Feeling overwhelmed by the idea of writing a full memoir? Why not start smaller — with one powerful story at a time.
SAG Show & Tell teaches you to create short, five-minute family stories using images, slides and words — a mini TED Talk.
Over four sessions, you’ll craft and shape your own story-driven slide presentation and practice delivering it with confidence. By the end of the course, you’ll be ready to present at one of our new in-person Show & Tell nights — or have someone else do it on your behalf.
We plan to create a welcoming space for sharing family history in a fresh format. Whether you're exploring or warming up for a longer memoir, this is the place to begin.
Skills Required:
If you can click, drag, talk and type — you’re in! Apart from being able to use Zoom, no tech skills are needed. We will walk you through the basics of making a simple slideshow using tools like PowerPoint or Google Slides. No stress, no jargon — just stories, images, and a bit of fun.
By the end of the first session, you’ll want to decide on your chosen story. It’s helpful if this is something you’ve already researched and can be illustrated with images (think historical photos, postcards, scanned ephemera). We aim to focus on storytelling rather than research.
Course Outline
Session 1 (2 hours)
- Slide presentation basics
- What makes a powerful presentation
- Can you really tell a story in 5 minutes?
- How to gather your story elements
- Story construction
- Questions
Session 2 (2 hours)
- What I learned from Lost in Shanghai
- Selecting images
- Putting it all together
- Questions
Session 3 (2 hours) - Show & Tell online
- Over to you!
- We'll run the slides (if you prefer), you'll do the Show & Tell
- Feedback and tips
This is a hands-on workshop rather than a presentation with activities through-out. A recording will be made and distributed but you’ll get the most benefit by attending live. There will be handouts at the end of each session.
Presenter: Jane Hutcheon
Jane Hutcheon is a journalist, performer and family history buff. After 25 years with the ABC, she turned the lens on her own ancestry, creating the 2022-4 theatre production Lost in Shanghai. Jane is the author of three books and writes for The Guardian, The Sydney Morning Herald, ABC Online and other publications.
You can find her on Substack: janehutcheon.substack.com
