Telling a Story

B1 · Intermediate48 minConversation SkillsLesson 3 of 8 · Outline

Aims

Goal: tell a story with the Story Spine — setup, conflict, resolution — instead of a flat list of events.

The lesson, stage by stage

  1. Warm up5 min

    Warm-up: Stories, not lists

    2 warm-up questions

  1. Reading10 min

    Reading: Why Stories Beat Statistics

    Read a 212-word text about Why Stories Beat Statistics

  2. Framework6 min

    Framework: The Story Spine

    Story Spine, 3 steps

  3. Practice7 min

    Practice: Narrative Vocabulary Practice

    Gap-fill exercise, 5 items

  4. Dialogue10 min

    Dialogue: Telling a Personal Story Using the Story Spine

    Role-play: You're in a job interview and the interviewer asks you to describe a challenge you've faced. Use the Story Spine to tell a compelling personal story with a clear beginning, conflict, and resolution. (4 lines)

  5. Discussion10 min

    Discussion: Your mission: give it a spine

    5 discussion questions

Open the full lesson

The remaining 5 stages of this lesson, with the procedure, the examples and the exercises, are included with Starter, along with the interactive version you can teach from. Lesson 1 of this course is free: the full plan is on this site, and a free account opens it in the interactive player.

This plan comes from the Presenting & Public Speaking course in the Tuton library. Browse all free lesson plans.