Situation:
Part of the role of Chester Zoo's educational team is to provide talks and presentations to the public about the animals at the zoo. The team wished to improve their skills and find ways of presenting information in an interesting and engaging way, appropriate to their varied audiences.
Solution:
Over an intensive and active two days, we led the participants through a storytelling workshop. We provided a variety of suitable animal stories through which they learned and practiced the skills of storytelling. By the end of the first day, they had begun to individualise the stories and to incorporate zoological facts and information into them. On the final day we helped them each create a new story and storytelling performance as part of their winter education activities.
Results:
The team of different experience levels were able to share their skills and knowledge. They found a collective style of presenting and storytelling, which enhanced each person's individuality. We gave them hands-on experience of how to deal with problematic audiences and members of the public.
By using storytelling, their presentations contained more colour and energy and allowed audiences to easily absorb and take on zoological information and important environmental themes.