The Story Bean invites all tellers to share their 6-8 minute story at one of our community storytelling events held the first Thursday of the month at Buds & Beans in downtown Albuquerque.
Some things for Tellers to know:
Do:
- Sign up arrive by 6:30 pm to sign up. Sign ups are first come, first served and there are limited slots available.
- Stay (loosely) on Theme: Stories should be connected (however loosely) to the theme of the evening, however you interpret it.
- Keep time in mind: Stories are 6-8 minutes long to allow the maximum number of people to participate. Keep an eye on the time keeper in the back of the event who will give you a warning at 6 minutes and a “wrap it up” signal when you have 30 seconds remaining.
- Spoken, not read: Part of the magic of The Story Bean are the imperfections of a spoken story. We have found the connection the teller creates with the audience is stronger without a page between them. We encourage Tellers to tell a story rather than read a story, but if you need to bring notes or write it down first, you’re still welcome to attend and participate.
- Be yourself: Each story is unique because each teller is unique. Every story you tell should be a personal story to you about something you’ve experienced in your life. We celebrate our differences and want to hear about you- not someone who isn’t here.
- Be the main character: If you’re telling a story about your life from your perspective you should be the main character of the story. You aren’t the narrator or a journalist, you are the protagonist!
- Have fun! The Story Bean is a chance to do your thing the way you do it best. Have fun on stage and we’ll have fun with you in the audience!
Don’t:
- Punch down: As the Teller you hold the mic and a position of power on the stage. Use that power responsibly and practice civility and respect for all people. Tellers who use the stage to promote racism, homophobia, misogyny, ableism or any form of hate speech will be asked to exit the stage and will not be permitted to share stories at future events.
- Stand up: The Story Bean is for story telling, not stand up routines. We love a good stand up comic as much as the next person, but a funny story is not the same as a stand up routine.
- Rant: Upset about an event? Great! Tell us a story about it with a beginning, middle and end. The key is having a resolution.
- Proselytize: The stage is a place for stories about what you have learned and found to have helped in your life. Tell us your journey into or out of religion, veganism or crossfit- but do it in a way that isn’t proselytizing to others or encouraging them to do the same.
- Political grandstanding: Politics touch every part of our lives (or maybe every part of our lives have been politicized) but the stage isn’t a place to promote any one politician or political position/party.
- Promote: We hope you have exciting things happening in your life! However, The Story Bean stage isn’t a place to promote your event or project. (Have a related project that may be of interest to our participants? Talk to Amber about it to see how we can help you promote your project to our audience in a more appropriate way.)
- Use fake accents: Tell your story in your own words using your own voice. Imitating people using accents from other cultures or people rarely works in a way that doesn’t come across as a punch down to other cultures or uses them as a punch line. (Both of these violate our no punching down policy.)