Story Shuffle: introducing a themed, first-person storytelling event

I like projects.

I enjoy pointing out skills, traits, knowledge sets or the like that I lack and want to develop and finding practical, fun, realistic ways to develop them as best I can — in small, attainable steps.

I love storytelling.

I want to be a better, more captivating, more experienced storyteller. I also bought a house back in December and was hunting a more original way to christen it.

With that in mind, a couple Saturdays ago, I introduced Story Shuffle to a dozen friends, mostly a cohort of former colleagues from my college newspaper days. It’s something of a themed, first-person storytelling event with lots of tasty food.

Every few months, I hope to help coordinate such an event, at my home or others, in which everyone comes prepared with a 5-15 minute story based around a common theme — the order of which are chosen randomly with a shuffled deck of cards. The first theme was ‘Beginnings,’ and featured 10 stories.

After each session, I’ll be posting once a day the audio of all those stories told that night. (Grab the RSS feed here).

I’ll also occasionally post storytelling tips or videos I come across and perhaps other recorded stories I come across or record.

The point, of course, being the beauty of storytelling from anyone.

Read more here and listen to my first story here.