Educational articles

Milda Varnauskaitė

Storytelling can be both performative and applied. The latter is used not only in marketing. My colleague in Hungary tells stories to children in orphanages, helping them express their emotions better. Colleagues from the Netherlands worked in Israel, trying to bring Palestinians and Israelis closer through storytelling. Storytelling can be used for very specific goals, but as a professional storyteller, I want to show its breadth and depth.

What does it mean to tell a story? How does it affect you? How does it affect others? How can it influence your community, society?

I have discovered for myself that storytelling is not just retelling. You don't merely recount what you experienced, but you create that experience here and now for the audience listening to you. For me, storytelling is a physical experience. It’s as if I enter another world and experience everything with my body: I hear, smell, taste... I allow myself to physically feel what I imagine my characters are experiencing. Then, my audience feels the same.

The ability to tell a story means having the power to affect another person. The question is, how do you use that power? You can use it for propaganda or to awaken empathy. I don’t deny that storytelling has a manipulative side, so it is very important to recognize it and consider the ethical aspects.

Storytelling is a soft but very powerful tool. And I believe it can change people’s lives. Lonely, neglected people - all those who lack love - can feel it through storytelling. Because stories have that love in them. Our bodies are “tuned” to feel a connection with another person through stories. And if people gather in one room and share their stories, they will see each other differently.

Milda Varnauskaitė, Professional Storyteller
Text prepared based on excerpts from the podcast “Estetikos stalas” (Educational Club “Estetikos someljė”).