Module -Storytelling

Storytelling competence

First have a look at the definition:

Storytelling competences are the ability
In terms of competences this all adds to a sense of initiative and direction, of self-regulation, creativity, reflexivity, and of learning to learn.

Development of Storytelling Competence

What can you do to help learners acquire these competences? Let´s find out! Before asking them to tell a whole story, some of those exercises might help to break the ice and get used to this new practice:

And then… Stories

And-Then stories help learners to further develop their communications skills, their creativity and expression and their collaborative skills.
Person 1 starts a story with one sentence from the beginning of a story and then says: "And then."
Person 2 takes over, adds another sentence or episode to the story taking it in whatever direction s/he wants. When saying “and then” the next person continues… until the final person in the circle ends or the teacher ends the story “and finally…”

1 Minute, many words

A game that supports creativity and memory to explore a topic
Person 1 picks a topic, e.g. vegetable, animals… and says Start
Person 2 has now one minute to find as many words as possible that fit to this topic
Alternatively you can play this game in a circle with more participants.

A story in 5 sentences

Briefly describe the cornerstones and the structure of a story (see Structure of the story ▾). Then explain how to tell a story with five sentences – one for each „phase“. Use an example.
Then ask your participants to tell a story. You start with the first sentence (the beginning), the next participant tells one sentence for the rising action … and so on. If the first story is finished the next participant starts the next story with the first sentence.

With this exercise, the participants get a feeling of the structure of a story and of the relevant elements, train their creativity and will have a lot of fun as well.


Encourage your learners to tell their stories.
Ask your participants Afterwards it is important to discuss the stories and the way they are told.

You can find more concrete ideas and exercises in our workshop guidelines ▾, arranged thematically and with practical activity sheets to download.


For the actual storytelling in the group it is important to agree on a few rules: