Storytelling Quotes

In the last few years, storytelling has been recognized both as an art form and a professional tool. Storytelling quotes curated by vox-vocis.

Storytelling quotes # 1-5

• It takes a thousand voices to tell a single story. (Native American saying)
• Storytelling grew from the playful elements of human nature and satisfied a need for self-entertainment. We are gifted with an imagination; we can create something out of nothing. Children do this automatically through imaginary friends and worlds. (Alison Davies)
• We have been telling stories for tens of thousands of years. Our brains look for stories. (Andy Goodman)
• You don’t need us to tell you that the Disney organization understands better than almost any corporation on Earth. Stories are, after all, the patina that covers almost every Disney product. (Ryan Mathews & Watts Wacker)
• Stories that began as family tales, passed from one generation to the next, were eventually recorded on clay tablets and papyrus, on vellum and paper – priceless gifts from our ancestors. Throughout history, story has honored our past, enlightened our present, and envisioned our future. (Nancy Lamb)

Storytelling quotes # 6-10

• Good storytelling lets the audience relive events in the present so they can understand the forces, choices and emotions that led the character do what he did. Stories are really giving the audience a form of knowledge- emotional knowledge – or what used to be known as wisdom, but they do it in a playful, entertaining way. (John Truby)
• Storytelling at its best is a mutual creation. Children listen, and out of the words they hear, create their own mental images; this opening of the mind’s eye develops the imagination). (Ellin Greene & Augusta Baker)
• There were important reasons for coming together – cooking, celebrating, singing, dancing, praying and other spiritual rituals. As the nights grew longer, storytelling often took the main stage. (Richard D. Stone)
• Both storytelling and puppetry are ancient forms of expression that came about in similar ways. When the written word was scarce, or in some cultures, nonexistent, it was the storyteller who was the preserver of knowledge, the teller of tales to a circle of intent listeners. Rarely did listeners tire of hearing the same tale again and again, since eachtime the story was told it took a new ambience, special emphasis, or unexpected turn. (Connie Champlin)
• Storytelling is the natural way to teach. (Steven James)

Storytelling quotes # 11-14

• Storytelling can play an important role in the next millennium. The first step in rethinking our place on the planet should be reconnecting with our inner landscape. Then we will better relate to the landscape of the planet. (Robin Moore)
• Storytelling, it seems, is timeless. (Kay Teehan)
• There are two kinds of stories to tell: moving-in stories and moving-on stories. Moving-in stories are stories with roots: home-sweet-home books about sanctuary, security and solitude. Moving-on stories are stories with wings: blue highway books about pilgrimages, on-the-road again restlessness, and homesickness. (Leonard Sweet)
• But why telling stories at all? First and foremost because stories can accomplish what no other form of communication can – they can get through to our hearts with a message. (David Aftandilian & David Scofield Wilson, according to Will Rogers)

Storytelling Quotes # 1-5

• Storytelling is an indispensable tool for activating and making the company’s DNA visible and creating a shared direction. Authentic stories are tools for your company’s business strategy – without a strong company culture you will not succeed in achieving a solid and credible brand. (Klaus Fog et al.)
• Storytelling inspires the imagination, heals the souls, and challenges our beliefs. Storytelling is as much an outlet for the quiet person who tells haltingly of a past experience as for the accomplished ham who enjoys attracting every eye. (Harlynne Geisler)
• Storytelling and leadership are both performance arts, and like all other performance arts, they involve at least as much doing as thinking. In such matters, performers always know more than they can tell. (Stephen Denning)
• Storytelling permeates newspapers and magazines, radio, television, and film. Advertisers tell stories to sell their stock, and politicians package their lives in stories during campaigns. On stage, in the workplace, and at home, storytelling thrives. (Kristin Langellier & Eric E. Peterson)
• Good storytelling is interactive. It’s more like a conversation than a broadcast, even when the stories are carefully crafted and rehearsed. (Whitney Quesenbery & Kevin Brooks)

Storytelling quotes # 6-10

• Storytelling is a powerful art form. Stories entertain, educate, and enlighten. They have the ability to transport and audience to another location and teach them about issues and people they may know nothing about. (Cheryl A. Clarke)
• While storytelling makes sociality possible, it is equally vital to the illusory, self-protective, self-justifying activity of individual minds. (Michael Jackson, Politics of storytelling: violence, transgression and intersubjectivity)
• The present research aims at adding to the existing findings on consumer-brand storytelling and particularly on digitally storytelling in fashion blogs by exploring how fashion bloggers combine textual and visual branded stimuli to generate stories and myths. (Russell W. Belk)
• If storytelling, in all its guises, is mere entertainment, a respite from reality during our leisure time, then in business it’s a pejorative term. (Marc Wright)
• Unlike fantasy storytelling, the practice in business is built on truth and authenticity. To be effective, the storyteller has to be someone with integrity. (Olivia Parr Rud)

Storytelling quotes # 11-12

• We live in a fast-paced society, one in which speakers only have minutes to connect with their listeners. Using stories helps a speaker make a memorable impression quickly and become an unrivaled communicator. (A. C "Buddy" Krizan et al.)
• Storytelling also has practical application to almost every aspect of business and career. "Water cooler talk" helps us connect with our colleagues. Tales of past experience illustrate a company’s mission and values. (Dominic R. Villari)