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The ability to tell a story to a group of people relies not only upon the magic of the written word, but more importantly, upon the relationship between the written word and the audience experiencing the story. Storytelling is a relationship that invites the audience to enter a space where all that exists is the narration and the ability to be consumed by it: a deliciously selfish space where all else is forgotten and the audience engrossed upon their lust for more.

Storytelling ability is a skill to be: 1) learned, 2) practiced and 3) perfected. Anyone can read a story aloud but few achieve it with the style, flair and enchantment making of a skilled storyteller.

The eager faces and engaged minds of children displaying settled, attentive behaviors, glued eyes, silently begging for more, is the reward of expert children's fiction storytelling ability. The child's developed interest in literature, a gift from a skilled storyteller, is a reward that I aspire to. The mesmerized trance of busy adults, who receive a classic as though heard for the first time, is a gift of recital unequaled by falling asleep in bed with the book jolting upon their chin. Whereas it may otherwise take weeks to complete a read themselves, the relationship they develop with a book from a single act of storytelling will create a desire to read with their own internal storytelling voice and an enthused relationship with the characters.

The external storyteller is the channel between writer and listener. Using intonation, facial expression, behaviors and props, the written word becomes real: alive, rich and cuts through the realms of age, race, creed, and social status. Electric with energy and emotion, the skilled storyteller offers a link between the unread and "I want to read more of that author," interest.

To develop the skill of storytelling, the narrator must:

Firstly) have the ability to place his or her own emotions into the story line provided by someone else. Reading the works of others is a place of beginning. Developing an intimate relationship with characters, settings and situations that you have no previous connection to, allows for skill development of empathizing what it means to be someone else in a different place and time. Read aloud to yourself to discover places of your own constipated relationship. Effective laxatives include emphazing words, controlling breaks, tone of voice and body movement. A batting of the eyes, a tilt of the head, a clawing hand or a hunched back

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