What makes a good storyteller? Is it the confidence they put into telling the story? Is it the way they tell it? Is it the feeling you get when the story has ended and you got something out of it?
ETSU offers a variety of storytelling programs through the department of curriculum and instruction. The ETSU storytelling program concentrates on performance skills to help students in careers that they may pursue later.
Joseph Sobol, storytelling coordinator, has taught many storytelling and reading classes at the university and believes it’s a very beneficial program. “Storytelling is a way to keep the arts involved in education,” Sobol said.
“Many of the education majors are required to take either storytelling or public speaking and most prefer storytelling,” Sobol said.
There is always a story behind everything that goes on in life and being able to communicate and be a good storyteller has helped many people with their self-confidence.
Senior Alissa Ongie finds it easier to communicate with others after taking the storytelling class.
“I learned to be more comfortable talking in front of a group of people and really enjoyed the class,” Ongie said.
Other people have found that storytelling not only helps their self-confidence, but also will help within their careers.
Carla Anderson, a junior in the education department, said that the course is very worthwhile.
“It helped me realize there are many different stories incorporated in lessons that I’ll use to teach in class, such as history and multicultural,” she said. “Standing up and telling stories in front of the class also helped my self-confidence.”
With storytelling becoming more important in this region, many students can further their education by taking storytelling classes that will help them with any field they may go into or help them become better speakers and have better self confidence when it comes to speaking to large audiences.

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