Your story, regardless of how you tell it, will affect both you as a storyteller and your audience. You want your story to have a positive impact on everyone involved. It can be difficult to protect yourself and others from any potential negative impact and instead, amplify the positive. Sharing your story might make you feel catharsis, relief, and connection; but you might also experience stress, emotional intensity, vulnerability, and apprehension.
To make a storytelling experience more positive, consider allowing some time to pass. When you have recently experienced a traumatic or adverse experience, it can be difficult to separate yourself from your narrative. Many storytellers say that having time to process their feelings before sharing their stories publicly helped them make sense of their experiences.
Another crucial part of telling your story is the impact on your audience. When you tell a deeply personal story, there is a give and take between the audience and the storyteller. Connecting with the audience and feeling their support, engagement, and validation is an important part of the process.
The more you practice telling your story, the easier it is to stay composed and confident. Even if your story changes form, as each audience is unique, the process of repeating the story tends to shift how you feel about events you’ve experienced.
That said, you should never feel pressured to tell your story, in part or entirety, if it’s a drain for you or you don’t feel ready or comfortable sharing your story. Particularly with mental health, some storytellers feel they are more a commodity than a person when sharing. When you choose to tell your story, you always have the right to decide if the structure works for you, how much you want to say, and how you want to be acknowledged and compensated for your time – you are worth it.
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