Two Stages. One Lesson. What Jazz Can Teach Us About Storytelling
- Aug 3
- 3 min read
My husband and I go to the Newport Jazz Festival every year. We post up at Fort Adams, sunshine on our faces, ocean breeze on our skin, and just listen to the musicians sharing their art.
What I love most about the festival is how different everything sounds from stage to stage. Some of it is textbook jazz. Some of it barely resembles jazz at all, except for the roots underneath it.
There's truly something for everyone in attendance. What I love, someone else might skip right past. What moves them might do nothing for me. That's the beauty of the festival.
Every year I find new artists I'd never heard of. Some I fall for instantly because their sound and their message stir something within me. Others aren't my thing at all, but I still walk away with something from hearing even a few minutes of their set. And the ones who aren't for me? There are thousands of people in the crowd who are moved by them in ways I'll never fully understand.
Here's something that strikes me every time though: every artist who takes the stage does so with total authenticity. They tell their story with confidence and vulnerability, and that combination is exactly what creates the connection with the crowd.
Storytelling works the same way, whether it's through an instrument, a song, a page or a microphone.
That's why sharing your story with courage and vulnerability matters so much. Will it resonate with everyone? No. But it's not supposed to. Just like those musicians, there will be people your story touches, moves and stays with. You just have to be brave enough to tell it.
You can't inspire anyone, teach anyone or uplift anyone unless you're willing to be honest about who you are first.
If you're ready to start sharing your own story, here are a few techniques that can help:
Know your audience. Make sure the story you're telling is relatable to the people hearing it. Help them see themselves in your message.
Stay relevant. Make sure your story connects back to your message. Otherwise it's just a story for storytelling's sake. It needs a point, something that supports what you're trying to say instead of distracting from it.
Visualize. Paint a picture with your words. Use all five senses to bring your story to life. Put your audience there. Let them live it with you.
Be authentic. The artists who move people most aren't performing, they're being themselves. Audiences can feel the difference between a story you're telling and a story you're performing.
Embrace vulnerability. The moments that connect with people most are rarely the polished ones. They're the honest ones. Don't be afraid to show the parts of your story that feel uncomfortable to share.
Accept it's not for everyone. Not every story lands with every person, and that's okay. Trying to make your story resonate with everyone often waters it down until it resonates with no one.
Your story matters. It deserves to be told. Don't let the fear that it's "not for everyone" keep you from sharing it, because for the people it is for, it will make a real difference.
If this has you thinking about the story you've been holding back, a good place to start is getting clear on the techniques that make a story land. I put together a free guide covering exactly that.
Speak Success,
Shannon
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