Effective Teaching Techniques

Ten Tips for Telling Engaging Stories to Kids (and Adults)

By Amy Renshaw

Everybody loves a good story. They’re part of family conversations around the dinner table, classroom sessions, and the most popular TED talks. They’ve been used throughout history to share wisdom and values. They can even deepen our relationships. Here are ten tips for grabbing kids’ attention, keeping them invested in your story, and helping them remember it.

1. Simplify and Adapt as Needed

This is the secret of all sleepy bedtime storytellers: you can adapt a story as you tell it. If your audience is younger than the target audience or your time is limited, summarize or omit some of the details. Skip to the good parts, focusing on action and other aspects that will resonate with your readers.

For example, if you’re telling kids someone’s life story, include interesting points about their childhood—maybe they loved to ride horses (animals are always a plus) or they lived in three different countries. Focus on the person’s major achievements, passions, or experiences.

2. Make the Protagonist Relatable

Include aspects of the story that make the main character relatable to your audience. Did they make mistakes, show weaknesses, or strive heroically to achieve a goal? Give plenty of attention to those aspects, to get your listeners absorbed in the action and rooting for the protagonist.

3. Maintain Eye Contact

Eye contact is a vital part of nonverbal communication. Looking your audience members in the eyes will keep their attention longer and forge a stronger connection. It also conveys your confidence, authenticity, and truthfulness, which appeal to listeners.

4. Use Movement

Do you “talk with your hands”? Let the rest of your body in on the fun. You can keep kids’ attention and even let them join you in making stomping, running, flying, throwing, or catching motions, for example. Convey emotions with your lively facial expressions, too.

5. Use Dramatic Pauses

Sometimes we’re afraid to pause in a story or conversation because we think we’ll lose the audience. But if you pause at a moment of tension, anxiety, or suspense, you give listeners a chance to think about what’s happening. Their brains may start to picture what they think might happen next. If you can surprise them with an unexpected twist, it’s even more compelling.

6. Change Your Voice

When you speak, vary the tone and speed of your voice to match the events. Speed up if your protagonist is running to catch a train, and slow down if they’re struggling to climb a mountain. You can even use different voices to represent different speakers if your story includes dialogue. Look for opportunities to include sound effects. Consider inviting listeners to join you in creating a growling bear or a ticking clock.

7. Appeal to the Senses

A story comes alive if we can see, hear, touch, taste, and smell what’s happening. When a story engages multiple senses, it’s more memorable. If your protagonist sails the world, describe the rocking waves of the sea and the sun sparkling on the water. Maybe their stomach rumbles with hunger as they smell the delicious aroma of home cooking—which later tastes delicious. Use a map, photos, costumes, and other props to set the scene. Objects can help paint a vivid mental picture for your listeners.

8. Invite Interaction

Stop at a few points in the story to ask listeners a question. What do you think happened next? What would you do? Has that ever happened to you? How do you think the protagonist felt?

When listeners share their predictions, reactions, and experiences, they’re more engaged in the story. They may connect with the protagonist and think about what makes them similar to or different from themselves.

9. Make Your Ending Strong

Think about the most important takeaway for your listeners, and put that at the end of your story. Or if it naturally comes earlier, repeat it at the end for emphasis. Use your voice, movement, and facial expression to make it clear the story has ended—don’t keep going or just trail off.

10. Ask Kids to Tell it Back to You

When you’ve finished the story, encourage kids to tell it back to you in their own words. If you’re teaching a class, this could be a review at the next lesson. In everyday life, look for teachable moments and encourage kids to think back about stories you’ve shared. “It’s hard to wait for your birthday. Remember that story, where the character had to wait 40 years to escape?”

The stories we tell kids may stay with them for the rest of their lives. You might give them guidelines or role models for making wise choices. Let your own kid-like enthusiasm come out to play, and you’ll take your listeners on inspiring journeys.

Resources

30 Storytelling Tips For Teachers: How To Capture Your Students’ Attention

The Art of Storytelling

How to Tell Better Stories: 4 Simple Tips for Introverts, by Tyler Lai