Let's look first at 7 basic steps in perparing for telling the story.

1. Choose an appropriate story-- It is  important to understand a people's worldview and choose stories appropriate to intersect  that worldview.   While many  key Bible stories will be told regardless of worldview differences, what one emphasizes in these stories may be different from one group to the next. You may select certain stories to speak truth to a Muslim men of a people group, and use different stories for the women of the same people group. Stories chosen and your emphasis will be different if you are focusing on a tribal animistic group who believe in numerous spirits that affect their lives on a daily basis.
2. Learn the structure of the story and block it out -- This process involves breaking down the story into smaller, more manageable parts in order to help us memorize each of the events of the story.
3. Imagine the setting of the story in your mind -- Try to imagine how the scene looked with houses, trees, wilderness, etc.
4. Imagine the action taking place in the story -- try to imagine how the scene looked if you were standing there watching the action take place. How did Zaccheus react when Jesus told him to come down because He was going home with him? Read the story over again paying careful attention to who said what and the specific actions of each person in the story.  The key to telling a story is to see teh story in your imagination as a real event, actually taking place as you tell your story. By reliving the story, it will aid in your telling it just as you see it in your imagination.
5. Read the story aloud and use your voice to project the images you've envisioned -- Now you must become "good friends" with the story. Read the story aloud to yourself, go back to the images you had when you thought about the story, project your voice in a way that is appropriate with the mood of the story, or the person you are telling about.  It is important to remember that telling a story is not to repeat it from literal memorizing. To tell a story well is to give it life every time you tell it.
6. Learn the story by heart -- You need to "saturate" yourself with the story be reading it over and over again.  Learning the story by heart and not by rote memory will help prevent you from sounding stiff and not natural. However, do not ever alter the essential story line!  You may want to  freely and rapidly outline or write down the story as an aid to help you learn it. After you have written it down, go back and compare it to the original story in the Bible. Have you left out anything important? Is the story essentially the same? By now you have come to know the details thoroughly and are ready to rehearse it.
7. Practice telling the story until it comes naturally -- Find a place where you can practice without interruption. You must become familiar with the storytelling style and format of the people group you wish to reach, then you must work toward presenting an oral style that is in harmony with the group. The style itself is a communication vehicle.  As you tell the story, speak naturally and clearly so that your storytelling is seen as an event, but not a dramatization or acting out. How much gesture you use will depend on the cultural norms.

An important thing to remember is that how much exposition you can include in a storying session greatly depends on a the people's literacy level. You tell a story, then you dialogue about the story, but the storyteller must be careful not to include information that the people will not be able to remember. For more information, see the chart How People learn and the Use of Exposition.

PARTS OF THE STORYING SESSION

 I.        OPENING DIALOG: 

1.       Greeting according to local culture and social practice.

2.       Inquire about what has been happening in the community.  Look for tie-in to recent lesson topics and relationship to current lesson

3.       Recall/review of doctrinal truths and previous stories illustrating these.

4.       Ask questions to build anticipation, to arouse curiosity.  Use a little “salt” to make the listeners “thirsty.”

5.       Review any “bridging” or “linking” stories necessary to set the stage for the current story

6.       If applicable, give a listening task--to listen for certain things in the story.

 II.      READ FROM THE BIBLE: 

1.       Pick up the Bible and hold it in your hand.

2.       Read from the Bible a part of the story to “anchor” the story in the Bible.

3.       Continue to hold the Bible after finishing the reading. 

III.     TELL THE STORY: 

1.       Hold the Bible while telling the story.

2.       Tell the story as a STORY and not as a “report of what God said and did.”

3.       Use summary statements as needed and simple declarative sentences.

4.       Tell the story accurately but interestingly, preserving the biblical rhythm.

5.       At the end of the story--STOP!  Put down the Bible. 

IV.      LEAD LISTENERS TO DISCOVER THE TRUTHS IN THE STORY: 

1.       Let someone retell the story in their own words.

2.       Ask questions that provoke thought.

3.       Test the listeners’ comprehension with questions.

4.       Handle incorrect answers in a culturally sensitive manner.

5.       Don’t entertain questions about yet-to-be-revealed truth.

6.       Defer answering questions you don’t know--you will look in God’s Word for an answer.

7.       Be sensitive to the appropriate time to stop the session.

8.       Enjoy some fellowship with the listeners as a story promotes “community.” 

Note:  Typically not a worship service for Evangelism Track.