you can have it spoken. You can also apply this to a video, like use these tools when you're, when you're creating a reel or a, some kind of video or even, um, Maybe you have a photographic with some text like these are tools no matter how long it is. And if you, if you do it, if you don't have the arc, and you don't have scenes, you don't really have a story you have something else. But it's not a story. So if you're, if you want to practice the storytelling, those elements need to be there.
Kelly: Got it. Got it. All right. Well, what are the key benefits of learning storytelling and actually, um, doing public speaking?
Amy: Oh, it's so exhilarating. It's like one of the best…
Kelly: Some people get energized by it, and I can see you get energized by it. I get stressed until I start, start speaking. What then when I am speaking, I'm completely fine. And when I'm done, I'm happy as a clam, but you know, there are different people have different personalities.
Amy: Absolutely. No, I don't mean that it's without fear or trepidation.
I don't mean that.
Kelly: Yeah.
Amy: Um, but I will say one of the benefits, I mean, the biggest benefit is that you really, okay, let me explain what I mean by exhilarating. When you're feel ready, right? So if you've practiced it and you feel confident about your content, you get up on that stage and when you are there and the audience is responding and they're with you, that is exhilarating.
That connection to your audience is exhilarating. Um, and rewarding. It's very rewarding. And, um, you know, so that's what we aim to do is equip people with the power to be a storytelling star for 10 minutes, you know, and to feel confident on stage and to be able to You're not just, you're connected with that audience, but you're connecting. If you do well with everybody, with a common humanity, you know, that is what it is, you're, you're up there trying to be real and they, and that's feeding and fueling your audience and, um, let alone just like actually pulling it off where they're listening, right. They're like leaning in and they want to, um, and they're laughing at the order or gasping is one of my favorite things when an audience is like, Oh, you know, um, But yeah, it's, we have so many people, Oh my gosh, that come through and they're like, there's no way I could do it.
I can't do it. I can't do it. And then they get up and they're like, wait, you know, so I'm not saying everybody overcomes their stage fright at all, but even people with stage fright can do it and still find it rewarding and exhilarating. Yeah.
Kelly: So ultimately it builds confidence and helps you find your voice. What are the other benefits?
Amy: One of the benefits I don't think people realize is, I mean, it's, it's extremely, um, actually it's cathartic. It's, it's, there are, there aren't that many things we do that, that we'd carve out time and space to reflect on our past. Yeah. And that's what this is. You have to dig into your, your past to find the source material for these stories. If you're doing the kind that we do, which is first person, again, there's other ways to apply these tools. It doesn't have to be that way, but, but if that's what you're doing and it could be professional past, it doesn't have to be, there's a lot of professional, um, situations that can. That storytelling, you know, there's a lot of professional content that fits. Um, but certainly for marketing, it could be based on the product or the cause or something, but having the time and space and a coach for you to explore your past and think of it in a new way and, um, Frame it based on whatever it is you're kind of trying to put together is extremely, extremely cathartic and it's, um, it's a, it's an experience that's very hard to find in other situations.
Kelly: And you could use the same principles of storytelling and writing. Right? Obviously, because you're absolutely on the same story. So using thinking about that, or even starting with writing and then moving to speaking is a good way to get that out.
Amy: Absolutely. Or speak and then turn that into a blog or part of it, or, or turn that into a series of, you know, um, reels or something.
But, um. Yeah. And you'll see a lot of overlap if any, if you read, you know, things about screenwriting or, um, even fiction, right? There is overlap. Um, there's certain things that are distinct just because it's first person and it's nonfiction and all that, but there's a lot of overlap with those things. Yeah.
Kelly: All right. So you have a podcast as well called Story District Presents. I did it for the story. Can you tell us about the podcast?
Amy: Yes. Our podcast is such a great place for us to showcase our best talent. You know, we do shows throughout the year. We used to do, you know, pre pandemic, we were at, you know, like 30 shows a year.
We record them. Um, and, um, I love the opportunity to showcase our best work. Yeah. So on our podcast, you'll hear stories that were told live on our stage and in our. Yeah, and in our first couple, um, our first couple seasons, we have interviews with the storytellers. So you get to know their process a little bit more about their story. And how they, you know, how, how they put together a story. And that if, if for those, so it's kind of like we have two audiences, you might just want to hear a story and that's entertaining, and then we have another audience, which is like, you want to be a storyteller, so you will learn about storytelling through our podcast also, if that is something that interests you and the most current, um, season we've pared it down.
So we're not doing interviews, but. We do one story and then I find something that's a teachable moment. So if you are interested in telling stories, wait till the end and I talk about what you might take away from this particular story. So you actually have a concrete, like some of these things I've mentioned today are, you know, points I bring up, but it gives you a concrete example of what I mean.
You know what I mean? Like scene building or whatever it is.
Kelly: So how can listeners learn more about Story District and how does it work if someone who isn't in the Washington D. C. area and can't attend, you know, your classes in person, you offer things virtually, how do we learn more?
Amy: Our website is a great place to go, storydistrict.org. We, you know, we have an active Instagram, um, and Facebook, but Instagram more than Facebook. Of course. And those would be the best places right now. We have a YouTube, uh, we actually, we, um, post a new story every week on YouTube, um, at Story District Live is the, you know, the channel. Not everything's safe for work.
So know that, you know, we have multiple themes. Oh, okay. So, um, know that and our audience is for adults. It's not for Children. I who's in the car. If you're going to listen to it, um, both the podcast and the, and the YouTube, but, uh, those, those are great places to keep in touch with us. You can, if you go to our website, you can sign up for our newsletter and, um, we have a couple of shows coming up.
Kelly: I would like to attend a show, but more importantly, I would like to attend one of your storytelling one on one classes. I'd love to make my husband do it with me and maybe one of my teenagers will see if I can make that happen.
Amy: That’s a great idea!
Kelly: Yeah, exactly. Multi-generational storytellers because my husband is a storyteller as well. So, and my son is a journalism student, so apple doesn't fall far from the tree. That'd be great. Well, thank you, Amy. This is really great to learn so much about you and about Story District. And I hope to hear more about you. Thank you. Thanks for having me.