Storytelling groups are encouraging Hongkongers to share experiences

Is there anyone out there who's worked as a human cannonball? Hong Kong seems an unlikely home for such a candidate, yet one of our residents has done just that. A petite brunette, she described her erstwhile career in Reykjavik, Iceland, at a Hong Kong Storytellers meet-up last month.

One man admitted to helping to kidnap a baby, while another loved flying, knew a great deal about planes and yearned to be a pilot - but had been overcome by bouts of depression when trying to qualify.

The event might easily have been called True confessions: all were personal stories, delivered with verve after some coaching at workshops run by founders David Young and Tom Tiding. The pair started organising Storytellers sessions two years ago, as a way to inspire people to open up and connect with each other.

Tiding, a lawyer, was keen to introduce the format to Hong Kong because he found conversations tended to be repeated over and over: "What do you do? Where are you from?"

"Hong Kong's one of those towns where people need to talk to each other more. The workshops give licence for deeper conversation," he explains. "The stories you hear contain a wealth of experiences. It's about sharing something about your life that other people might want to listen to. For storytellers, it's making them think about telling a story. They learn that they have a responsibility to tell it right."

Tiding became hooked on storytelling after attending a similar event in Washington. "I loved it - I was laughing the whole time. After the show, one of the producers came up to me - she must have seen me enjoying it - and encouraged me to get up there and tell stories with the help of workshops and classes. Now I get a real high from storytelling."