Some history...

The history of storytelling

Stories have been part of our societies since ever. The way of telling stories evolves constantly according to each era. The first stories were in form of cave paintings and evolved into novels, movies and more. Stories have always fascinated humankind! Although the ways of telling stories have changed, the desire of telling and listening to stories still remains intact. Some stories slip past, while others have a great impact on how we look at life.

One of the first ways of storytelling discovered was a series of cave paintings in the Lascaux caves of Pyrenees Mountains in France. This story in form of painting shows animals and a human being and it follows a series of events. The story tells ritual performing and hunting practices.

Around the year 700 B.C, the first printed story, the epic of Gilgamesh, was created and began to spread from Mesopotamia to other parts of Europe and Asia.

Aesop lived in the year 500 B.C. and was well known because of his oral stories. In the 200s B.C, Aesop’s fables were written, this shows how oral storytelling can surpass cultures and eras and still remain in people’s lives. People remembered his stories so well that even 300 years later the stories were revered enough for mass production.

Storytellers became an important part in every community because they had a valuable skill which was the ability to tell stories. As many events were taking place, like wars, the storytellers were in charge of transmitting the stories so people could remember them. We cannot confuse telling stories with just stating what happened because stories began to emerge as a way to preserve raw emotions and sequence of the actual event while stating what happened did not convey emotions or feelings.

“The Bible’s Old Testament spoke of men and women, of tales and lessons learned that occurred many, many years before they were written.  A majority of the books relied on solid resources for their writings.  What were these resources?  Stories.  People witnessed events, heard the stories and kept them alive through word of mouth.  They told their friends, families, and communities about the events, and a chain was formed, one link, one storyteller, at a time.”

Shakespeare became a legend when his plays and sonnets were published. He started as a storyteller and he was well-known by his closest, but he became immortalized in his written pieces.

“From a young street rat in London to being taught in every school hundreds of years later, he made his mark on literature forever.  How did he do it?

Storytelling.”

“History is nothing but a series of stories that, when told correctly, can teach us lessons, give us insights into a variety of concepts, or entertain us.  Every story serves a purpose, even if to simply relay a message.  Without history, without chronicled stories, mankind would never learn from his mistakes, would never dream to emulate past heroes, would never see anything but the now.  We would be clueless to the past, and therefore helpless for the future.

We all crave stories because they allow us to sympathize with characters.  Tell your audience a story, and you will gain their support.  You will create a following for your cause and inspire your audience to act and believe.

In your next presentation, remember the power of storytelling.  Remember that even in a straightforward business presentation, a story helps to illustrate a point better than a set of facts.  A story gives people a reason to care about what you’re saying.  They relate to the characters, the plot and the lessons learned.  They relate to your story, and therefore your message.

So, what’s your story?”

(Source: http://bigfishpresentations.com/2012/02/28/a-very-brief-history-of-storytelling/)