Increasing story opportunities by establishing a reputation as a storyteller

Another approach is to establish a reputation as a storyteller. When someone asks, “What do you do?” you could say something like, “I’m a teacher, but what I really love to do is tell stories.” Establishing this reputation means you’ll seldom have to start a gospel conversation from scratch. People will start asking you for stories. Sometimes this is as easy as carrying a prop with you. I started telling stories in a park and discovered that carrying a small, pink plastic stool with me signaled to people that it was story time.

After moving to a new house, Bronwyn went to buy new shower curtains. A saleswoman smiled at her, leading to a brief conversation about Bronwyn’s surprising ability to speak Mandarin.

“Are you a teacher?” the saleswoman finally asked.

“No, I’m a storyteller,” Bronwyn replied. The conversation finished and Bronwyn moved on. A few minutes later the saleswoman came looking for her. She wanted to know where Bronwyn told stories and to whom. Bronwyn explained that the stories were for anyone, at any place; yes, even at McDonald’s. “To my excitement, she gave me her name and number so that I could contact her and arrange a time to come and tell stories,” Bronwyn reports.

Taken from ‘Telling the Gospel Through Story’, (IVP) p. 89-90