Telling stories

by Phil Houseal as published in the Kerrville TX Community Journal & Boerne TX Hill Country Weekly
Nov 18, 2009

Everyone thinks they can tell a story. But it takes a special talent and drive to be a “storyteller.”

Vanessa Potter did not know she was a storyteller until she started working on an assignment in seminary school.

“Our professor asked everyone to tell an Old Testament story,” she said. After she finished her tale, the professor stood up and applauded. “He said, ‘You are a storyteller - you ought to be a professional.”

Inspired, Potter started taking workshops, honing her techniques and learning more about the history of the art form.

As long as man has been able to vocalize, he has told stories. It was the first way to convey events, preserve culture, as well as to educate and entertain. These days, storytelling is more popular for its entertainment value.

“My style is for performances as well as education,” said Potter, whose dream is to have her own theater where she can do concerts and teach year round. “I want people to get excited about storytelling again.”

The ordained minister and Christian educator believes in the benefits of storytelling that go beyond just being entertained.

“Storytelling raises consciousness,” she explained. “When people hear stories, it is a right brain action. It can impact lives in the way that listeners become changed; they then go out and change other lives. It is transformational.”

Potter teaches Discover the Artist in You Through Storytelling for Club Ed. A lot of that class covers the nuts and bolts of better ways to prepare for and perform your stories.

“For so long we learned through stories,” she said. “But stories reach deeper into the soul of the world. We can tell many styles - traditional, personal, Native American or other ethnicity. Sometimes we mix in music. But always, basically, it is one person performing stories.”

Potter will present a storytelling “concert” at the Fredericksburg Theater Company in Fredericksburg on November 28. “Storytelling in Texas” will feature three internationally recognized guest storytellers, along with Potter.

Her dream is to build a theater and offer concerts five days a week year round.

“Storytelling creates communities, builds relationships, heals, restores, and redeems,” she said. “I want to do that.”

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Vanessa Potter teaches Discover the Artist in You Through Storytelling for Club Ed. Potter also will present a storytelling “concert” at the Fredericksburg Theater Company in Fredericksburg on November 28. For tickets and details visit www.fredericksburgtheater.org.

Club Ed is the Community Education program of the Kerrville Independent School District. Each year, we offer more than 400 classes throughout the Texas Hill Country, along with online courses, business and individual training, and after-school and summer camps. Comment online at clubedcomments.blogspot.com, or follow us on Twitter @clubedtx. For information or to sign up, click www.clubed.net, or call 830-895-4386.