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How storytelling relates to communication

Todd Lowrey

Sep 8, 2026

In my twenty plus years of teaching English, I have spent a lot of time trying to nudge students to answer questions more deeply. Short answers are safe. It is logical people feel comfortable communicating in that way. But the truth of the matter is that it is lacking those valuable sparks that make conversation catch fire. The more information you give, the better the chance the other person will have an idea of what to say. Or maybe it brings a question to mind to keep communication moving. That is why I alwas suggest to continue after the original answer. Give some more information, or explain the reason or even an example to illustrate your point. Naturally,  you can also simply ask a question. 
Telling a story requires some of the same elements. The background of the story serves the purpose of giving more information, engages the listener. The facts and details of the story help bring everything to life for the listener, like the contents of your initial answer. Most storytellers like to add some more pieces of information, color if you will, to help connect deeper with the listener. As you can guess, this is like giving a reason or an example. 
So let's focus on storytelling and learn how to speak more deeply but in an enjoyable way!

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