The personal storytelling gathering “Out Loud Story Slam” has been running for seven years now, according to Nessa Goldman, coordinator.

These days it meets every two months at the alternating locations of Olympic Theatre Arts (OTA) in Sequim and Studio Bob in Port Angeles, where the next session will be at 7 p.m. on March 28.

“People really enjoy it,” said Goldman, who has been coordinator since 2019. “It’s a nice opportunity to hear people be vulnerable. A personal interaction with the community.”

“I’ve been doing Story Slam for a couple of years,” said Emma Amiad, who has attended nearly every session for the last two years. “I love it. So great to hear people’s stories.

“Nessa is amazing,” she continued. “She makes everyone feel comfortable and each storyteller welcome. She is also a great storyteller herself and great teacher.”

At the first Story Slam of the year, the theme was “Fortune.” Storytellers could spin the topic however they wanted as long as it was a true story from their own life.

Usually the Slam meets in the Gathering Hall at OTA, Goldman said, but on Jan. 24 the audience was so large – 65 people – that OTA moved the event to the main theatre.

Attending was a mix of veteran storytellers, people with a story to share and an attentive audience of people who love a story.

“The audience is supportive, encouraging, and it is always a fun evening,” said Amiad.

Anthony Richards, textbook artist, shares his story of gratitude next to a whiteboard graph keeping track of storytellers and their scores from three pairs of judges in the audience at Olympic Theatre Arts.

Out Loud Story Slam at its simplest is an individual telling a story from their life, with no props or costumes allowed and a scene that is set only by words.

On an deeper level Story Slam is an unusual opportunity for an audience and individual to connect. The audience is there in the scene with the storyteller.

“I’ve done a little bit of other storytelling,” said Amiad, “and with Story Slam there’s just a whole lot more activity between the speaker and audience. It’s exciting and fun. And even if you’re telling a story that’s sad or shocking, or any of those kinds of things, the audience is right there with you.”

Before the storytelling commenced, Goldman reminded the audience that the stories should have a beginning, middle and end.

Even if the story was not carefully thought out ahead of the slam, but was more of a spur of the moment offering, Goldman said it should have “thought put into it.”

On the closed-curtain stage, Goldman set up a white board with a hand drawn graph with spaces for ten names. She had two bags, one with slips that had short statements from the audience referring to the theme; Goldman read these between speakers.

The other bag had slips of paper with the names of people volunteering to tell a story.

The idea is that if more than 10 people want to speak, names would be chosen randomly, one at a time after the last speaker. At first, only three names were in the bag.

“More often than not, I am pleading with the audience to get up and share,” Goldman said. “Usually by the end of the night there are 9-10 tellers.”

From storyteller to master of ceremonies

“Without Nessa Goldman there would be no Story Slam,” said Amiad. “She does all of the work as well as encouraging folks to participate.”

Goldman has been operating Out Loud Story Slam on her own since 2022, with a some help from friends like Meredith Vincent.

“It’s a lot of production and planning,” said Goldman, who changed the event from monthly to every other month and added Studio Bob as a venue.

Ingrid Nixon started the slam in 2017 at OTA. When she was planning to move away she asked Goldman to take over.

“When Ingrid moved to Alaska, and I didn’t feel like I had the confidence to run the show on my own, I shared the job with Jeanné Sparks,” said Goldman. “She was involved from 2019 to 2022.”

Goldman said she first got involved with Story Slam at the recommendation of friends “because I love telling stories to friends. I came to one of Ingrid’s events. The first time I went I was hooked. When I started hosting, I discovered I love hosting. I do a mix of logistics and announcing and I do a bit of my own act.

“I come from a big Jewish family where storytelling is integrated in our culture, so it came kind of naturally to me.”

Goldman has extensive local experience storytelling and has shared stories on national podcasts: “Risk!,” “True Stories You Never Thought You Would Dare to Share” and “The Story Collider,” as well as a podcast out of Bremerton called “Story Night.”

Amiad said that Goldman has a “really good stage presence. She just looks so comfortable up there, and that helps other people feel comfortable too.”

Goldman said that her audience has known her child from pregnancy to present through her stories.

“People know me and my story,” she said. “I forget they know these private things about me.”

Storytellers step up

After a bit of coaxing from Goldman, eight more people dropped their names into the bag to tell their “fortune” stories.

That evening’s 11 stories varied, including a vomit-rich experience with children, ping-ponging from bad to good fortune in Mexico, 200 miles on the Camino Trail and the consequences of being well-practiced at screaming.

Kelsey Kuhn’s story, “PolkaFest 2012,” rich with physical comedy, was met with hearty laughter as she re-enacted her humiliating fall in front of a crush at a beer garden. She said it was her first time storytelling on stage.

“It felt like a good space to try it out,” Kuhn said. Her decision to perform the story that has become legend within her circle was “spur of the moment.”

She credited Goldman for making people comfortable enough to give storytelling a try.

Beth Madeville shares her story of being a hospice nurse at the first “Out Loud Story Slam” of the season at Olympic Theatre Arts.

Gentle judging

Three pairs of judges gave scores, rarely below 9.0, after each storyteller left the stage.

“Storytellers are judged by the audience, but the event is all in the spirit of sharing,” said Goldman. “I always seek judges out of the audience. The only requirements are that they must have attended before, and not be connected to anyone telling a story. I’ve thought about switching to secret judging – which we do at the grand slam. It just requires a little more help for me to get the scores tallied. Volunteers, anyone?”

Judging is based on story construction, delivery, theme and staying within the time limit.

Tia Stephens, awarded third place, told a personal love story with the memorable line, “My little goblin heart beat so fast,” and closing with, “So, if you are a little goblin – the kid that no one understands and no one ever really gets – your goblin is out there waiting for you, and I hope you find them.”

Beth Madeville placed second with a powerful audience reaction to her tale of being a hospice nurse after walking away from lucrative corporate employment.

“Hospice was a way for me to face death and dying, and I loved every minute of it,” she said on stage. “People always ask me, ‘Why did you become a hospice nurse?’ And I said it’s because when somebody gets the most devastating news that they could ever have in their life, and they make the choice to go onto hospice, they open the door of their house and they invite you in… and you see all the stories and the memories and the things that have happened, and that is a fortune that you can get nowhere else.”

First place went to veteran storyteller Amiad, who told a tale of camping in a VW van with her cat, Princess.

The top two Story Slam winners from each event are invited to compete in the annual Grand Slam, held somewhere around the new year.

“When people are on the fence about being judged I try to encourage them to think about it as more of a supportive thing,” said Goldman. “The idea is just to get the tellers to think about what they are going to share. I’ve finished last before at the Moth (a storytelling event),” and felt bad at first, “but it just made me want to tell a better story. I do think the secret judging may eliminate the hurt feelings, so it may be the new evolution if I can get the help.”

Goldman said that sharing a story “can be cathartic and heartwarming. Even though you are alone on stage the whole room is with you, and you can feel it.

“That might sound scary to some, but our audiences are the most receptive and welcoming and I don’t think I’ve ever had anyone tell me they regretted getting up on stage. I would recommend that anyone who wants to try it just jump on in. Or take my course! That’s a more gentle way to get comfortable sharing your story without the spotlight. Slowly build the confidence, and then when you’re ready, the stage will be there.”

Storytelling 101

Goldman will hold a four week personal storytelling course in March, every Wednesday from 6-8 p.m, with two classes at the Port Angeles library and two at Studio Bob for $200 per person. Graduates will perform at Studio Bob on March 28th.

For more information visit outloudstoryslam.com .

Emma Amiad shares a story about VW van camping with her Siamese Cat princess at January’s “Out Loud Story Slam” at Olympic Theatre Arts.