Clara Susan Dicks: Storyteller

Clara performed in the Great Hartford Story Slam last month. Her story wasn’t scored because two of the three judges were her parents, but here’s the thing:

She didn’t tell the best story of the night.

She didn’t tell the second-best story of the night.

But she absolutely, undeniably told the third-best story of the night.

In a field of ten adult storytellers – some with a great deal of experience – she was third best.

Funny. Poignant. Concise. Heartfelt.

She was spectacular. A great story by any standard, but a truly stellar story for a teenage girl.

Here’s the other thing:

She never asked me for help. Never ran her story by me. Never solicited any tips or hints or ideas. Just took the stage and performed.

People pay me to help them with their stories. Companies and hospitals and politicians and attorneys and the clergy pay me to help them with their stories. Fortune 100 companies pay me retainers to help them with their stories. I’ve written a book on storytelling and am nearly finished with another. I’ve won a record 10 Moth GrandSLAM championships and 59 StorySLAM competitions.

Clara knows all of this. She has access to me at all hours of the day. She could’ve asked me to help at any moment. She could’ve asked Elysha, too, who also knows her fair share about storytelling and often helps me refine stories.

Yet she did it all on her own. Rather than leaning on the expertise of her father, she chose to do it by herself.

And she crushed it.

I’m so proud of her.