Bar Stories Sunday Salon

Bar Stories Sunday Salon is your chance to sit in front of a friendly audience and share your works-in-progress stories that you may be crafting for a stage, or just to be more entertaining at your next dinner party or gathering!

You can bring in one of those stories you've been sharing for years…or maybe something that’s brand new! But what about the name, Bar Stories? We're happy you asked!

A "bar story" is the kind of tale you tell to captivate or entertain a group of friends in a lively, informal atmosphere…like a bar.

These stories are personal, drawn from firsthand experiences that feel authentic and relatable. They involve hooks or twists—something surprising or intriguing—that grabs people’s attention. Whether funny, dramatic, or a mix of both, they’re designed to entertain, evoking laughter, gasps, or knowing nods from the crowd.

Bar stories are concise, keeping the pace snappy to hold interest in a setting full of distractions. They often feature colorful characters—from wild friends to eccentric strangers—and, above all, they end with a bang, something that lingers in the listener’s mind.

Think of it as a story you'd naturally share with a drink in hand—unpolished, lively, and memorable.

In other words, it’s storytelling at its most human. This is the sister production to our monthly [Bar Stories Live On Stage.](https://www.meetup.com/free-monthly-storytelling-meetup/?eventOrigin=home_groups_you_organize) This one runs in a similar format, but live workshopping built in!

How it Works: There are two ways to participate in Bar Stories Sunday Salon:

Featured Storyteller—These are the people who sign-up before the show starts; they will have 7-8 minutes to share their story—on whichever topic they’d like—and guide that portion of the show.

On-the-Fly Storyteller—These are the people who come up *between* the Featured Storytellers; typically spontaneous, and inspired by something they heard in one of the previous stories, the storyteller will have 3 minutes to tell.

Storytellers will indicate before they start if they would like feedback on their story after the show, so audience members know to take notes if they'd like.

After each featured story, there will be a brief Q&A where the audience and host will have the opportunity to dig into details and ask clarifying questions. This is meant to provide the teller with some insight into the impact their story had on the audience.

When the storyteller has finished with their story, your host will ask if anyone has a similar experience, or a story more directly related to the one we just heard. If anyone raises their hand, they’ll be invited up next to share their story.

It's meant to feel like a conversation between the storytellers and the audiences and between the stories themselves; this process will repeat until we've run out of stories.

After all of the stories have been shared, people are welcome to break out into workshop groups, and discuss one another's stories, and exchange helpful suggestions and tips. There is a strong emphasis on keeping these exchanges positive and uplifting.

About the stories: Rules are not a big part of this experience, other than general kindness respect for your fellow humans. We're here to lift others up, not put them down. ‘Nuff said.

All stories, in all their forms and various stages of creation, are welcome! They don’t have to be polished, they don’t have to be complete, they don’t have to have a beginning, middle, and end, a moral, or even a lesson learned. It can be an anecdote or a romp...basically, if it happened to you and it’s a story you tell, it’s a story we want to hear!

And Notes are okay! We'd rather you tell us your story rather than read it, but if having something with you to help keep your place, remember your bullet points, etc, brings you comfort, then by all means, use it!

Stories WILL NOT be recorded. Coffee and Pastries will be provided.

Please Note: Outside food and beverage is welcome in the…