Liz's Ireland Journal

Liz Weir visits Study Abroad Ireland!

The participants in Study Abroad Ireland had the pleasure and privilege of hearing Liz Weir in class on Monday, June 27th. Liz stayed with us for the whole morning, and during that time she told us 18 stories, provided us with her wisdom on the art and practice of storytelling, responded to questions, and gave us invaluable words to live by. At the end of our time together, Elizabeth Tejeda Payan first noted that she was a very accomplished woman and then asked her what life advice she would offer. Liz’s response was, “Value every day.” Later she added, “Keep yourself challenged.”

Here are the participants reflections on what they observed, appreciated, and learned:

Nicolette Beaulieu: I appreciated that she expressed that you can be an excellent storyteller with a shy personality. That was very encouraging. I learned that everyone has a story and sometimes when someone thinks they don’t, those are the most impactful ones.

Jules Corridan: I observed that Liz really embraces herself and her own way of storytelling. She is very enthusiastic when she tells. She also gets straight to the point when she tells her stories. I learned that you do not have to have any specific style of storytelling but just be yourself.

Ray Dutton: I noticed Liz’s restraint when telling, or not restraint but gentleness? She didn’t over emote where most would. It really helped build a calm atmosphere. It drew the listener in more. I learned about the importance of creating a community like space for storytelling, being on the same level as the audience and having everyone looking at each other.

Axel Bejarano Fahl: One thing that I noticed about Liz was that she didn’t need to use excessive body movements. With her voice, she led the story and it served as a tool for humor to amuse. A key takeaway from Liz was that if we as audience want to become storytellers, listening is going to be as essential as talking. Knowing who our audience is will also help us in what kind of language to use as well as time and place.

Adamari Giachetti: I liked how she admitted she was shy and had to learn to do this. I also liked how she said that it wasn’t necessary to shout or boom your voice. I learned that to be a good storyteller, you have to listen. Listen, listen, listen. Yes, talking is important, but the key is to listen.

Noel Martinez: I observed that Liz’s stores were short, but fast paced with lots of detail. I enjoyed it very much. I learned that storytellers are still very valued across the globe and that the good ones, such as Liz, get to travel a lot.

Sarai Lopez: Something I observed about her style of telling was the way she told in detail – it was very fun when she made us repeat after her like we were in control of the story. Something important I learned from storyteller Liz Weir was that “Stories make us who we are.” I believe that this statement is very powerful and ultimately true.

Elizabeth Tejeda Payan: I really like Liz’s works/service, especially when she spoke of trauma and mental illness and providing a safe space with storytelling and actual therapists. I thought was amazing. Every time she spoke, I was impressed. What a good human.

Anna Thornton: I really enjoyed Liz’s storytelling style. It felt very personal. I think that’s partly to do with her personality, but I also think she just really knows what she’s doing. I learned that really anyone can be a storyteller. Liz said that she’s shy and it really didn’t seem that way to me, but she’s also had years of experience. It showed me that with practice, we can be good storytellers too.

Vaughn Yerkes: I enjoyed how Liz’s stories were seamless between her speech. She was very good/specific about location. I learned that there are story parallels between Irish telling and Native American telling, and the word moccasin has Gaelic roots.

Malcolm Young: I appreciated Liz Weir’s very natural storytelling style and how she’d flow from story to conversation. I also liked how Liz learned all our names at the beginning and seemed to make a genuine effort to maintain eye contact and form a connection with us as an audience. I also really enjoyed how Liz provided very interesting history for her stories without it feeling too expository. It was mostly just background context for the Troubles, or the people involved.

From left to right: Nicolette Beaulieu, Adamari Giachetti, Jorge Leon, Elizabeth Tejeda Payan, Axel Bejarano Fahl, Noel Martinez, Ray Dutton, Jenny Tripp, Vaughn Yerkes, Saria Lopez, Anna Thornton, Malcolm Young, Isabel Abadia, and Jules Corridan. Liz Weir seated in the front.

Orla McGovern visits Study Abroad Ireland!

 

Orla McGovern visited Study Abroad Ireland in Athlone on Wednesday, June 23, 2022.  Orla is an actor, writer, event organizer, and storyteller based in Galway. The participants were captivated by her compelling style of storytelling and how they felt pulled into her stories.  Here are some of their comments:

Isabel Abadia: I observed the way Orla used facial and arm movements to add to the dramatics of the story. I learned that holding back emotions adds to the feelings that the audience feels.

Nicolette Beaulieu: I really liked hearing her stories and how her repertoire was so multidimensional. She embodied her stories so much so that it was easy to get lost in the story along with her. It was interesting hearing about her story-making process. She was very encouraging and was open to explaining her though processes. Overall, very positive experience.

Charlie Ellis Bradford: I liked her body language and expressiveness. I learned how vocal tone affects a story.

Ray Dutton: I noticed Orla’s casual air and tendency to slip into story rather than announce herself or say something like “once upon a time” or “long ago.” I liked this as it felt more immersive, less separated from reality. I think I learned about how to make the story more immersive by including the audience or room. This grounded the story further in reality.

Adamari Giachetti: I observed that I really enjoyed how Orla added a lot of different voices for the characters and how she added a lot of emotion. I learned that you can tell stories well without having to know it word-for-word. Unless they are traditional stories, then you would have to know it well.

Joely Hollander: I really liked how Orla was very descriptive in her storytelling which made it very easy to picture the stories, as well as her emphatic tone which pulled me into the story. From her, I learned about the Magdalene Laundries, which I’d never heard about before. The moment in her story when the woman grabbed her arm made me cry and I realized how absorbed I was when she finished the story.

Jorge Leon: I observed how people naturally have their own storytelling style despite them having little to no experience with storytelling. I liked the history of storytelling in Ireland. I learned about adding or taking away from performances thanks to my storytelling.

Sarai Lopez: I noticed that when she was telling her story she pulled a lot of things together when she talked about her life. I liked that she was theatrical and the EYE CONTACT! And she dragged me into the story when she grabbed my arm. I LOVED it! I also love how encouraging she is as well. I learned that if you hold your emotions, it has a pull-back method which made me feel the emotions she was feeling.

Susie Papadopoulos: I really liked how she told her own story and was telling stories naturally and extremely passionately which was very captivating, and she made every story seem very real.

Elizabeth Tejada Payan: I truly enjoyed how her storytelling just seemed to flow like regular conversation. It really drew me in. It moved me, the story of the nuns. I had no idea things like that happened in Ireland. Her story brought tears to my eyes.

Anna Thornton: I LOVED having Orla come to class. I was entranced. When she told the personal story of the Magdalene women, I cried real tears. I loved how she got lost in her own story. It pulled me in like magic. I loved her style and I learned how I could maybe incorporate some of that in my storytelling. I also really liked the advice she gave about writing stories.

Faith Wheelington: I loved the way that Orla used outside sounds to bring her stories alive. She was very personable and made it very easy to speak to her. I saw how she used different techniques to story tell like improv and her theatre background.

Malcolm Young: I noticed Orla had a very natural way of picking up a story by leading into it with the flow of conversation. I learned a lot about pacing and taking time to embellish details to the audience and the teller can get lost within the story.

Back row L-R: Axel Bejarano-Fahl, Faith Wheelington, Ray Dutton, Noel Martinez, Jorge Leon, Malcolm Young, Charlie Bradford, Nicolette Beaulieu, Isabel Abadia. Front row L-R: Joely Hollander, Sarai Lopez, Elizabeth Tejada-Payan, Orla McGovern, Adamari Giachetti, Susie Papadopoulos, Jenny Tripp, Anna Thornton.

Go here to learn more about Orla and her work.