About the course
This course has four main goals – improving your confidence as a storyteller, exploring the kinds of stories you can tell and where to find them, ways you can set the scene and finally (and arguably most importantly), the many techniques you can use to engage your young audiences.
You may find yourself at a distance from your audience and when very young children are involved, it’s more important than ever to be able to hold your audience’s attention – especially if you are using a platform like Zoom. This course will teach you methods for captivating your audience whether in-person or online.
Want to learn why storytelling is important to a child? Wondering how storytelling helps a child’s development? This course will address all those questions and more as you enter the magic of storytelling to young children.
About the course leader
Mara Menzies grew up on the Kenyan coast, daughter of a Scottish father and Kenyan mother. Having moved to Edinburgh, she was determined that her daughter Imani would grow up with a rich appreciation for her African heritage, so she wrote her a story.
What started life as a simple picture book evolved into ‘Toto Tales’, Scotland’s finest performing arts company dedicated to bringing African stories to life, of which Mara is the creative director.
Her dream is to share her wealth of stories from across the continent, inspiring, educating, challenging perceptions and entertaining. Her stories are thought provoking, accessible, interactive and an awful lot of fun!
