The Actor Communicates: Practice Storytelling

How to becoming a great storyteller

Hi Actor,

Ever just watched someone tell a story, like a really good one? They seemingly, effortlessly so, hold the attention of 7 people in the palm of their hand. It's marvellous right? These people are of a special kind. These are people who are well versed in the skill of storytelling.

So first things first, I want to just quickly emphasise here, it is a skill. Therefore we know we can develop it. In this blog post I will discuss 2 ways in which you can really improve your storytelling through practice.

First thing to do: Record & Review/ DIY Workshop

The first thing I would do is begin a daily '5 x 3 Minute Practice' of talking to camera. I originally came across this idea watching some of Vinh Giang's (International Keynote Speaker) videos on socials. If you haven't already, check out his content. There is a lot out there and so much to learn from. This concept however isn't original. Athletes have been using it for their own practice for years. Comedians watch their stuff back. Actors do these days too - but because we want to work on storytelling specifically lets follow Vihn's idea.

Start by setting up a System

How Long?

I recommend setting a period of time at which you are happy to practice this exercise.

2 weeks? 6 weeks? 8 Weeks? I personally did this for 6 weeks and the things I discovered during this time have stuck with me.

When?

Once you've selected the duration of this "Story Telling DIY Workshop" select a time of day that best works for you. I found the morning, just before heading to work, was the best time for me.

How frequently?

You will also want to select the amount of days per week you can manage. I practiced 6 days a week. The more frequent the practice the faster you'll learn.

Part 1

Set a timer for 5 minutes and hit that record button. Stand in front of camera and start talking. No script needed. Monologue about your upcoming day, what you have planned, worries about the day, things you're excited about, talk about the day before or the week you've had. You really can't go wrong with the "what" you talk about. Once the timer goes off, hit the "stop recording" button and you're done for today. Tomorrow we will come back and review our work.

Note: Using a tripod/ set up that can capture from the top of your head to the bottom of your hips is ideal.

Part 2

The next day we come back to review our previous day's work and then film the next "chat to cam".

Review: The Visual Review

First watch your work back with no audio. Lean into your curiosity here and steer clear from the "judgmental" mind. Now ask yourself some questions. Don't spend too long answering every one of these though - I'm just giving options here.

• What did I notice about myself?

• Did I seem interested?

• Did I run out of steam 40 seconds in?

• Do I look confident?

• Am I presenting/ dressed well?

• Was there a lot of nervous/ unnecessary movement?

• Or was my movement quite intentional?

• Did I use my hands for gesture?

• Was my use of hand gestures helping or hindering the story?

• Did I talk all the way through?

• Notice where your eyes went, did they stay locked in with the camera (a normal amount) or were they darting around in avoidance?

• Was I apologising physically in the way I was standing?

Review: The Vocal Review (Vinh calls it 'The Vocal Image')

Now we move to the vocal review. Turn the screen away from you and turn the volume up. So you can only hear the video. Ask yourself a series of questions, again leaning into the curious mind.

• Did I use a lot of filler words?

• Conversely, did I use pause effectively?

• What was my rate of speech? What was the pacing like?

• Did I find something to talk about from start to finish?

• Did I have a full story to tell or was it a little directionless?

• Was I apologising vocally?

• How was my volume?

• Did my voice have pitch or melody?

• Was I speaking with my full voice?

• How was my tonality? - this is related directly to the emotions expressed throughout your story

• Do I sound as energetic as I thought I would have sounded?

• Am I engaged with what I'm talking about?

• Did I talk from the start of timer to the end?

• Was I articulate?

Note: There is an optional third step in reviewing your work that I highly recommend doing. Finding a transcribing service out there that will quickly transcribe your words from video to page. It should be pretty cheap. What this does is it allows you to go through and highlight all the filler words and you can compare each day or weekly (if daily is too expensive).

Note: filler words are unintentional words that don't really have any meaning & don't serve what we say. They are a coping mechanism of sorts and usually diminish our "power". Some examples of filler words could be: Like, Um, Anyway, Errrm, uuuuh, aaaaaand, or something, i dunno...

After you've reviewed your material from yesterday, pick 3 or 4 things to lock in on and work on improving in your next session and then jump straight in and do your next 5 minute practice.

The full thing (Step 1: Reviewing Previous Session & Step 2: Recording New Session) Should take no more than 20 minutes.

After a few sessions, come up with your own questions to ask - design your criteria to however you like - but try keep it simple and intuitive.

Or just use the below as a guide!

• Criteria to mark/ observe yourself on:

  • Visual Image

    • Stillness

    • Intentional movement

    • Gesture

    • How do I look emotionally? Happy, Excited, Angry, Nervous?

      • Was that in line with how I actually felt? Like: "Did i look angry when actually I was excited about the thing I was talking about?"

    • How are you dressed? How do you present yourself?

    • Posture check?

    • Do I "apologise physically" in the way I stand?

  
  

  • Vocal Image

    • Rate

    • Volume

    • Pitch

    • Tonality

    • Pause

    • Clear/ Articulate

    • Filler words?

    • Upload your video to a transcribing service online - I used 'Rev'.

      • Tick the box that includes the filler words - because it's default setting probably wont include it.

      • Print it out and highlight all the filler words, count them and compare each practice session. Till you're confident you don't use them.

After a week of practice you will start picking up what you can bring to the session each day. It becomes quite an intuitive process that you can take anywhere you want, you really can't go wrong.

Grow and develop your practice, keep it somewhat challenging to ensure improvement and you'll be speaking to heaps of people, telling wonderful stories confidently in no time at all.

The Second Thing To Do

The other really important thing thats required to be a great storyteller is go out and really live. Live your life to its absolute fullest. Absorb arts, meet people, love fully, travel if you can, be with friends and family, stay healthy and do all the things that makes your soul sing. Oh and keep a record of it all. Not a video for instagram, just a note pad and pen will suffice. You'll have many tales to tell because of it.

Summery/ Takeaways:

• Practice with a Record (5 min) and Review (+10 min)

  • Visual Review

  • Audio Review

  • Develop a criteria

• Live a full exciting life and keep a record of your stories

As we've discussed previously the Record & Review is something that can be applied directly to our acting practice too. (SEE HERE) Let me know in the comments how you go or reach out directly! I'd love to hear from you.

Talk soon,

Lachy

Lachlan is an Australian Actor who has been working within the industry nearing a decade. He’s worked in Film & Theatre.

© Lachlan Stuart 2025