Pitch Your Story Revamp

Pitch deadline for October 1 event: August 31

So. You're tempted. You're interested or you wouldn't be here. That's a good sign! Throw caution to the wind and pitch your story here. It only takes two steps to get the party rolling...

#1. A Written Synopsis

Send us a written synopsis of your true story in 250 words or less. You don't have to completely flesh out your story until you're ready to tell it; however, we need to have a basic idea of your story content. When crafting your content, please take into account that this event is open to those 12-years-old and up.

#2. A Video Synopsis

Also send a recorded 2-minute synopsis of your true story. This will help tell us get a feel for your storytelling style. We suggest you write out what you're going to say before you record it. That 250 word synopsis you just wrote? A great place to start!

Then what? If chosen, you'll tell this story in 7-10 minutes without notes during our Spoken Story event.

Pitch Guidelines

Tell us the whole story. You might be tempted to entice us with a cliffhanger, but resist the temptation. Give us a sense of the arc of your story and include any parts about how it may have changed you. Please include the beginning, middle, and end, although it doesn't necessarily have to be in that order! We need to be able to ascertain the viability of your story as a spoken story and its potential to impact our audience, so please include all the elements necessary to get the full story.
We encourage storytellers to avoid framing their stories with an ideological agenda, but rather to tell the story simply and honestly in the way it affected them. Our intent is not to discourage stories of faith or social/political causes (these stories are still acceptable and powerful), but telling a story with the intent to proselytize for any religion, belief system, or political agenda goes beyond SpokenStory's story parameters.
Here's a mandate from The Moth that we take as our own: Please use our stage to practice civility and respect. Please don't include racism, homophobia, misogyny or any form of hate speech.
If your story is chosen for our storytelling night, please understand that storytellers need to commit to any necessary changes by our storytelling creative team. Our creative team understands the sensitivity, vulnerability, and risk it takes to be one of our storytellers and in return, commits to working with you to prepare you for our stage; however if a storyteller objects to any necessary changes, we will thank you and sincerely hope you find another venue for your storytelling.

Storyteller Commitment

All storytellers chosen for our stage have three mandatory requirements. Please mark these dates on your calendars!

An individual coaching session with one of our creative team. This session can be arranged in person or done via Zoom and must occur during the four-week period before our dress rehearsal, August 24-September 20.
An in-person dress rehearsal about 10 days before the event. Dress rehearsal for our fall event is tentatively scheduled for Monday, September 21. Dress rehearsal will be held at the performance location to enable you to feel at home in the space.
An individual coaching session with one of our creative team sometime between the dress rehearsal on September 21 and the final performance on October 1. This coaching session is designed to help the storyteller prepare for performance by making any necessary changes and integrating the comments they received at the dress rehearsal. We want you to feel comfortable and prepared!

Need some inspiration?
Visit The Moth's website for their great storytelling tips. The Moth is the master, and we've borrowed their template with their permission and encouragement.

We believe every person has a story worth telling. Give us what you've got!