FAQS: Frequently Asked Questions and Rules for Participating Story Slams
What is story slam? a story slam is a competition based on the timeless art of storytelling. It puts a dual emphasis on content and performance, encouraging storytellers to focus on what they're saying and how they say it. A story slam is an exercise in crafting stories within a set time limit. It is also deeply satisfying entertainment. StoriesLive® is a course in crafting stories and performing stories in a series of Slams culminating in a Scholarship Slam. The themes for this competition are: Where I am From, Learned the Hard Way, The First Time, Lost and Found and Up the Family Tree
What does a high school need to do to participate? StoriesLive® program requirements:
1. Schools must make the program available to a majority of students in the Junior or Senior class.
2. Schools will pay a nominal ($50-$100) registration fee which gives their faculty and students access to all educational materials, reproducible teaching aids, as well as passwords to massmouth phone support and online support for the project.
3. Schools may schedule one 60-80 minute assembly from massmouth storytellers/artist educators to jump start the project. [optional]
4. Teachers will devote 3-4 classroom sessions to the storytelling curriculum. [for all options]
5. Teachers will assign 4 nights ( total of 4 hours ) of individual oral (not written) student work as homework. [for all options]
6. Administration will schedule a 1-one hour story slam with at least 10 participating students telling stories. massmouth will assist in the production of this event. The stories in both the participating high school slam and the scholarship slam will be judged by teams of randomly picked volunteer students, interested faculty, and 3 outside professionals from related fields. School wide story slams must be scheduled prior to April 15th. [for all options]
7. Participating high schools will send a representative to the Scholarship Rounds and Final Scholarship Slam, which will be held on APRIL 30th 2011, at the Cambridge Public Library, Lecture Hall and coincide with Cambridge's StoryStream Program, a city-wide celebration of story.
8. A share of up to $5,000 in scholarships will awarded to the top three winners of the regional story slam and may be be applied to any accredited post secondary educational experience.
9. May homeschooled students participate? Homeschoolers who would be Juniors or Seniors (16 - 18 years old) may participate if they call or write for permission and register their group. They must then organize and produce a story slam with 10 contestants of their peers and follow the rules as listed at the FAQs. They may, alternately, petition their local high school school if their high school is a participating member and ask for permission to perform at a school wide slam. StoriesLive® has no jurisdiction in this matter but will accept contestants who enter through this manner.
What are the themes? The themes are Where I am From, Learned the Hard Way, The First Time, Lost and Found and Up the Family Tree
What is a story slam? Based on a poetry slam format and similar to American Idol, a story slam is a contest of story on an announced theme. Contestant story slammers tell a 3- 5 minute ( depending on the slam rules) short story on the theme. Each of the featured stories is judged on how well it is told, how well it is constructed, and how well it honors the time limit and relates to the theme.
In a high school setting, classes will send one or two representatives to a school-wide slam. To send a qualified slammer to the StoriesLive! semifinals, there must have been a minimum of 10 contestants in the high school slam, at least 5 judges, two of whom must be a students, and a live audience, open to the community.
What is a story slam? Based on a poetry slam format and similar to American Idol, a story slam is a contest of story on an announced theme. Contestant story slammers tell a 3- 5 minute ( depending on the slam rules) short story on the theme. Each of the featured stories is judged on how well it is told, how well it is constructed, and how well it honors the time limit and relates to the theme.
In a high school setting, classes will send one or two representatives to a school-wide slam. To send a qualified slammer to the StoriesLive! semifinals, there must have been a minimum of 10 contestants in the high school slam, at least 5 judges, two of whom must be a students, and a live audience, open to the community.
What do you mean "real stories"? Real stories have a beginning, middle, end and they have a point. You are clear about why the story is important to you and why you want to tell it. Real stories are not a deposition or evidence in court, rather, they are a distillation of experience that are true to your experience.
How is presentation judged? Your story presentation is important. It tells us why and how we should listen to you. Your voice and body are instruments of your art. You will learn to use, verbal imagery, voice, gesture, and movement to the best of your ability in the service of your story.
What are the themes for? Your story, not just the title or "punch line", must connect in a meaningful way to the theme. This is wide open to creative interpretation and helps you focus your story at the same time.
Should I practice? You must practice. One tip is memorizing the beginning and the ending words of your story by heart. It helps with confidence and focus. Practicing before a mirror, into a recorder, in the car when alone, in your head before you go to sleep or before you get out of bed - all help. Do at least some of these MANY times. You will be glad you did.
Can a story be Funny or Sad? Both are fine, the bottom line is "genuine" - Funny is good, sad is real but all must be genuinely in service to a story. Your engagement with your genuine experience is what will make yours a story worth listening to and sets it apart from rants, stand up and what you tell your therapist or best friend.
What do the judges do? Below you will see the instructions to the judges in the 5 Judge Slam System
Instructions: Listening to each story, you will fill in the chart like the enlarged sample [next page] using numbers, from 1- 10 grade, you will give a numerical grade. Decimals are NECESSARY and you must use them to avoid ties. You will rate the performance on the three criteria listed in the form. Comments are optional and may be shared with performers…only if you want to share and they request it. Please be forthright but kind. People are here to slam stories, not each other. Reveal your final number, which is an average of all three criteria, to team Accountant. Calculators are available.
The judges use the form attached to decide their personal score. They reveal these to other judges. Chief Justice writes all scores, two people show the high and low scores to the crowd. Chief Justice/Accountant sees to it that the top and bottom scores are taken out of mix. Then Chief Justice/Accountant adds remaining three numbers and averages them, the quotient to this is the final score for the story BUT judges may decide to move up or down in case of a tie with an existing score on the board. The move it up one decimal point can be done in a count of thumbs up/ down. We must avoid ties – we only have one prize and there is a 2nd place “winner”
Show audience the score using the cards provided -
Name of storyteller: Sample is an enlarged version. Fitting three to a page to save paper. | Your Rating (1-10) | Do the math, doodle or write comments which you can decide to share ONLY of you want to do so…. | |
Story has an arc, a beginning a point of change a resolution | |||
Story presentation, how the person uses their voice, moves, gestures, makes eye contact, engages or moves the audience through performance | |||
Time + connection to theme how well it fits the and comes in on time – up 15 seconds over no points deducted BUT if 45 seconds or more ? lose one full point… no props, no notes, no musical instruments,( some singing is okay) no costumes = no winners | |||
Your total score à Use calculator to average Total | ßWrite final & compare ? Doodle ? | ||
SAMPLE judging form above
More FAQS below:
· What else can you say about a story slam ? A story slam is a competitive event in which storytellers perform their work and are judged by panels made up of professional and non professional storytellers and students from their school. The judges are instructed to give numerical scores based on the storytellers' content and performance.
· Who gets to participate in the Scholarship Rounds and the Finals? The StoryLive Scholarship Slams should be open to a majority of Juniors and Seniors from registered schools. A high school may opt make exceptions and allow Junior and Senior students, who have a story to tell, but have not taken any specific instruction from Theater, Speech, ( including district home schoolers, private school students and students from After School Story or Drama Classes) to participate in their school wide slam. Only winners of a school wide slam may advance to the finals in April.
· What are the rules? The basic rules are: Each story must be of the storyteller’s own invention.
Copyright laws apply to literary works, and story slams. Each storyteller gets 3-5 minutes (plus a 1 minute grace period) to tell a story. If the storyteller goes over the grace period, 1 full point will be deducted from the total score. The storyteller may not use notes, props, costumes or musical instruments.
Each story must be of the storyteller’s own invention Copyright laws apply to literary works, and at story slams too. Your lived experience, told in the first person, that is your ‘truth’ is the audience expectation. Not creative fiction, parody or traditional folklore, myths or other genres.
· Are the rules the same from slam to slam? Yes, we ask that all schools use the same format and adhere to these basic guidelines. Winners advance to the StoryLive Scholarship Rounds and Scholarship Finals.
· How does a story slam differ from an open mic telling?A story slam is a challenge to the teller and a gift to the audience, whereas a number of open mic settings are meant as a support network for rehearsal, improvisation and exploration. Slam performances are crafted for the audience.
· What can the audience do? Listen, laugh, groan and weep. NO interrupting. NO heckling.
· What kind of stories are told at slams? Stories you have lived or, personal narrative are the kind of stories expected. Other genres (fantasy, folk tale, poetry) will be disqualified.
