Telling Stories

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Does anyone else have trouble telling stories? I often feel like I don't know what I'm going to say next, so I often end each part on a high note, then it just drones on and eventually trails off.

Anyone else have this problem, and furthermore, does anyone know if and how it can be fixed?

I don't really like explaining anything, much less telling stories. Notice how most of my posts tend to be one liners.

I have this exact same problem when telling a story or a joke. I forget a lot of details which throws the person off and that stresses me out when I cant get my thoughts together correctly.

Exactly. I forget details and get nervous and generally suck at telling stories orally. This is why I write.

I found that a really clear, almost scripted approach worked for me, That way the clamour of prioritising what to say and how to say it didn't cause the panic or overload. It only works when there is no interuption/distraction though.

If anything I give too many details and baby the audience I am telling the story to. I think I do this because I want things to be explained to me as people tell stories to me. When I do it like this, I end up annoying my friends and family more then getting them to tell their stories the way I want to be orated to.

Yep, I have the same problem with stories and jokes. The fact that another person's attention is focused on me (the listener) is enough to throw off my train of thought and even cause speech problems.

Telling stories is no problem if you want to use your cute little imagination, but if you do it to be deceitful, that is not good.

Yeah, I've never been good at recapping things that happen to me. Things always happen that I know could be a good story, but I can't seem to make them into one. Explaining things can be a pain as well.

In other words... Me too!

I cannot tell a story very well in actual words,but I can write stories very,very well.

-SpaceCase

I start stuttering if I try to tell a story properly. I'm fairly new at the whole talking/explaining things, so I don't give myself a hard time about it. If I feel I can't do it, I don't say anything.
My posts, too, tend to remain short, as I have trouble organising the order in which they should be written.
I have always wanted to be a writer, but I think that will be a long time from now, if ever.

I can't tell a story unless it's something that actually happened.

My philosphy is that humans don't come up with original ideas so much as they rearrange old ones. At the lowest level anything you say only rearranges words you've used before, but I think it applies to sentences and whole thoughts too...

Isn't the only difference between writing a story and telling one the social pressure involved? The solution is probably just preparation and practice.

I suck at making stuff up off the top of my head.

I can write a story. Or maybe even add some bits to someone else's story, like if they're making one up and we all go around adding in the next part or something. But no way. Can't tell/make up a story on my own.

At least not without it starting to sound mysteriously like some other story (or movie) I've heard before.

I can't even tell a proper joke without blowing it somehow.

I'm a master story teller. I was talking to my cousin tonight about something that happened yesterday, and I had to stop halfway through to do something else (eat,etc.). She bugged me until I finished the story. She basically didn't say much until it was over, so I guess I had grabbed her attention. She said I should be a stand-up comedian once I got into my ranting about high school stories. I'm full of funny happenings.

Depends on content.

If I'm reciting a personal experience I'm generally ok as I just recite what I remenber. I do sometimes forget details and backtrack to fix the story thus ruining the flow.
I also mainly include facts and observations, very little "emotional" content other than I was annoyed, happy etc

If I'm having to make it up then there is no way I can do it verbally in real time. I can only do written or pre-prepared stories.