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The most valuable of all talents is that of never using two words when one will do.

Thomas Jefferson


The more clearly the listener can see where we are, when we are, and who we are within the story, the more clearly those events which make up the plot can be followed and identified with.

If we as listeners can visualize the story, then the teller's descriptive skills are being used effectively. The problem with the word visualize is that it is like having five crayons to color with and then using only one of them over and over again. If our descriptive goal is merely to enable visualization, then we are making use of only one of our senses when we have five to work with. We have already covered sight so let's look at the other four descriptive senses.




 Smell
A very evocative sense in our memories. Everything has a smell and the mention of that sense in connection with a memory almost always makes connections.
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Sound
Helps form the background of all the important places where we live and work. Invoking these sounds in the storytelling process can greatly enhance the listener's ability to mentally create an experience of the story being told.
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Taste
Is much like sound and smell. Now try re-creating a day at the carnival with all of its attendant tastes.

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Touch
A full body experience. Beyond the apparent uses of touch you can use the more subtle uses, like when your mother picked you up from sleep or your first hint that the hot water in the shower was running out just as your hair was filled with shampoo.

Senses other than sight can be great fun to use in storytelling. Experiment with using a sense other than the one you would normally use in creating a particular vision, and see how this sensory crossover enhances what the listener's experience.
-Davis, Donald

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