Berkeley Storytelling Festival 2026 | Storytelling Workshop

An Introduction to Personal Storytelling & Live Performance

📍 Impossible Stage – 2033 University Ave, Berkeley
🗓️ September 19
🕖 12:00–2:30 PM
🎟️ Tickets available below

Have a story you’ve always wanted to tell, but never knew how to begin?

This interactive storytelling workshop, led by Shayan Ravandoust of Third Culture Tales, offers participants an introduction to the craft of personal storytelling and live performance. Drawing from years of experience producing and hosting storytelling events in the Bay Area and internationally, the workshop will guide participants through the fundamentals of developing a compelling story, finding emotional clarity, shaping narrative structure, and connecting authentically with an audience.

Through writing prompts, group exercises, and performance guidance, participants will explore how lived experiences can be transformed into engaging stories rooted in memory, identity, humor, reflection, and human connection. The workshop is designed for both first-time storytellers and those looking to strengthen their public speaking and storytelling skills in a supportive, community-centered environment.

By the end of the session, participants will leave with the foundation of a personal story and a clearer understanding of how to shape and perform it for a live audience.

Later that evening, participants will have the opportunity to submit their names for the Berkeley Open Stage, the festival’s community storytelling event, where selected participants can share the stories they developed during the workshop alongside other community storytellers.

The workshop is part of the inaugural Berkeley Storytelling Festival, an initiative of Diaspora Arts Connection (DAC) and its storytelling program Third Culture Tales, which creates platforms for stories exploring migration, identity, belonging, and life between cultures.

🎟️ Purchase tickets below to reserve your spot.

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