AEE 2401: How to Be a More Interesting Storyteller in English

Summary

Summary of All Ears English Podcast Episode 2401: "How to Be a More Interesting Storyteller in English"

Podcast Information

• Title: All Ears English Podcast
• Hosts: Lindsay McMahon and Michelle Kaplan
• Episode: 2401
• Release Date: May 1, 2025
• Description: This episode focuses on enhancing storytelling skills in English by utilizing reported speech, appropriate grammar, vocabulary, and intonation to make narratives more engaging and interesting for listeners.

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1. Introduction

The episode kicks off with a brief introduction by Aubrey Carter, highlighting the podcast's popularity and its mission to help ESL learners improve their English fluency through engaging content. Lindsey McMahon emphasizes the importance of being adept at storytelling in English, asserting that anyone can become a great storyteller by incorporating reported speech and using the right language tools.

Notable Quote:

• Lindsey McMahon [00:59]: "Find out why anyone can tell a great story in English if they add reported speech and use the right grammar, vocabulary, and intonation."

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2. The Importance of Storytelling in English

Lindsay and Aubrey discuss why storytelling is a crucial skill for ESL learners. They highlight that effective storytelling not only makes conversations more engaging but also helps in building connections with native speakers. The hosts stress that storytelling is a B2-C1 level skill that requires consistent practice and awareness of language nuances.

Notable Quote:

• Aubrey Carter [03:48]: "I love that you brought us into your morning... by using a little bit of reported speech there. That was interesting."

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3. Techniques for Engaging Storytelling

a. Reported Speech and Thought Narration

The hosts delve into the concept of reported speech, explaining how it helps narrate conversations and internal thoughts without quoting them verbatim. This technique adds depth and realism to the story, making it more relatable and engaging for listeners.

Notable Quote:

• Lindsey McMahon [03:48]: "We often will report dialogue and thoughts, but we're not saying things word for word. We use specific phrases and we change our intonation to bring people in to make it engaging and interesting."

b. Intonation and Phrasing

Intonation and phrasing play a vital role in storytelling. The hosts illustrate how varying your tone and choosing the right phrases can captivate the audience and convey emotions effectively.

Notable Quote:

• Lindsey McMahon [04:18]: "We add interest and engagement... It brings people in as if they were there, as if they experienced it with you."

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4. Examples and Personal Stories

a. Lindsey’s April Fool's Story

Lindsey shares a humorous anecdote about an April Fool's prank involving chocolate croissants. She demonstrates the use of reported speech and thought narration to make the story lively and engaging.

Notable Quotes:

• Lindsey McMahon [01:54]: "And my son was like, mom, you can have half of mine."
• Aubrey Carter [02:39]: "Yeah. And I love how you brought us into your morning..."

b. Aubrey’s Venice Beach Encounter

Aubrey narrates an unusual experience at Venice Beach, encountering Billie Eilish and a man with a chicken in jeans. Her storytelling showcases the effective use of reported speech and vivid descriptions to draw listeners into the scene.

Notable Quotes:

• Aubrey Carter [04:51]: "And there’s a guy with a chicken on his lap in jeans. The chicken is in blue jeans."
• Lindsey McMahon [06:09]: "I loved it. I was definitely coming back here soon."

c. Lindsey’s Jackson Hole Incident

Lindsey recounts a tense situation while working in Jackson Hole, where a foggy night led to encountering an injured woman. Her narrative employs reported speech to share the intensity of the moment.

Notable Quotes:

• Lindsey McMahon [07:28]: "I was working in Jackson Hole for the summer... we had to go so slowly because if we didn’t, the drop off of the cliff is right there."
• Aubrey Carter [08:35]: "This is crazy. I love that it reminds me of..."

d. Lindsey’s College Park Misadventure

Another engaging story from Lindsey involves receiving a trespassing violation at a park. She effectively uses dialogue and tone changes to convey the frustration and confusion of the situation.

Notable Quotes:

• Lindsey McMahon [12:14]: "We were just like, are you serious? What did we do?"
• Aubrey Carter [13:54]: "That’s crazy. I love it."

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5. Role Play Example

To further illustrate storytelling techniques, Lindsay and Aubrey engage in a role play. They recreate a scenario where Lindsey almost gets arrested at Salt Lake City airport due to a misunderstanding. This segment highlights how conversational storytelling can mimic real-life interactions, making stories more dynamic and relatable.

Notable Quotes:

• Lindsey McMahon [17:33]: "I was almost arrested once at the Salt Lake City airport. It was crazy."
• Aubrey Carter [18:22]: "This is nuts. What happened?"

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6. Conclusion and Takeaways

In wrapping up, the hosts reiterate the significance of using reported speech, thoughtful narration, and appropriate intonation to enhance storytelling in English. They encourage listeners to practice these techniques to make their stories more engaging and to connect better with native speakers.

Notable Quotes:

• Lindsey McMahon [21:09]: "Stories can be so fun and interesting, but reported speech and thoughts really improve stories a thousand fold."
• Aubrey Carter [21:33]: "You need to pull them in, but they need to listen and want to listen. So this is how we do it."

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Key Takeaways

• Use Reported Speech: Incorporate phrases like "we were like" or "I thought" to narrate dialogues and thoughts, making stories more natural and engaging.
• Vary Intonation and Phrasing: Adjust your tone and choose dynamic phrases to convey emotions and maintain listener interest.
• Practice Storytelling Techniques: Regularly practice these methods to enhance fluency and connect better with native English speakers.
• Engage with Personal Stories: Sharing relatable and authentic experiences can make your storytelling more impactful and memorable.

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By implementing these storytelling techniques, ESL learners can transform their narratives, making them more captivating and effective in conveying experiences and emotions.

Transcript

[Aubrey Carter]

This is an All Ears English podcast. Episode 2401, how to be a more interesting storyteller in English. Welcome to the All Ears English podcast. Downloaded more than 200 million times. Are you feeling stuck with your English? We'll show you how to become fearless and fluent by focusing on connection, not perfection, with your American host, Aubrey Carter, the IELTS whiz, and Lindsey McMahon, the English adventurer, coming to you from Arizona and Colorado, usa. To get real time transcripts right on your phone and create your personalized vocabulary list, try the All Ears English app for iOS and Android. Start your seven day free trial at allearsenglish.com forward/app.

[Lindsey McMahon]

Are you good at telling stories in English today? Find out why anyone can tell a great story in English if they add reported speech and use the right grammar, vocabulary and intonation. Find out how today.

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[Aubrey Carter]

Hello, Aubrey. How are you today?

[Lindsey McMahon]

I'm great, Lindsay. How are you?

[Aubrey Carter]

Good. Aubrey, has anything funny happened to you lately?

[Lindsey McMahon]

Yes, just this morning. So today is April Fool's Day. April 1st. We record a little early. And this morning, my son, before I even realized it was April Fool's Day, I had made these chocolate croissants. Well, Trader Joe's made them, but I baked them and there were only four. So I told my kids, if you get up and get ready for school, quick, come down and you can have a whole croissant. If not, I'm going to eat half of it.

[Aubrey Carter]

Huh?

[Lindsey McMahon]

And my son was like, mom, you can have half of mine. And I was like, oh, that's so sweet. And then he said, april Fools. Oh. And I was like, oh, that's a good one.

[Aubrey Carter]

Oh, that is a good one.

[Lindsey McMahon]

Good one. Really good. April Fool's chest coming.

[Aubrey Carter]

Yeah. And I love how you brought us into your morning, you know, your April Fool's morning in your kitchen. Right, by using a little bit of reported speech there. That was interesting.

[Lindsey McMahon]

Exactly. Yes. You guys probably noted it. We do this in English when we're telling a Story. We often will report dialogue and thoughts, but we're not saying things word for word. We use specific phrases and we change our intonation to bring people in to make it engaging and interesting. We recently promised a followup on this when it came up on an episode of the podcast.

[Aubrey Carter]

Yes. I love it. I love it. Guys, go ahead and hit the follow button so you don't miss any of our episodes here on Allers English. A lot of times episodes connect to each other and you don't want want to miss any of them. To get the full teaching right, to get exactly what you need to connect with native speakers. All right.

[Lindsey McMahon]

Exactly Right. So first of all, just how important narrating thoughts and speech is, right? This is B2C1 skill, but you have to practice it. You have to be thinking about it so that you're not sort of being formal and saying, like, I said this and then they said this. That's not what you want to do. You want to add interest and engagement.

[Aubrey Carter]

I love that. And this is a skill that we explicitly teach. I know. At least in the C1 course, right, Aubry? In our C1 fluency course. Yeah.

[Lindsey McMahon]

Yes. And then we see the assignments where students are doing it and then they're using it in Open Conversation Club. They sound so native and natural when they're doing that. I love it.

[Aubrey Carter]

Yes. I love it. Guys, go over to allersenglish.com C1 to get into the C1 course to explicitly build this skill. Right. We give you the step by step and lots of practice in inside the course. But today we're just touching on it just a little bit.

[Lindsey McMahon]

All right, Exactly. Just kind of showing how it works. It makes stories more interesting. It brings the listener in as if they were there, as if they experienced it with you. But intonation really matters. The phrasing you use really matters. So we're going to give a few examples today. This will be really funny, fun. Lindsay and I both prepared a couple of very short stories of crazy or weird things that have happened to us in the past. We're going to use this and then we'll point out some of the. The of this speech narration of this reported speech and thoughts that we use.

[Aubrey Carter]

Yes. I like the term weird and wacky, Aubrey. Weird and wacky. The weird and the wacky. Here we go. Yeah. So this past weekend, Aubrey, I was in Venice Beach, California with my family, and we decided, we know la, but we could know Venice beach more. So we thought, let's do a food tour. So we did the food Tour. We. We toured the canals, we ate burgers and Asahi bowls, all the California Venice beach things. And we come to the end of the tour and I'm thinking, okay, you know, this has been a great tour, but not much has happened. All of a sudden, I look across the street and there's Billie Eilish. Who. I'm not a big Billie Eilish person, but she was there. She's walking down the street and there are people following her saying, I love you, Billy. Right? And I thought, nothing else weird or strange or interesting could possibly happen today. And then I turn my head as I'm eating my ice cream at the end, and. And there's a guy with a chicken on his lap in jeans. The chicken is in blue jeans. I looked at the tour guide, I said, that's crazy. She tried to snap a photo. But even weirder, the owner of the chicken refused to let her take a photo. He actually got upset with her. And that is just the vibe of Venice beach is there's weird, wacky things going on, but people are also strange. So I thought, I'm definitely coming back here soon.

[Lindsey McMahon]

I love that story so much. I'm so happy we're doing this episode because I had not heard that story story. And that is so funny. But you guys have got to listen back if you missed it. Lindsay used several reported speech and thoughts. There's like. And then I thought, nothing else weird is going to happen today. And then what you said to the tour guide, right? I said, what is happening? This is how you brought me and all of our listeners into the story. I felt like I was there at Venice beach with you looking at this chicken in blue jeans.

[Aubrey Carter]

You know, I. I passed off Venice beach just to be kind. It's a little, like, rough around the edges. Venice Beach. And I thought, oh, you know, it's okay. I know Venice Beach. Then I had a chance to really dive deeper into Venice beach. And I recommend it. I recommend getting into it if you're. If you're. Next time you're in la. Interesting place with a lot of cool history.

[Lindsey McMahon]

Rollerblades. I rollerbladed at Venice Beach. It was so fun. There are characters there. I loved it.

[Aubrey Carter]

Aubrey, did you rollerblade in Venice beach in the first wave of blade blading or the second wave?

[Lindsey McMahon]

Because I'm not sure it was. Let me say it was probably like 1997, first wave, then first. First wave. Okay.

[Aubrey Carter]

I don't know because, you know, it was popular in the 90s and then it came back.

[Lindsey McMahon]

Yes, I Was Rollerblad.

[Aubrey Carter]

Same here. Same here. I remember in high school. But I'm excited to hear your story and let's see what kind of reported speech we get here.

[Lindsey McMahon]

Yes. Okay. This happened when I was 18. I was working in Jackson Hole for the summer, and we had gone to a party in Driggs over a mountain pass, and we were headed back to Jackson at like 2am okay. And there were four of us in the car, were driving, and it got extremely foggy on the mountain. And we had to go so slowly because if we didn't, the drop off of the cliff is right there. We would just drive right off the mountain. So we're going like two miles an hour. My friends are like, can we go faster, please? And we're like, no, we can't. All of a sudden, out of the fog comes this woman. She had blood all down her shirt, hitting the passenger side window and screaming. We all screamed. We were like, what is happening? Are we in a horror movie? It turned out that she had been in an accident and she had been, you know, injured. We stopped and let her in. And it was so crazy. Like, I was seriously in, you know, Five Nights at Freddy's. I don't know, a scary movie. To have something like that happen in real life. Yes. We were just like, are we taking crazy, crazy pills?

[Aubrey Carter]

Yes.

[Lindsey McMahon]

Is this real life?

[Aubrey Carter]

This is crazy. I love that it reminds me of. It gives me kind of scream vibes or scary movie vibes. Right. High school kids kind of getting into trouble.

[Lindsey McMahon]

I've seen things like that in the movies, but not in real life. That was the only time something like that. It was crazy.

[Aubrey Carter]

Oh, my go. And I love the reported speech that you use. The trend I'm hearing is that we use a lot of. We're like. We were just like. And that is a way that we pull people in. We ask our students in the course to do that too. We ask them to submit their reported speech in the community. Right, Aubrey? And we hear a lot of that. We were like. I was like. We're just like, right.

[Lindsey McMahon]

Yes. And you have other options. You could say, I thought you could say. I said, even if you're not quoting yourself, example or Exactly. And we'll say, I was all. Which I was like, I was all, oh, my goodness. Right. These are all the different phrases, speech markers that you can use that really draw someone into the story. And even if you said. I said, we know it's not going to be word for word. We're just reporting speech generally. Yes.

[Aubrey Carter]

I love that you also said, what's hap. What is happening? I thought, I think you said, I thought, what is happening? Right.

[Lindsey McMahon]

I do this right? Like we were like, what is happening?

[Aubrey Carter]

Happening? And I think we actually taught that in a recent episode on Dollars English just a few weeks ago. Aub, I think a lot of these.

[Lindsey McMahon]

Phrases, what is happening? Am I taking crazy pills? Is this real life? A few of those that I used are in a recent episode. Scroll back if you missed it and hit follow if you're missing these great episodes.

[Aubrey Carter]

I love it. Shall we go for another round?

[Lindsey McMahon]

Shall? Lindsay, let's hear one of your other stories.

[Aubrey Carter]

All right, Aubrey, So here we go. So we'll bring our listeners back to 2017. I was hiking the Inca trail with my partner. It had been a four day hike and we were camping at about 11,000ft with a small group of about five of us on a tour, a hiking tour where you carry everything, all that good stuff. So we camped at about 11,000ft and everything felt normal. You know, I didn't feel dizzy or anything, but as soon as I. I wake up in the morning, I. I feel my rings feel a little tight, right? Something weird is going on. My rings feel tight. Something doesn't feel quite right. But I just brush it off and I think, oh, no big deal. Let's go have breakfast. So I get out of the tent and I walk down to where the. The coffee's brewing and the fire's going and people are like, whoa, who are you? What happened to your face? Right? What happened to your face? They're turns out my face had gotten super swollen and I tried to look in whatever mirror I could find and I was like, oh my gosh, who am I? And I can actually show you for our YouTube listeners what my face looked like. And can you see that?

[Lindsey McMahon]

Oh, my goodness, Lindsay. This was me. You guys have to go and watch YouTube. I cannot believe that's you.

[Aubrey Carter]

And I thought to myself, was it the wine? Because the night before we had been up drinking wine with this couple from, I think from Brazil. And the olives. Wine and olives. And I thought must have been the wine and olives, the salt. I'm not sure, but I was looking like another person.

[Lindsey McMahon]

It was wild.

[Aubrey Carter]

Aubrey? Yeah.

[Lindsey McMahon]

Did you find out what caused it? Was that allergies?

[Aubrey Carter]

I don't really anything. It was some kind of swelling, I figured from the altitude. But it took a few days to go down. Yeah, it took a few days to go down. So I looked like that for a couple of days. It was crazy. Yeah.

[Lindsey McMahon]

Oh my goodness. And wow, you really did bring us into the story. When you. It was reported speech of. Of what people first were saying and. And thinking when they saw you. Right. People were like, what happened to your face? And if you think about the other ways you could say this, if you just say like people saw me and were surprised to see my face looking like that. Or if you report.

[Aubrey Carter]

Not as interesting. Right?

[Lindsey McMahon]

Not as interesting. The way you say it when you report speech and thoughts, it's to bring people in, to make it more interesting, to make them feel like they were there. And it does that.

[Aubrey Carter]

So yes, you know, we can. It's so funny. It can. It's the same material, it's the same event, but the way we tell it really matters, right?

[Lindsey McMahon]

Totally. Yes, it does. And you want to be a good storyteller. This is one of the most important things about learning a language. I feel like I'm so close or maybe just barely there in Spanish. And it's so fun that I could tell a story. I love it.

[Aubrey Carter]

I love it. All right. Do you want to tell one more story, Aubrey?

[Lindsey McMahon]

I have one more quick one. Okay. So when I was in college, we were at a park at like 9:40pm Just hanging out. And the second it hit 10:00pm all these cop cars show up and just gave us all trespassing violations. We were like, are you serious? What did we do? We had no idea. Turns out the park closes at 10 and people had been graffitiing the week before. So they had just decided right. At 10, anyone who's here is getting a trespassing violation. It was a misdemeanor. And we were all like 19 year old kids doing nothing. We were just sitting on like the playground equipment and they. At 10pm that's not even late. It was the craziest thing. We were all mind boggled and we were like calling parents, mom, what do I do?

[Aubrey Carter]

Oh my God. I love how in that story you quoted your call with your mom. You know what I mean?

[Lindsey McMahon]

Totally.

[Aubrey Carter]

You really brought me into it.

[Lindsey McMahon]

Right.

[Aubrey Carter]

And I also heard. We were like, are you serious? And. And your tone of voice really changed there. Right. It brought me in and I can't believe you got a misdemeanor.

[Lindsey McMahon]

I know, it was crazy. Luckily I was my friend who also got this misdemeanor, her uncle was a lawyer and he got us what's called a plea in abeyance, which they'll often give to young people who really weren't doing anything wrong. And it's Six months of probation. And if nothing happens, that. That, you know, you don't get in any trouble. Not even a speeding ticket.

[Aubrey Carter]

Yeah.

[Lindsey McMahon]

For six months. Then it goes away and they, like, wipe it off your record. And so luckily I was able to do that. So the mission, my record speed limit. Absolutely. I was, like, being so careful because I really didn't want. I was. I was so crazy. So crazy. Oh, my gosh.

[Aubrey Carter]

That's crazy. I love it. Four great stories. But honestly, the fact is here, Aubrey, we don't need to be comedians. We don't need to have this wild, crazy life to be interesting. Right. I think that's my takeaway.

[Lindsey McMahon]

These are stories that could happen to anyone. Right. It wasn't that hilarious, but interesting. Right? You can tell these stories in a very interesting way.

[Aubrey Carter]

Yes.

[Lindsey McMahon]

And I have definitely listened to a story from someone who had something happen to them that was more interesting than the four stories we told. But if they're not using reported speech and they're kind of being boring about it, it doesn't feel as interesting. It was like, yeah, that's exciting.

[Aubrey Carter]

It's like a waste of material. Right. It's a waste of your life.

[Lindsey McMahon]

It's an opportunity.

[Aubrey Carter]

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[Lindsey McMahon]

Yes, and this actually happened. And it happened while I was doing the plea in advance, so I was like on probation. And I was really being very careful so that when this happened, I was like, what is happening? No, I.

[Aubrey Carter]

Okay, we're getting to that.

[Lindsey McMahon]

I'll give you a little context, but this is how it can happen more as a conversation. It doesn't have to be a story one person's telling. Yeah, right. We're trying. Still telling a story, but sometimes there's a little more back and forth with it, which is also fun.

[Aubrey Carter]

I love that angle. All right, let's see what this looks like.

[Lindsey McMahon]

All right, I'll start us out. I was almost arrested once at the Salt Lake City airport. It was crazy.

[Aubrey Carter]

Are you serious? What happened?

[Lindsey McMahon]

We were just minding our business, waiting for a friend's flight to land, and this woman yells, security. And a security guard comes over.

[Aubrey Carter]

What? Comes over to you?

[Lindsey McMahon]

Yes. And we were all, what. What is happening?

[Aubrey Carter]

I bet. Why did they call them over?

[Lindsey McMahon]

Well, apparently my friend was absent mindedly peeling the paint on the window frame. And this lady was like, arrest these girls for destruction of property. And we were like, are you serious?

[Aubrey Carter]

This is nuts. What happened?

[Lindsey McMahon]

The security guard called over a manager who was like, no, this paint was already peeling. Our friend's flight landed, and she arrived in the middle of it and was like, what is going on?

[Aubrey Carter]

That is so bonkers. Aubry.

[Lindsey McMahon]

Yes. This lady was bananas. She was like, I can't believe you're gonna let these girls get away with this. And we were just like, okay, lady, like, she needs a hobby.

[Aubrey Carter]

It needs a hobby. Yes. Wow. Okay. And that was during the six month.

[Lindsey McMahon]

Period, which made it so much worse. I was like, no, no, please. Like, no. Left her, like, fed her to the wolves through her under the bus and ran.

[Aubrey Carter]

Yeah, I. I wouldn't have left the house after that happened. Right. I mean, that's something.

[Lindsey McMahon]

I mean, we're picking up a friend court, minding her own business. She. I didn't even notice, but she was just kind of like picking at the paint that was peeling in the window. Imagine.

[Aubrey Carter]

Yeah. I mean, sometimes you can absent mindedly be doing something, right? Not even thinking about it. If you have nervous habits, maybe. Yeah.

[Lindsey McMahon]

Destruction of property. Really? What?

[Aubrey Carter]

Wow. So what did we use here? What did you use here to report the event?

[Lindsey McMahon]

Yeah. So the first instance is when I talk about what this woman said. I said, this woman yells security. And then the guards come over and then I say, we were all, what is happening? So there are options. I could say we were like, what is happening? Or we thought, what is happening said. Right. Lots of options.

[Aubrey Carter]

We might stick in just. And say we were just like, what is happening? And I want our listeners to notice that there are times here where we move into the present tense. This is not what today's episode is about. Using the present tense in reported speech. But we do do it right. Aubry, we'll talk about that another day.

[Lindsey McMahon]

Yes, that would be another good episode. That when we're telling a story, we'll move from past to present because we're bringing the person into the story. And once they're there, we start using present 10 sense, as if it's happening as we speak.

[Aubrey Carter]

But then we also seamlessly move back into the. The past tense sometimes and then back into the present. So it's really dynamic.

[Lindsey McMahon]

Totally. Yeah. And then I said, this lady was like, arrest these girls for destruction of property. Which is maybe not exactly what she said, but, you know, basically, more or less, we were like, are you serious? Yeah. So, yeah, this we do exaggerate. We embellish. It makes the story more interesting. But this is basically what was said. It was. Was crazy.

[Aubrey Carter]

Yeah. And then you said the security guard called over a manager who was like, no, this paint was already peeling. Okay, so again, more. He was like, right. He said, essentially, it means he said, okay.

[Lindsey McMahon]

Exactly. And then our friend's fight landed. Our friend arrives and was like, what is going on? And this might have just been her face. She probably didn't say anything, but she, like, would walk up and see, like, this lady yelling and security guards, and we're there, and she just probably would have this look on her face like, what is going on?

[Aubrey Carter]

That is huge. Oh, this has been a really fun episode today with four great stories plus a great role play. Aubry, you know, what is the main point? Where do we want to leave our listeners today?

[Lindsey McMahon]

Yeah, just. Stories can be so fun and interesting, but reported speech and thoughts really improves stories a thousand fold. They can be kind of boring and blah and be kind of flat and not land. But if you're practicing the intonation, notice our intonation and using these phrases. I was all. I thought I was like, then you can really tell engaging stories. Yeah.

[Aubrey Carter]

And it's fun. You know, you can get in that clearly if you're telling this story, this experience meant something to you. So for people to know you better and to understand who you are as a person. Right. You need to pull them in, but they need to listen and want to listen. So this is how we do it, right?

[Lindsey McMahon]

Absolutely. Yes, exactly. Oh, I'm excited for you guys to tell a story and use reported speech. So.

[Aubrey Carter]

All right, great stuff today, Aubrey. We'll see you on the next episode.

[Lindsey McMahon]

See you next time.

[Aubrey Carter]

All right, bye bye. Thanks for listening to all ears. English. Would you like to know your English level? Take our two minute quiz, go to allearsenglish.com forward/fluencyscore. And if you believe in connection, not perfection, then hit subscribe now to make sure you don't miss anything thing. See you next time.