Storytelling

I wrote a post on my work blog about storytelling. I think that 'storytelling' is my skill/talent/passion. Whether it's in song, the written (or spoken) word, for entertainment or for business.

When I write articles (and quite a few have been published I am not shy in saying), I still access that 'storyteller' part of me to deliver my business message in an accessible way.

And the posts on here - they are 'mini-stories' too. Some recount my exploits, some are just reflections. But if you wonder why I post my writing on a blog that probably very few people read, the answer is simple: I am a storyteller. I have to keep writing and telling stories (even when no one is listening).

When my kids were little I made up all sorts of adventures and characters to tell them at night; for example The Emerald Isle was populated by extremely clever and magical horses (for my daughter). I used the stories to help calm and relax the children, to get them to use their imaginations - asking questions as well as 'telling'. "Well, what colour do you think Starlight's mane was?" and the child's answer was always right, of course.

Writing a book or an article a great way of delivering your message, but by storytelling you can engage on a totally different level. I'd love to try proper storytelling one day - there are lots of professional storytellers out there. A really good storyteller can entrance an adult audience as well as a young one.

When I sing one of my story songs, I usually have a chorus that people can join in. I want to bring people in to my world, engage them directly in the story - perhaps why I personally prefer songs just to instrumentals. The power of the word, without the picture, is that the listener's imagination provides so much more of the 'fill'.

When you see a film, watch TV or visit a live performance, everything is provided for you. Sound, action, character, visual and also (think of cinema or theatre) other senses are engaged too - smell, touch, temperature... we are given a full range of sensory experiences that leaves the imagination very little to play with.

Perhaps that's why I love reading books and listening to radio plays. The characters are built in my imagination, as I like to see them. Everything is set up in my head - from the huge country house for the murder play, to the hot desert sands in the action adventure. I have, of course, plenty of references to build these images from.

I love storytelling and I love reading - fiction, biographies, historical, factual, business, leisure... the power and versatility of language is what fuels me.

Check out the storytelling article on my work blog - I'm always grateful for comments: http://www.thecompletetrainer.blogspot.com/

Summer

Yesterday when we left work at just gone 5pm, the temperature was about 15 degrees celcius. It was warm, but muggy. By the time we had travelled a few miles in the car, the temperature had plummeted to 7 degrees, we had driven through torrential rain, thunder and lightning and were then bombarded by hail!

It has rained almost permanently for a whole week. That night the sky went a dark, purply grey and we had more thunder, rain and lightning. But this morning the sun is shining and bright and warm and everything is green and growing and almost stretching in the sun - escape at last from the relentless rain.

I walked down to the town market, bought some goodies for the kids (and some chocolate for me.. shh, no one else has found it yet!) and then walked home. I walked back through an alley and at one point, where there is a small car park at the top of a lane, there were blackberry bushes and they were burdened with ripe fruit.

Sticking very much to 'above doggy pee height' I tasted some of the ripe, juicy berries. They were warmed by the morning's sun and tasted of England. There is nothing so delicious as wild fruit, ripe and warm, juicy and 'scrumped'.

I checked my blackberries at home - at the bottom of the garden - they are ripe too. Blackberry and apple pie tomorrow!

Mister Mister

Last Tuesday we attended the funeral of an old family friend - Don Anderson. We'd know Don for about 29 years - he was the partner of our best friend's mother, Veronica. I've know Guido, Veronica's son, since I was 14 (so that's a LONG time!). We spent many Christmas holidays with his family - often going to their house on Boxing day and nearly always seeing them over the holiday period at some time.

Last Christmas Don and Floss (Veronica is known to some as 'Floss') spent Christmas day with us along with Guido, his wife and children. I'm glad now we had that time together, as Don departed rather suddenly. He was 73, but had been hale and hearty up until a short while ago when he was diagnosed with a cancer that took him rapidly.

His funeral was in New Southgate and the small chapel was very full - it was standing room only at the back. There were family (the children and family of his first wife), his friends from the RAF, fellow steam train enthusiasts and many others who knew him.

The service was very touching. And, as always at these events, we learned more about Don now that he was dead from the eulogies and conversation than we had known of him when he was alive.

But why have I called this post 'Mister Mister'? Because Don and Veronica spent a lot of time in Spain, and it always amused the Spanish to hear him called Don (which means Mr in Spanish), so he was dubbed Don Don - meaning Mister Mister.

He was not a man I knew well, but he is a man I have fond memories of. I am gald I knew him.

It's a strange world

Bryan's band Strangeworld played at Ely Folk Festival last weekend and, by all accounts, they stormed it! Here's a snippet for you to enjoy.


There's lots more on their site at Strangeworldmusic.com, and you can buy their CDs from their site too (or from me).

A trip to Bath

Friday I had a business meeting in Bath - a location chosen not only because it was nearer to the person I was meeting (a trainer named David) but also because it gave me the opportunity to visit friends and to return to one of my favourite cities.

On the journey down I stopped to answer a call of nature. The ladies loos at the service station were reasonably tidy. On the door of the cubicle I was in was scrawled 'We must be the change we wish to see - Ghandi'. Below it, neatly written, was 'Love the sentiment, shame you can't spell Gandhi'. And below that.. was 'F*** off, just be yourself'. I didn't realise I'd visited the philosophy booth!

I arrived in good time and followed the sat nav instructions to the car park where David and I had agreed to meet. I arrived first, but he was not long behind me. When we met up he was suited and booted from a coaching session he'd attended, but wanted to change into jeans.

One he had changed (without the aid of a Telephone Box) we walked into town and found a hotel where we sat and discussed business (we have a great product we are launching in partnership with our two businesses) and then just nattered away before driving to see my friend Amie. I met Amie on line and she kindly offered to put me up when I came to Bath.

We drove around the city, out on the Radstock Road, up to Odd Down and down a steep road back towards the City. We tried three houses before we eventually found Amie and her husband Paul. After brief introductions, we went in Amie's car to the Wheatsheaf pub where we had booked a table for supper. I had known this pub in years back and outside it looked the same - perched on a Mendip hillside, dovecotes integral to the white painted walls, thatch and a beautiful garden. It was in the next village to Wellow, where I had been often as a child and where my step-granny, Peeps, had lived.

We walked in and immediately saw that the pub had experienced a radical make over. There were flush lights, glass panels, modern furniture and smooth pale wood bar - it was now a nouvelle cuisine restaurant. So - probably not a ploughman's for supper then! We had a superb meal - even though it was 'nouvelle' we had plenty to eat. Started with little hand-made rolls, then a neat little coffee cup of lobster bisque (not ordered, just part of the meal), and finally our main courses which looked superb, tasted wonderful and were actually filling! We didn't even have a dessert.

Conversation over dinner was interesting - I was with three engineers! Different kind of engineers, but engineers none the less. David had been an engineer in the army, Amie works for a national standards body, and Paul works for a company who makes devices regulated by the board Amie works for. It was a bit like 'copper and thief' at the table sometimes - Paul and Amie didn't always agree about the process for approving products.

After dinner we went back to Amie's house. David left (concerned about the fact he was late feeding his parrot) and then Amie, Paul and I watched the last thrilling episode of Torchwood. Their cats kept us company, the two sister cats snuggled up on Paul's lap. We nattered for about an hour and then, pretty tired, I headed for bed.

In the morning I woke at 6am - the sounds of railway, the city, unfamiliar, but not disturbing. I went back to sleep and woke again at 8. At about 10, I left my kind hosts and headed for a walk round the city. I walked down and went through the newly built up Southgate Centre. They are keeping the style of building and it works well - but the bus station is something else. I visited the Baths (the free access section) and the Abbey. When I entered the Abbey the vicar was giving a sermon. He was in his pulpit addressing an audience of wandering Italian children and a few people sitting politely in the seats at the front. He finished shortly after I entered and as I wandered round this superb building, I came up to him and offered a simple 'good morning' and he smiled. It must be strange addressing a non-congregation.

I enjoyed my walk around and found a snack in the old Guildhall market. I chatted with a girl on one shop where I bought some postcards. She described the new bus station as 'the baked bean tin'. At the back of the market was a stone table which says:

Market Pillar. This 18th century pillar or 'nail' stood on the site of the markets since 1768 for the transaction of business and for prompt payment in bargaining. It is said this gave origin to the phrase 'pay on the nail'.

I wonder how many visitors to Bath ever see this? I wandered on through the city - past the house where my Aunt used to live, through the park (some amazing trees - the outstretched branch on this maple was nearly 70 foot long!) I walked around some of the back streets, not just the main tourist routes. I would love to get to know this city better. It's odd, but I like being a lone tourist.

I returned to Amie and Paul's house. We had some lunch and then I headed off to my next meeting - a visit with an author (and trainer) in a small village in Oxfordshire. On the motorway I noticed signs to Watlington - where Peeps had lived when she was with my grandpa and where my mother had spent some of her youth.

The red kite, a rare and protected bird of prey, was first reintroduced in the UK near Watlington. I have seen them where I live now, but only very occasionally. On my journey to visit Alison, the author, I saw 11 red kites - at one point five of them playing in the air above the motorway itself. Amazing birds! Very distinctive with their sharply forked tail - easy to spot in the air without taking your eyes off the road.

I arrived at the village, which is on the river Thame. Alison's house was very picturesque and her labrador, Jasper, very welcoming. She greeted me in tennis whites, having been playing in the garden before I arrived (I never found out with whom, or whether she was playing on her own). We worked for a couple of hours, getting the last edits sorted on a book we are publishing, and then I headed for home.

As I drove I thought about my quick trip away. I love the city of Bath, I miss not going there to see family (none left there now) and I miss the deep greens of the Mendips. Next time I go I will visit Wellow and some of the villages I used to know. Yes, everything changes, and it will be different when I go, but I can still visit places just to enjoy them for how they are.

There's some more photos on my flickr site

The Kathryn’s Beach Trilogy

Book review of the trilogy by Nadine Laman

I’m an avid reader and I read all genres, from sci-fi to biography, novels to history. I love to read and the key to me is a great story and ‘engagement’. Even if you don’t like the characters, you have to engage with them.

That’s what I loved about Nadine’s trilogy – I read Kathryn’s Beach and I felt that the active, first person style was very engaging. You are right there, in the moment, seeing the world through her eyes. The upsets, the challenges and the drama all feel very real when you are reading from the first person point of view, even though it is not that common a form. The story in Kathryn’s Beach is also one that engages – you understand the distress she feels and why she had to ‘run’, the curiosity as strange events unfold, and grief and joy as different action takes place in Kathryn’s life.

Nadine has a blog where she talks about her writing at www.nadinelaman.blogspot.com and you can buy her books off her website www.nadinelaman.com.

Once I’d read Kathryn’s Beach, I just had to read the others. High Tide, the second book, still used the ‘drag you along’ style and the shocking events that happened, and how Kathryn handled them, still felt personal. Though maybe you don’t agree, as a reader, with everything she says or does, you are taken along by the story and follow her life changing encounters with a family that you kind of wish you had, and are very glad you don’t have.

The final book, which we had to wait a bit for (keeping us in suspense! Everyone I know who read the other two books was dying to find out what happened in Storm Surge) kept the character strong – you knew it was Kathryn (like recognising an old friend) and wanted to find out how she coped with a complete life style change and some quite tragic, and heart-warming events.

From start to finish, I wanted to know what happens, I wanted to follow Kathryn on her journey and I enjoyed meeting the people she interacted with along the way. The reader gets comfy with people like Mr Goldstein, the elderly and kindly neighbour, Karen, the ex-boss who is a bit of a fixer, the demure Mother Elizabeth (I never met any nuns, but I believe this one) and the close companion Maggie, who is lost so early on.

All I can say is buy Kathryn’s Beach – and you will want to read the whole trilogy.

Nadine has an excellent blog where she talks about her writing: www.nadinelaman.blogspot.com and you can buy her books off her website at www.nadinelamanbooks.com

Another work article

One of my favourite quotes is from Winston Churchill:

“I am always ready to learn although I do not always like being taught.”

We learn best by doing, and Churchill certainly ‘did’ a lot – from his career as an officer in the British Army, through his exploits as a historian, writer, and artist to being the only British Prime Minister ever to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature.

There was no on line learning in Churchill’s day, but I am sure he would have embraced it. You may think on line learning was not available during Churchill’s life time, but in fact on line learning pre-dates the internet. The first recorded system was the Programmed Logic for Automatic Teaching Operations, developed at the University of Illinois in 1960 (and remained in operation until the 1990’s). In 1994 the Open University in the UK developed a Virtual Summer School.

As computers became an everyday item in households throughout the Western World, so on line learning also grew. During the early 1980s (in the days of 8” floppy disks) I worked for a large international computer company. There was excitement as the concept of desk-top computers equally as powerful as machines which, at the time, occupied whole rooms, were a reality that we saw grow nearer every day.

On line learning is now part of everyday life. Children today are given homework assignments and assistance via the internet, you can gain business qualifications and learn new skills without leaving the comfort of you own home. You can study with fellow students at a University half way round the world, if you so choose.

However, if you want to train to be a chef, you can complete a training programme, check recipes, find out about new foods, techniques, purchase the best tools – all on line. On line learning is an excellent enhancement to classroom and practical learning, in this example. The practical side can be done without external tuition, but the results and the credibility of the training may be perceived as inferior.

There are tremendous advantages to on line learning – but what are the barriers to learning? Access is important: you need a computer, probably internet access, and appropriate programmes for audio and video content. Learning styles are also highly individual and many people don’t like ‘reading’ what to do. There are also issues for those with reading disabilities (though audio and visual options are available for many systems). Some people just don’t like learning with a computer instead of a person. For example, I may find using the internet an excellent way to research a subject, but if I want to learn to identify birds, no matter how great the video, audio and catalogue resources on the internet – I actually want to be outside, listening, watching, and learning with a book or (even better), with an expert.

With management development, in a corporate environment, access is usually facilitated through the workplace. Individuals can work not only in the place of their choosing, but also at a time that is convenient for themselves and the business. Teams can work together in remote locations, company competency frameworks can be implemented globally and individuals can be given access to the tools they need to develop their skills.

Much has been, and continues to be, written about on line learning. What advantages does it hold over face to face, how flexible is it, do people really learn from electronic resources or is it just a cheap alternative to ‘proper’ training? I don’t need to go into a detailed breakdown of the pros and cons, because they are highly individual – the important thing is that this resource exists, in many forms from simple on line documents through interactive e-learning to simulations and live web and pod-casts.

On line learning is, above all else, a wonderful opportunity. For self development, business development, individual skill building or implementation of organisation wide knowledge sharing – on line learning is an extraordinary resource that, had he been alive today, Churchill would no doubt have welcomed with open arms and mind.

The Complete Trainer has launched their own on line academy - find out more on the main site.

Footnote: I published this article on Hub pages, ezines, on my work blog and on here - I wonder if that will affect the links status of the product? I do find using these different methods interesting to try and promote the business and do everything I can to try and increase search engine rankings.