Storytelling for leadership, change & creativity
“…only the story…can continue beyond the war and the warrior. It is the story that outlives the sound of war-drums and the exploits of brave fighters. It is the story…that saves our progeny from blundering like blind beggars into the spikes of the cactus fence. The story is our escort; without it, we are blind. Does the blind man own his escort? No, neither do we own the story; rather it is the story that owns us and directs us.” Chinua Achebe, in Anthills of the Savannah (1987)
Storytelling is probably the world’s biggest industry. Radio, TV, newspapers, magazines, websites, books, pamphlets, advertising hoardings, blogs, annual reports, financial statements and invoices are some aspects of the incessant post modern chatter.
In this story circle, we focus on the nature of story – what story actually ‘is’. Does story describe or can it create as well? Is story merely an attempt to organise memory? What is the link between language and time? What is your story? Who are you? To what extent is a sense of identity created by language and the metaphorical representation of self? Are you, in fact, a creation of your story or can the story, and thus the ‘you’, be changed? Are you free to change? Then how do you? And what does thinking have to do with language and story? What makes a story powerful? What stories are you paying attention to? Why do we feel so enriched at the end of a story well told?
Since you learned language, whatever you have come to know about the world was communicated to you by story. How do certain stories, words and jokes make you ‘feel’? Are there certain events in your life that you think might have empowered or disempowered you? What is the link between your emotions, your nervous system, the language you use and the stories you tell? 
Each workshop is different and the teachings we’ll engage touch on areas such as consciousness research, neuroscience, narrative medicine, philosophy, psychology, shamanism, theology & politics (for examples of Grand Narrative). I’ll attempt to help us engage models that are profoundly useful to you well after the workshop.
Come, listen, share and discover. This is a facilitated process and therefore the group dynamic creates the space which we navigate. It would be useful to come to the workshop with an idea of what you want out of the process.
Storytelling.co.za
Most of us grew up hearing ‘Stop dreaming!’ and ‘Don’t tell stories!’ And then we wonder why we feel at the mercy of circumstances and other, more ‘powerful’ people – like bit-actors in someone else’s movie.
In fact, the ability to dream; to visualise what we’d like to see and to then use words to tell the story of our dream, is what makes human beings powerful. It is also what makes us who we are. Our storytelling is how we create both our deepest pain and our greatest achievements.
In this workshop we’ll focus on a very special story – your story. The story of your past and the story of your future. There is a powerful connection between thinking, narrative, identity, change and experience. Come and connect with yourself. Learn to dream the dream, find the words and tell the story. Explore the characteristics of powerful narrative and how to rewrite, re-frame and craft your story to get what you want and create the ‘happily ever after’……You’ve been spending your life in your own story so wouldn’t you like to take just a few hours to make sure that it works for you?
(c)opyright 2004-2009 www.storytelling.co.za – Eugenie Banhegyi
“Those who do not have power over the story that dominates their lives, power to retell it, to rethink it, deconstruct it, joke about it and change it as times changes, truly are powerless because they cannot think new thoughts” Salman Rushdie
