A story of stories, a metastory of tips and examples of excellent storytelling for a world in a story itself. Fun, educational, well done.

How to Tell a Story: The Essential Guide to Storytelling from The Moth (Crown, 2022) guides readers through the process each Moth storyteller experiences from budding storyteller to 10-minute live story performer with no notes. (Hard to know if the “live” or “no notes” portion is more anxiety-provoking for many Moth fans!)

With an introduction by Chenjerai Kumanyika, a preface by Padma Lakshmi, and an afterword by Sarah Haberman, How to Tell a Story’s Moth authors (Mothors?) Meg Bowles, Catherine Burns, Jenifer Hixson, Sarah Austin Jenness, and Kate Tellers provide a collective narrative with diverse voices, like a Moth episode, though the latter five blend into a cohesive “Moth” voice.

How to Tell a Story especially shines when speaking to an audience who may need encouragement with their spoken storytelling craft. The Moth also emphasizes that Everyone has a Story (Part I) as well as The Power of Story (Part IV), which both speak to the universality and power of the spoken word.

Thank you to The Moth, Crown, and NetGalley for the eARC.

A well written guide to telling stories in the style of a Moth segment, though, it's also just good storytelling advice.

I have a lot of mixed feelings about How to Tell a Story. I've read it three times because it was hard, at least for me, to see the advice between the "advice." Despite writing and telling stories for nearly my whole life, I had never heard of The Moth. I don't live in NYC or in a literary hub where poets and writers hang out. Perhaps that was part of my problem with this book. There was such an undertone of superiority for much of the book because The Moth (a group of writers) was so interwoven with the advice that it drowned everything out. Rather than presenting the advice in a straight-forward, easily digestible format, readers are presented with concept, then pages upon pages of "what we did in the 90s," here's what "insert famous Moth member did or thinks," a little bit more on the concept, then back to the group and its famous members. Once you trudge through the "advice" to find the real advice, you are left with very good, useful advice on how to create a story.

Thank you NetGalley and Crown Publishing for the opportunity to read an advance reading copy.

I have a nasty little secret (for a book review blogger). I don’t like to read book blurbs. It spoils the surprise for me. Because of this possible flaw, How to Tell a Story was not what I expected. It is specifically discussing how to prepare to tell a true story from your life experiences to a Moth event audience.

Though there is absolutely no chance that I will be doing a Moth event, there are still valuable lessons in this book. Everyone can use a more productive way to look back at their life to see what lessons they’ve learned or tragedies they’ve survived. Even fiction writers will enjoy the concise overview and concrete options of how to structure great stories with beginnings and endings that grab the reader and leave them thinking about the plot far longer than it takes to close the book.

If you are planning on telling a story on stage, How to Tell a Story will help immensely. For fiction writers, there are probably better writing guides. 3 stars.

Thanks to Crown Publishing and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.

'We all have stories to tell'. The first acting truth I would share with my students when I taught acting in high school. 'We all have stories to tell.' In 'How to Tell a Story' appropriately subtitled as, ''The Essential Guide to Memorable Storytelling from the Moth,' Meg Bowles and others guide readers through a process to truly discover their stories, moment by moment. The authors / storytellers discuss how to structure your story and focus on essential truths - and what's most important about them; what makes a compelling beginning., and a memorable ending, and every detail in between.

This book is a treasure, not just for storytellers, but for everyone. Stories surround us all our working lives—from interviewing for a job, negotiating with a colleague, advertising, news, business meetings, presenting data and fund-raising. How well you persuade someone depends on how well you tell a story.

What I enjoyed about the book was how comprehensive it covered the art of storytelling. The authors chose lots of anecdotes / examples that clearly demonstrated their lessons. and why the stories succeeded. There is so much to take away from this book - whether you are a writer, actor, novice (or experienced) storyteller, or curious listener. The writing is casual, but clear and concise. Filled with empowering, easy-to-follow tips for crafting stories that will help you connect you to your story, and your story to the audience, the book draws on twenty-five years of experience from the storytelling experts at The Moth.

I read an advance copy of How to Tell a Story courtesy of NetGalley and Crown Books in exchange for an honest review..

I am two to three years in with my exposure to The Moth. It started by reading all the books put out plus I tune in on Sunday afternoons to the radio hour. This book lets us see the wizards behind the curtain and it also shows us what skills, kindness and empathy the Moth mentors have to guide and coax those stories from the storytellers. I love that this book wasn’t just a how to but how it was paired with stories to show the process.

I cannot wait for the next collection of Moth stories. In the last month alone I have asked 2-3 people if they have heard of The Moth :)

Engaging and informative. A recommended purchase for collections where storytelling/creative nonfiction craft books popular or for libraries looking to host Moth-style events.