The #1 skill is Story Telling

In my opinion, the most valuable skill to have is the ability to tell a good story. It is the best way to caption attention and get people to listen to you. Great storytellers are fun to be around because they can take any situation and retell it to be captivating, engaging, and exciting.

The ability to tell a good story has to have three things:
1. Clear

2. Relatability

3. Anticipation

Painting a “clear picture” is the first thing that good storytellers have in common. It is easy to follow along, there is a description not too much but it registers in the listener’s mind and they understand. If the story is confusing “my sister’s friend from school her cousin” it slows the interpretation down when you can easily say my sister’s friend.

Relatability is when you can see yourself in that situation yourself and assume how you would handle the situation. You need to tie it into something they’re already doing or have so that they can imagine what it would be like.

Anticipation I define as not knowing what's going to happen next and being excited to hear the outcome. This means you have dramatic pauses to build anticipation “I couldn’t believe it and had no idea what to do next <dramatic pause>”

I’ve also found hints that tell you might need to work on your storytelling. If you someone jumps in says “let me tell it let me tell it”. If your significant other says “you stink at telling stories”. If you get a response with “oh that’s wild” “wow that’s crazy” You’re probably not painting a clear picture, you’re probably not relating and there’s probably no anticipation.