Tell A Story Share Your Story
Tell Us Something stories are true personal stories, shared live, from memory, without notes.
This allows the storyteller to better connect with the audience, our community.
YOUR STORY MATTERS!
YOU MUST CALL THE PITCH LINE TO PITCH YOUR STORY: 406-203-4683
Please know that we often have more pitches than available slots for storytellers. Our Programming Committee listens to all story pitches and selects 8 from the applicants. If you are not selected, please know that the decision is not a rejection of you or your story.
TELL US SOMETHING WILL NOT GIVE A PLATFORM TO WHITE SUPREMACISTS.
After we receive your pitch, we will call you to acknowledge receipt of it. After the pitch deadline has transpired, we call everyone back to let you know if you have been selected. If you are selected, there is a 1:1 workshop and then the group workshop.
SIGN UP TO SHARE YOUR STORY!
YOU MUST CALL THE PITCH LINE TO PITCH YOUR STORY: 406-203-4683. You have 3 minutes to leave your pitch.
You can tap here on mobile to call the pitchline.
Tell Us Something Calls for Storytellers to pitch their “Self-Evident” Stories!
Tell Us Something is calling for *YOU* to pitch your true story on the theme “Self Evident”
8 storytellers will be selected to share their true personal story from memory on the theme “Self Evident” Each storyteller is paid a stipend for sharing their story.
The live event is on January 20, 2026. The pitch deadline is January 3, 2026. The required group workshop takes place on January 17, 2026.
CALL 406.203.4683 TO PITCH YOUR STORY.
Members from our Deaf community are welcome to pitch a story here: info@tellussomething.org
PITCH DEADLINE: January 3, 2026
The Tell Us Something Selection Committee will listen to all pitches after the deadline and select 8 storytellers for the event.
How to Pitch Your Story
Hopeful storytellers have three minutes to pitch the beginning, middle, and end of their true story. We’re looking for complete narratives, so please—no cliffhangers!
Pitch Line: Call us at 406-203-4683 to pitch your story summary.
For our Deaf friends: You can pitch your story by emailing the beginning, middle, and end of your story to info@tellussomething.org.
No cliffhangers on the pitch line, please. Tell us the beginning, middle, and end of your story. RESIST THE URGE TO WRITE YOUR PITCH BEFORE YOU CALL.
Don’t worry about leaving your contact info, when you call, your phone number is recorded automatically.
ATTEND THE WORKSHOP
Tell Us Something provides a workshop where you can become comfortable with your story, with the other storytellers, and form a bond with each other. It is a safe place to work out the kinks, learn what works and what doesn’t, and it is guided by you — the storytellers! Note that the workshop is REQUIRED.
Make the listeners care.
Why is what you’re telling us important? What is the payoff (or loss)? If you struggle with an answer to this, you’ll lose your audience.
Grab ‘em!
Start in the middle of the action. This helps get buy-in from the listeners.
No: “My story is about how I had an epiphany moment as a result of some unspecified thing and I want to give you lots of background information before I really get into telling you my story.”
Yes: “Four of us were floating down the river. It was 2 AM. We were paddling 24 hours a day to hopefully provide medical care to one of our camp who had been injured through no fault of her own, and we had to turn a 3 day river trip into a 1 day river trip in order to get emergency medical care to her. We had success.”
No wandering stories or endings.
Know how you will end your story before you begin telling it. This will help you build towards a powerful ending.
Have fun with your story.
Memorize key points in your story so that you know the landmarks. Play with the way you get to each landmark, and enjoy yourself, and know what you plan to say. You don’t want to crack on stage, and the audience does not want you to crack either. No need to be nervous. Imagine that you’re at a bar, telling a story to some friends.
“When I told my friends I was going to be a comedian, they all laughed. No one’s laughing now”
Tell Us Something loves funny stories. A stand-up routine is not a story.
Tell it to your therapist, not us.
So you’ve got some issues. We all do. Save it for the couch. Tell Us Something is no place for rants or whining.
Tell Us Something is Not Performance Art.
There is a way to tell a story as a performance, be it orally, via dance or some other form. The Tell Us Something stage is not that place.
No Selling.
The Tell Us Something stage is a place to share a story, not sell a product, service, idea, philosophy, political candidate or anything else.
No Hate.
Tell Us Something has a zero-tolerance policy on hate speech of any sort. Also no gratuitous sex or violence.
Give Details.
What were the smells and sounds related to what is happening in your story? How did you feel? What happened?
Do Not Over-Practice
OK, so you have a story to tell. Awesome. Be careful to not over-practice it. As one Tell Us Something storyteller said, this is not a TED talk. Keep it real and raw by being prepared and comfortable with your story, but not so rehearsed that it seems scripted.
Want to tell a story?
Storytellers must pitch their story by calling 406-203-4683.
How are storytellers chosen?
The Tell Us Something Selection Committee listens to all of the story pitches and decides together which storytellers will make the final roster for a particular event. Stories that sound rehearsed or read are less likely to be considered. You have 3-minutes to record your story pitch at 406-203-4683. Be sure to tell us what show you are pitching. Preference is given to people who have never shared a story at Tell Us Something. We are also striving to be more inclusive of our friends in the BIPOC and LBGTQ+ communities and welcome your stories.
Our Deaf friends are always welcome to pitch a story by emailing info@tellussomething.org.
//2026 EVENTS//
Pitch your story for any of the upcoming events!
JUNE 2026 (date and location TBD): A Sense of Place
OCTOBER 2026: (date and location TBD): The Pursuit of Happiness
YOU ARE INVITED TO SHARE YOUR STORY!
WHAT: call for storytellers
WHO: you! All ages are welcome to share their story. Tell Us Something events sometimes do have adult themes and storytellers sometimes use adult language.
Storytellers are selected by a committee.
Storytellers are paid $100 for sharing their stories.
