You’re sitting at your group’s favorite table, sipping scrumptious mixtures of coffee, ice, chocolate, and cream. Everyone has spent two to three minutes each sharing stories to “catch up”. It’s your turn.

You’ve got a great story to tell them, but they need to know quite a bit of background information for your story to make sense. As you go through that necessary information you notice your friends are becoming increasingly bored with what you want to tell them.

One of your friends excuses her self to go to the ladies’ room, another leaves to get a refill. The last of your friends has started to work the crossword puzzle in the paper even though your story is only just starting.

Suddenly she sets down her paper and stops you mid-sentence. “Honey, there’s something you need to know.”

Oh dear! You think. It’s my breath!

“It’s your storytelling,” she says clutching both of your hands. “You need to work on it.”

You look at the two damning empty chairs and nod. “I don’t get it; I told that same story at work and everyone loved it.”

“I’m sure they did. But, Sweetheart, at work you didn’t have to tell your listeners who the characters are and why they were doing what they were doing.”

“No, I didn’t,” you agree. “Everyone at work knows the boss and knows that when he’s angry it’s best to stay away from him. They all know. . . .” You go on to explain how at work there wasn’t any need to preface your story with a lot of information . . . you just started right in with the good stuff.”

“That’s what you should have done with us,” your friend says with a grin. “When you’re telling a story you can’t expect your audience to sit through a long information dump. They want action right from the moment you open your mouth. Give them dirt and along the way fill in the details they need to understand your story.”

“Ohhhh,” you say sagely. “You know. . .in college I took a writing course and the professor told us the same thing.

When your two other friends return you start again telling the same story. Your opening line is as provocative as a fine wine. You spice your story with bits of exposition. Instead of stating that your boss has a vile temper you tell them of the time he picked up a chair and threw it into a storage closet to make a point about clutter.

Everyone giggles . . . all the way through.