Date: 8/5/2015
Location: Wellington Fire Station
Mentor: Anne-Marie Crowher
Back the station for another day of training, the subject we focused on today was story telling, how to tell a story professionally and bring life to it. We started the day the same way as usual with breathing exercises and in a circle discuss what we were up to and what we thought of the training so far. We all agreed that the training was helping us develop not just as individuals but as speakers and confidence building in what we do or who we talk to.
We started the exercise by being put int groups of two and the subject that we have reached the age of 100 and we had to make a speech, a reflective speech about our life and achievements. We each shared our speeches and share feedback on what we thought. We then reflected on each oters speeches and would ask each other the following questions.
We would ask each other these questions and what we were hoping to reflect in the speeches.
My speech focused out the positive and negatives of my life and how they have helped me to be a better man and achieve my goal.
The next exercise we did was in a group of three we would start a random argument that would continue for five minutes and then we had to resolve it. We had to this by using the same questioning and answering techniques we learned yesterday at the Library. My argument, alongside Matt and Judith, focused on a couple trying to decide what film to see, Mad Max or A Royal Night Out? We both gave our argument on why each film interested us and why we should see it. In the end we agreed that we could either see the films with other friends and family or see another film.
During lunch we were asked to draw a spider diagram of all the things that inspired us both as a person and creatively. We all went to the pub across from the fire station and begun drawing and creating our diagrams, in with detailed designs, stories and drawings. After lunch we were put into groups of five and we would each show our spider diagrams. Each diagram was instyled in a different, from one reflecting a river to another being styled as a funfair map. My was styled as a large circle, leading from birth and my experiences which have made me who I am today. Each one breaking into different sections based on hobbies and life experiences, the ups and downs. It felt we were all connecting and opening up with each other while explaining every moment we had drawn in our diagrams. We shared our diagrams with everyone and explained them to our group.
Storytelling Workshop: Part II
Mentor: Akiel Chinelo
Akiel Chinelo is a Manchester based story teller and spoken poetry performer who is known for his poems and stories based around certain subjects like prison life, the Manchester Hacienda era, the pirate radio stations in Levenshulme and much more. Akiel would be teaching us on how to tell and create a story. Akiel brought a bag of items and one by one we would each go over to the bag and pull out an item. I pulled out a small toy boat. In a circle, Akiel asked us to take a true story from the person next to us and to tell that story but to include the item in the story. Jenny told me her story of when her mum bought her a pet dog and she saw him running around the garden. Her item was a coin and I told her the story of when I lost my parents on holiday when I was young. When telling jenny's story I told them that the toy boat was the first item the dog played with outside. Jenny took my story and said that the penny was the item that distracted me and made me get lost.
After listening to everyone's stories, Akiel asked us our names and to tell us two interesting facts about ourselves. I told him my name and that I played bass and I've started writing more since being on the workshop.
Once everyone told their names and facts, Akiel advised us to use these techniques and facts for our presentations. He said it was important for your personality to show through your speeches and not to put on an act. How toy had to be genuine and not treat your audience like morons. By doing this our stories would flow easier and the more deatiled we added would show them our skills and reflect our personality.
We thanked Akiel for his motivational words and teachings and were informed by Anne Marie that our next lesson would be held next Monday at the Methodist centre in Northern Quarter.
Location: Wellington Fire Station
Mentor: Anne-Marie Crowher
Back the station for another day of training, the subject we focused on today was story telling, how to tell a story professionally and bring life to it. We started the day the same way as usual with breathing exercises and in a circle discuss what we were up to and what we thought of the training so far. We all agreed that the training was helping us develop not just as individuals but as speakers and confidence building in what we do or who we talk to.
We started the exercise by being put int groups of two and the subject that we have reached the age of 100 and we had to make a speech, a reflective speech about our life and achievements. We each shared our speeches and share feedback on what we thought. We then reflected on each oters speeches and would ask each other the following questions.
- ask about the piece
- Ask a question about the writer
- Ask a neutral question
- what did you notice when the key values or achievements or characteristics most important to the person
We would ask each other these questions and what we were hoping to reflect in the speeches.
My speech focused out the positive and negatives of my life and how they have helped me to be a better man and achieve my goal.
The next exercise we did was in a group of three we would start a random argument that would continue for five minutes and then we had to resolve it. We had to this by using the same questioning and answering techniques we learned yesterday at the Library. My argument, alongside Matt and Judith, focused on a couple trying to decide what film to see, Mad Max or A Royal Night Out? We both gave our argument on why each film interested us and why we should see it. In the end we agreed that we could either see the films with other friends and family or see another film.
During lunch we were asked to draw a spider diagram of all the things that inspired us both as a person and creatively. We all went to the pub across from the fire station and begun drawing and creating our diagrams, in with detailed designs, stories and drawings. After lunch we were put into groups of five and we would each show our spider diagrams. Each diagram was instyled in a different, from one reflecting a river to another being styled as a funfair map. My was styled as a large circle, leading from birth and my experiences which have made me who I am today. Each one breaking into different sections based on hobbies and life experiences, the ups and downs. It felt we were all connecting and opening up with each other while explaining every moment we had drawn in our diagrams. We shared our diagrams with everyone and explained them to our group.
Storytelling Workshop: Part II
Mentor: Akiel Chinelo
Akiel Chinelo is a Manchester based story teller and spoken poetry performer who is known for his poems and stories based around certain subjects like prison life, the Manchester Hacienda era, the pirate radio stations in Levenshulme and much more. Akiel would be teaching us on how to tell and create a story. Akiel brought a bag of items and one by one we would each go over to the bag and pull out an item. I pulled out a small toy boat. In a circle, Akiel asked us to take a true story from the person next to us and to tell that story but to include the item in the story. Jenny told me her story of when her mum bought her a pet dog and she saw him running around the garden. Her item was a coin and I told her the story of when I lost my parents on holiday when I was young. When telling jenny's story I told them that the toy boat was the first item the dog played with outside. Jenny took my story and said that the penny was the item that distracted me and made me get lost.
After listening to everyone's stories, Akiel asked us our names and to tell us two interesting facts about ourselves. I told him my name and that I played bass and I've started writing more since being on the workshop.
Once everyone told their names and facts, Akiel advised us to use these techniques and facts for our presentations. He said it was important for your personality to show through your speeches and not to put on an act. How toy had to be genuine and not treat your audience like morons. By doing this our stories would flow easier and the more deatiled we added would show them our skills and reflect our personality.
We thanked Akiel for his motivational words and teachings and were informed by Anne Marie that our next lesson would be held next Monday at the Methodist centre in Northern Quarter.