weekly writing coach: storytellers

Check out this University of Missouri story, which captures storytelling tips from Ira Glass, host of public radio's This American Life. Glass, who recently lectured on the campus, takes one iconic TAL story and breaks it down into the components that make it a good story, including:

- starting with the story in motion, and giving it a sense of motion, of leading somewhere, to hook the listener
-engaging listeners so they can visualize the story in their heads
-examining what the story means and how it makes you feel to create empathy with the audience
-giving the listener a sense that "other people are like us" to create a connection

Try that the next time you're crafting an anecdote for an article, podcast or speech. Want more examples? Go to the This American Life website.