Storytelling class with students practicing oral storytelling and performance skills

Storytelling: Write & Tell with Impact


what students are saying

🎭 Inspiring Instructor ✍️ Storytelling Skills 🚀 Confidence Boost 🤝 Supportive Community

Everybody has a story to tell. Stories captivate, entertain and motivate people. In this practical and inspiring course, learn how to confidently craft and deliver your own true stories for performance, business or personal growth.

Led by professional storyteller, comedian and facilitator John Knowles, this course provides a step-by-step guide to transforming your memories into compelling narratives. You’ll discover how to shape and distil your experiences into engaging scripts, apply stagecraft techniques, and bring your story to life with voice, presence and authenticity.

Whether you want to shine at a dinner party, ace a job interview, deliver a powerful elevator pitch or step onto a stage, this course will help you hold attention, spark emotion and leave a lasting impression.

Course Outline

  • What makes great storytelling: Explore humour, vulnerability, pathos and the elements that captivate audiences.
  • Finding your story: Identify story-worthy moments from your life and match them to the right audience and context.
  • Crafting your narrative: Structure your story with strong openings, clear plot points and emotional impact.
  • Finessing and performance: Develop stage presence, voice variation, body language and audience engagement techniques.
  • Practice and feedback: Refine and deliver your story in a supportive environment.

Schedule

  • 7 sessions
  • Tuesdays, 6:00pm – 8:30pm
  • Held at Rozelle Campus, 2A Gordon Street, Rozelle NSW 2039

Details

You will learn

  • Craft and structure compelling true stories from personal experiences
  • Apply stagecraft techniques including voice, body language and presence
  • Use proactive listening and humour to enhance audience engagement

You will get

  • Expert guidance from professional storyteller John Knowles
  • Practical writing exercises and illustrated examples
  • Supportive feedback in an interactive workshop setting

Appropriate for

Beginners and aspiring writers, media and communications professionals, and anyone wanting to improve their storytelling and interpersonal communication skills.


Preparation

What to bring

  • Notebook and pen or laptop for writing

What to wear

Casual


Your Teacher

Sydney Community College

Sydney Community College

38 reviews

Sydney Community College is a registered charity with a voluntary Board of Directors

The College has a mission to offer innovative continuing adult education and training programmes that support individual efforts and facilitate sustainable social change.

We do this by:

  • Providing quality continuing adult education opportunities for people to build practical and theoretical skills and develop knowledge;
  • Leveraging from and developing community capacity and inclusivity;
  • Developing innovative affordable and accessible skills training programmes;
  • Partnering with like organisations to deliver learning opportunities for disadvantaged individuals and communities;
  • Partnering with all levels of government to deliver education policy objectives.

4.8 (5 reviews)
Stephen
Sep 2025
This course was great for fleshing out story ideas and how to script them with a structure for maximum impact. John is an accomplished performer who encourages everyone to participate, it was also really good to see others find their story and improve throughout the course. Thank you John.
Emma
Sep 2025
I cannot fault this course, it was exceptional... I joined the © class nervous and departed feeling confident in my ability to retell not just my "one best story", but any story I want to communicate. John was above generous with his time. energy and his own personal pool of resources...
Michael
Sep 2025
Fantastic course. John is an exceptionally talented instructor and performer. I learned a lot and encourage others who are interested in improving in the art of story telling to take this course.

Terms

Cancellations & Refunds

If the organiser cancels the class:

You are entitled to a full refund.

If you can't attend the class:

You’re welcome to send someone in your place.

OR

  • A refund can be requested 10 days before class starts. An admin fee of AU$45.00 applies.

Terms & Conditions

At Sydney Community College, we know that plans can change unexpectedly. Whether it’s a shift in your schedule, a family emergency, or just a change of heart, we want to support you in the fairest way possible.  

At the same time, we’re a not-for-profit organisation that commits resources to running each class—so last-minute cancellations can significantly impact our ability to offer quality, affordable programs.

That’s why we’ve created a simple, transparent policy that balances your need for flexibility with our need to plan and deliver courses sustainably.  Our cancellation policy offers two clear options, depending on when you notify us:

Cancel More Than 10 Days Before the Course Starts – You can choose to receive a full refund, minus a $45 administration fee OR a non-refundable credit note valid for 12 months for the full value you paid for the course. This credit can be used towards any future course at the College. 

 Option 2: Cancel Within 10 Days of the Course Starting - You’ll receive a credit note valid for 12 months for 50% of the course fee you paid for the course. This credit can be used towards any future course at the College. 

Please note that both refund and credit options are only available before the course begins. Once the course has started—or if you decide to withdraw after it has commenced—no refunds or credits can be issued.  If you need to cancel your enrolment, just email us and we’ll take care of it based on the timelines above.

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