2024 Workshop Presenters

“The universe is made of stories, not atoms.”

- Muriel Rukeyser

Workshop: Weaving Intentional Stories into the Fabric of Your Life – and Your Telling

This workshop looks at six different types of stories you can tell to subtly alter, for the better, the emotional climate in which our everyday, often complex, human interactions - and our public storytelling - takes place. These types of stories help people, including the “other” be heard in the way they want to be heard, not only in the way the listener intends to hear them. That gift underlies all effective communication, including storytelling. Come, enjoy that gift!

Liz Twomey

Liz Twomey says her life was happily altered forever when she heard her first professional storyteller in a small town in South Dakota in 1989. She knew she would be involved in storytelling from that day on. And she has been - storytelling, producing events, and creating and supporting storytelling organizations.

One of her greatest joys was creating this workshop with the support and guidance of Annette Simmons, her storytelling idol. It was presented previously at a Rocky Mountain Storytelling Conference and at the 2017 Colorado Bar Association Mediation Conference, which proves story is everywhere! Please come enjoy it. Despite its accurate but weighty title - it really is fun!

Workshop: Animating the Inanimate

Add life to your storytelling by incorporating physical items such as props, stuffed animals, puppets, and other ‘inanimate’ objects. In this fun, interactive workshop, discover how to bring stuffed animals and puppets to life by using “The Gift of GAB” (Gaze, Action, Breath). Learn how to effectively hold and direct audience attention without being upstaged by your prop “co-stars.” Bring one of your own props or borrow one of Dawn’s charismatic critters.

Dawn Cromwell

As “The Story Seeker,” Dawn Cromwell immerses her audiences in tangible tales, blending spoken imagery with visual and physical story enhancements. Dawn is a student of theater, improv, and puppetry, where she learned many of the tips and tricks she utilizes in her storytelling. Learn more about The Story Seeker on her website: www.TheStorySeeker.com