1. Find a story you would like to tell. Read the story aloud
(preferably) every day or twice a day for a week (Ziskind, p. 8). Tape
the story (if possible) and listen to your own reading of a story. Does
the story stand the test of time? Are you comfortable with a verbal
rendition of the story? How does it sound to your ear? If the story
stands up to your interest, it may be worthy of adding to your
repertoire.
2. By reading and re-reading the text major portions of the
work will quickly become available to memory. Analyze the story. Outline
the major sequences of plots. Avoid subplots since subplots may make the
story too difficult to follow. Subplots may have to be cut from the
sequence. Look for mnemonic devices in the story.
3. Analyze the characters. Who are the main characters?
When do they appear in the sequence? What kind of person is a particular
character, and how would they act? What character does what in the
story?
4. Analyze the style of the story. What word pictures or
words are essential to to the flavor of the story? Must the story be
memorized completely word for word, or can paraphrases be used in some
areas? Generally, at least the first two sentences and the final sentence
are committed to memory. Special refrains, names of people or places,
etc. are memorized. Unless the story calls for dialect or calls for
incorrect word usage, USE GOOD ENGLISH.
5. A xerox copy of the story can be made, and parts to be
deleted can be indicated using a marker. Words, names, special refrains
important to the story can be indicated using a different color marker.
[Suggest you keep a copy of the story in your files for long term memory
refreshment,]
6. Practice telling your story. Tell the story from start to
finish, as completely as you can. If you are stumped, don't start over
again from the beginning of the story. Keep the text at hand and refer to
it in order to complete the story to the end. If you repeat the part you
know over and over again, you will overlearn the beginning of the story
and be shaky on the middle and ending. If you are using a book as your
story source, always try to keep a copy of the book at hand (with the
place marked with a bookmark) so that if you forget, you can quickly scan
the rest of the story. This is recommended even during a performance
(Baker, p. 68).
7. Learn your story as faithfully as you can to retain the
original source. Paraphrasing is permissible as long as the flavor and
meaning of the original is not lost.
8. Practice your story until you know it well. Record your
performance again on tape and listen to it, if possible. Critique your
performance. Work on timing, inflection, and so on until it is perfect.
You should have a complete word picture in your head.
9. Give the story in performance. Afterwards, critique the
performance. What worked? What didn't? Retain the effective parts and
consider revising those parts that didn't work in your next
performance.
