Circle of the 9 Muses

Chapter 5

Use this when you would like to enrich your story circle with a little more structure, to demonstrate the importance of each individual's voice in an organization, and to create a simple way for rich stories to begin bubbling up into the full group's awareness.

For this exercise you will need:

• A story circle experience as described in Chapter 2
• At least two story groups with a total of at least seven or eight people (with no limit on the maximum)
• One flip chart for each story circle (If you have 16 people, they will be divided into four story circles, so you will need four flip charts, each preferably with its own stand.)
• Markers and tape

Twice-told stories is another classic story-sharing construct, and it has become a centerpiece of many of the story experiences that I host. The idea behind twice-told stories is very simple. If you have at least two story circles sharing their experiences at the same time, the room will be full of energy and sound as those concurrent story conversations fill the space. Members of one story circle may well think to themselves, I wonder what kinds of stories my colleagues are telling over in the other group. With twice-told stories, they will find out! Each group will have an opportunity to hear selected stories from the other groups—and a simple filtering process will ensure that especially rich, impactful, or urgent stories ...