BY CHRIS SULLIVAN
KIRO Radio

I challenge you to tell a great story on Twitter. 140 characters just isn't enough to grab a reader and stir their emotions. When was the last time you lost yourself in a text message?

Technology might have made communication easier, but is it killing the art of storytelling?

Anne Rutherford is a professional storyteller from Portland. She said that the art isn't lost, it's just misplaced. "Whatever their age, whatever their circumstance, if it's a good story and it's well told we completely have the ability to respond to that. However, what I think we're losing is the opportunity to be in those situations."

When was the last time you gathered around a campfire and spun a yarn? Those lost opportunities have shriveled our storytelling muscles, but Rutherford believes we can build them back quickly. Storytelling, she said, is part of who we are. "We are just programmed as human beings to hear and understand and respond to stories. It's just how we're hardwired. So it's just a matter of having the opportunity, and then it happens."

So how does one tell a good story? How do you hold an audience? A lot of it is delivery, but Rutherford said the biggest part is knowing the audience and what stirs its emotions. "What I find more and more is that a basic story can work with a very wide variety of audiences as long as I know the audience and I craft it to relate to their experience," she said.

She can deliver the same story to an 80-year-old as she does an 8-year-old. Both will be riveted. Both will enjoy it. It works because great storytellers can alter the delivery to the audience and get them to respond.

So the art of storytelling isn't dead. Society is just out of practice.

Chris Sullivan, 97.3 KIRO FM Reporter