Module -Storytelling

Let's start with a story!

Enjoy "The Useless Tree", told by Joke van Himbeek.

Introduction to the module

Source: Sinbad Project
Ask anyone what they really remember from a lecture, a guided tour or from their school days - often it's the story. Stories seem to make some kind of memory mark in the brain, probably because of their imagery. Teachers, lecturers, guides, nature guides, museum people, they all have good reason to use storytelling.
The knowledge material woven into a story is easier to remember. Oral storytelling is a pictorial, concrete language that speaks directly to the heart and allows the listener not only to understand but also to experience what is being conveyed. Inner images are created and the listeners feel involved, touched, co-created. Their senses are also opened to absorb more factual knowledge. Therefore, oral storytelling has always been a tool to illustrate knowledge content, to process conflicts and problems, to teach and socialise, to create empathy, to develop self-confidence, to entertain and amuse.

Some thoughts on oral storytelling

Orality is the natural and one of the most original forms of communication. It has shaped the human consciousness; how we think, learn, and how we understand our world. Yet the oral narrative is almost invisible in our day. Now we have media that convey stories in the most astonishing ways: novels that paint the fate of peoples far away, reporters who report on television directly from a war front on the other side of the earth, feature films that depict landscapes and creatures on other planets. These are media with resources that go far beyond the capabilities of the individual. Then it is easy to believe that you have nothing significant to tell yourself. And that one cannot claim the listening of others other than in the everyday exchange of small anecdotes.

We mean that is a misunderstanding. In the oral narrative there are tools that no other media has and that reach the listeners on a deeper and more personal level. It is a medium that is easily accessible because technology consists of ourselves; of our voice and body. It can be used in most contexts: in family and social life, in school and at work, in community and association life and so on. It can be used for different purposes: entertainment, teaching, outlook on life, marketing, performing arts and more. For those who want to develop their story, there is an ocean of stories where she can choose what suits her.


In this module of the StoryComp online course we will make you competent in the art of storytelling – as a tool in adult education.

Take the time to familiarize yourself with a little theoretical background, immerse yourself in the possibilities of storytelling and above all: do it yourself, tell your stories, step by step with concrete exercises and tips.

So, what can you expect?