Things to do · Arts and crafts
Learn to tell stories aloud
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Oral storytelling means telling a folk tale, myth or true story to a live audience without a script, using voice, gesture and your own words. Weekend workshops teach the craft, and storytelling clubs and open-mic nights give you somewhere to try it out.
Gentle£100 to £500 / $130 to $650MonthsIndoorsWith othersUK and US
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How people learn
Workshops teach the craft. The Crick Crack Club's two-day introductory workshop with Ben Haggarty covers the core principles of contemporary oral storytelling, visualisation and narrative patterns, working with folk tales, fairytales, myths and epics. Emerson College's Craft of the Storyteller runs over four weekends with a different kind of story each time (folktales, wonder tales, mythology and a personal project) and works on voice, movement, improvisation, gesture and building a repertoire.
Clubs and festivals give you an audience. The Society for Storytelling, which has championed oral storytelling since 1993, keeps a directory of storytellers with listings of clubs and events across the UK, and coordinates National Storytelling Week (30 January to 7 February 2027). In the US, the National Storytelling Network offers individual membership, and the International Storytelling Center's National Storytelling Festival fills downtown Jonesborough with five big-top tents; its Thursday workshops need a separate ticket.
For true personal stories, The Moth's open-mic StorySLAMs draw names from a hat. Stories must be true, told without notes and no longer than five minutes, and audience judges score ten tellers over about two hours.
Ways in compared
| Where | Format | Cost (as last listed) |
|---|---|---|
| Crick Crack Club, Bristol | Introductory Storytelling Workshop, two days, adults 18 and over (March 2026 run, sold out) | £145, or £95 for under-35s |
| Emerson College, Forest Row | Craft of the Storyteller, four weekends, up to 16 people (2025-26 run) | £1,150 for all four weekends |
| Society for Storytelling, UK | Membership; directory of storytelling clubs and events | Less than £3 a month |
| National Storytelling Network, US | Individual membership; newsletter, members' directory and discounts on workshops and classes | $75 a year |
| The Moth StorySLAM, US cities | Open-mic night; five-minute true story, no notes | See each event's listing |
How to start
- Find a storytelling club or event near you through the Society for Storytelling directory (UK) or the National Storytelling Network calendar (US), and go to listen first.
- Choose one short folk tale you like, learn its shape rather than its exact words, and tell it to a friend.
- Book a beginners' workshop, or put your name in the hat at an open-mic night such as a Moth StorySLAM.
Where to go
- Society for Storytelling: clubs, events and storytellers UK
- Crick Crack Club: Introductory Storytelling Workshop UK
- The Moth: tell your story at a StorySLAM US
We opened these links on 13 November 2026 and found them to be what we say. Dates, places and prices are on the official page, where they stay up to date.
Plan this
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Plan it with dates
Pick a day, or a month, and we will set out how to get ready, step by step, with a date and a reason for each. Courses and classes have start dates and can fill up, so the plan begins with finding and booking one. Kit comes after the first session, once you know what you need.
Questions people ask
How do I get into oral storytelling?
Go to a storytelling club as a listener, then take a beginners' workshop. The Society for Storytelling lists clubs and events across the UK, and the National Storytelling Network has an events calendar in the US.
What is a Moth StorySLAM?
An open-mic storytelling competition. You put your name in a hat, and if it is drawn you tell a true story on the night's theme, without notes, in five minutes or less.
When is National Storytelling Week?
The 2027 National Storytelling Week runs from 30 January to 7 February, coordinated by the Society for Storytelling.
Where can I take a storytelling course in the UK?
The Crick Crack Club runs introductory weekend workshops, and Emerson College in Forest Row runs a four-weekend Craft of the Storyteller course. As last listed they cost £145 and £1,150.
Where this comes from: Society for Storytelling, home page; Society for Storytelling, National Storytelling Week; Crick Crack Club, Introductory Storytelling Workshop; Emerson College, Craft of the Storyteller 4 of 4; National Storytelling Network, Membership; International Storytelling Center, 2026 National Storytelling Festival 101; International Storytelling Center, Festival FAQs; The Moth, Tell Your Story. Opened 13 November 2026.
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