A True Story but you Have to Tell it Live and In-Person
How creative limitations can lead to creative productivity
This past week I focused most of my available energy on preparing to tell a true story to a live audience. I’m one of the speakers at a Moth GrandSLAM and you can’t just show up. People do that — show up and wing it — but it rarely goes well.
At the Moth, you’re not allowed notes or props. No acting things out. Step up to the microphone and tells us a true story.
The best stories are told in a relaxed fashion, as if you were talking to friends at a bar. But instead of being in a dark corner, drinking beer, you’re on stage at the bar, and your friends are scattered in an audience of 400 people, and they’re all waiting to hear what you have to say.
Luckily, there’s a spotlight and you can’t see much beyond the microphone.
I enjoy it. I choose to over-rehearse because I run the risk of improvising too much, the class clown in me screams for attention, trying to get a reaction — anything — out of the audience.
Short and Sweet
We have five minutes to tell our story, which for me is 600 words, max. It’s not easy to tell a compelling and satisfying story in 600 words, and that’s part of the joy of…
