Long Story Short

By: Margot Leitman

Narrated by: Margot Leitman

Length: 4 hrs and 53 mins

Publisher's Summary

This is a practical storytelling guide from comedian, winner of multiple Moth storytelling competitions, and founder of the Upright Citizens Brigade storytelling program Margot Leitman.

Did you ever wish you could tell a story that leaves others spellbound? Storytelling teacher and champion Margot Leitman will show you how! With a fun, irreverent, and infographic approach, this guide breaks a story into concrete components with ways to improve content, structure, emotional impact, and delivery through personal anecdotes, relatable examples, and practical exercises.

©2015 Margot Leitman (P)2015 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

An eye-opening and revealing book

Storytelling is been something that I naturally seem to gravitate towards and I haven't really known why until I listen to this book. Margot speaks in such engaging and thought-provoking ways that is not only personal to her but highly relatable to me and anybody else interested in stories. She uses a lot of media references from popular culture, and a lot of her own and other personal stories. I highly recommend this book to anybody who speaks and who is searching for their own story.

16 of 16 people found this review helpful

Draw in your audience by telling stories

This is an excellent book on how to craft a story. The author explains the mechanics of turning an anecdote (retelling an event) into a story (drawing in the audience while narrating a chain of events). There are also plenty examples, such as movies, books, and stories that tell compelling stories. You should be familiar with many of them. It is easy to see how by applying the techniques, it makes the movie (or book or song) memorable even many years later. This book is useful for everyone - whether in a business setting, getting the audience engaged before starting a presentation or in a social setting, not rambling on and forgetting your point when talking to a group of people.

22 of 23 people found this review helpful

very practical guidance

the material is very practical instruction for day to day story telling of true to life stories, not creative fictional ones..I wouldn't call it the 'only story telling guide you'll ever need' (sorry Margot:) as I have found it even better when combined with the different perspectives of other well written books on the subject..the author is hilarious and her advice is down to earth at the same time..I will definitely listen to this over and over..

25 of 27 people found this review helpful

Entertaining and inspiring

What did you learn from Long Story Short that you would use in your daily life?

I loved the style of writing and way it was read, this helped me better wrap my brain around how to simplify story telling and I think of it often when I'm trying to recap events in my life in a meaningful way. Really helpful framework, thanks, Margot!

7 of 7 people found this review helpful

How to tell true fun stories about yourself

Fantastic complete course on becoming a master storyteller. Listen to this with a notebook in hand and practice her fun suggestions. As she points out, "everything in life is either a good time or a good story." Chock full of self-deprecating personal stories, this is one of those rare books where there is beautiful harmony between the form and the content. I mean, it is a well-told personal story about telling well-told personal stories. Long Story Short is full of fun and humor, and concise hard-hitting advice from a veteran award winning storyteller and comedian. A must read, even for those who are just curious or want to appreciate the art of listening to well-told stories. And of course, only the author could have read it so well.

14 of 15 people found this review helpful

what an excellent find

I spent a good 10 or 15 minutes shopping on audible.com for a how to guide to storytelling. I found this book hilarious, engaging, touching, and very practical. The author maintained a brilliant balance between anecdote and advice. I loved it and would love to take a workshop led by her. I can't imagine a better book to get me started on the path to turning my tales into engaging stories.

17 of 19 people found this review helpful

The only guide you'll ever need!!! :)

Brilliant audiobook content from both an excellent practitioner and teacher!!!
This will be useful for comedians, writers, nobodys, business ppl whoever

10 of 12 people found this review helpful

The storytelling book you've been searching for

Let me just say I've been looking for a book like this for a looooong time. I've done several Audible searches, several Kindle searches. But it turns out I just had to wait for storytelling guru and gold-standard performer Margot Leitman to publish "Long Story Short."

Okay, I'm selling this hard--only because Leitman has given lots of performances. She's seen thousands of shows. And she's taught a lot of students over the years. She knows what she's talking about so well she can boil it down into this very simple, applicable and entertaining guide.

If you're already a storyteller, you can probably pick up some performance-changing advice here. If you're not, great, because she'll spell out the keys to successful storytelling. The only trouble is you're going to have to put in the legwork. There are no shortcuts. But she'll show you how to craft a knockout opening, how to "memorize" a story for the stage, how to tell a story briefly but well, how to find stories from your own life when you don't think you have any and how vulnerability can get the audience on your side.

Also, there's a gazillion (I counted them) examples from her own experiences, from those of her students and from celebrity storytellers.

17 of 21 people found this review helpful

Too long

Had to stop with an hour left. Felt like, "what more could you say??"

Did learn some things, and her performance was great

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

You probably have to listen to this twice

The story flows but I think it would be better served if you look at it on paper since it's so chock-full of tips and stuff the structure it means you when you're listening. Perhaps having a Kindle copy or a hardcopy to refer back to is the way to go with us. Maybe the next time I listen to it I'll be able to get more out of it. It is worth listening too down for sure. (And that's whether or not you're going to become a mom storyteller…) Stories matter

2 of 2 people found this review helpful