Comments from students

What is SpeakeasyDC’s Storytelling 101 class like? from SpeakeasyDC on Vimeo.

“I’m about to take my second class with Speakeasy and I’m very excited. I learned so much on the first go around and many of my fellow classmates ended up telling their fantastic stories at open mic.”

“Taking the Storytelling 101 class was one of the best things I’ve ever done. Very talented and encouraging instructors helped us construct meaningful presentations of our true stories. I was taken by surprise by the feelings of connectedness that true storytelling brings about, and what a growing experience it was.”

“Not only have I become a better public speaker, but also I have become a more confident conversationalist”

“I HAD A BLAST!!!”

” I learned A LOT about the structure of a story and what makes it work for the storyteller and the audience”

“I’m certain that class helped me win $1 million for my client because I was able to use story to make a more compelling case in court.”

“The teachers have great perspectives and give solid, actionable, feedback”

“I overcame my TERROR of public performance.”

“I took away a clear understanding of what makes a good story and confidence that I can develop and tell a story competently.”

“Teachers were helpful, comforting, and inspiring”

“I’ve had the great opportunity to participate in a class, an open mic, and a performance workshop with Speak Easy DC and in each event I took away a whole difference set of skills and “tricks of the trade”. I would highly recommend the experience to anyone wanting to learn how to craft an engaging story and/or learn to perform your work on stage.”

After every class we teach, we collect written evaluations.  To the question, “Did this class meet your expectations”, 98% have answered “Completely”. Comments drawn from student evaluations in answer to the question “What did you learn/value from class?”

• Understanding  effective story elements and structure
• Learning how to identify and honor the main thread
• Understanding the importance of “weeding”/knowing what to emphasize and omit
• Exploring the core meaning — deciding what  the story is really about
• Learning brainstorming techniques
• Receiving valuable and constructive feedback
• Having opportunity to work with very diverse group
• Understanding different storytelling techniques
• Having time to practice
• Hearing great stories from fellow classmates
• Learning how to grab and hold an audience’s attention
• Having opportunity to discover story material