First workshop

What: Teen Storytelling Workshop with James Judd When: 4 p.m. Wednesday Where: Best Buy Teen Zone at the Clark County Library, 1401 E. Flamingo Road

Admission: Free on first-come, first-served basis

when “we don’t prepare for it,” Judd says, “and once you sort of get the hang ofhowtoputtogethera good anecdote, you’ll find yourself creating a lot of them — the Thanksgiving dinner when nobody spoke, or getting stuck in an elevator, whatever it might be, so when someone says, ‘Tell me a little story about yourself,’ you have an anecdote and the confidence to (tell) it.”

Telling stories helps to pass on personal history and keep the art of storytelling vibrant, Judd says. “We are storytellers, and as we become more and more addicted to our technology and separated from looking at other people, folk art is vanishing. So in one sense, we are keeping it alive.”

And, particularly in techaddicted times, engaging in the “empathetic experience” of sharing personal stories “leaves people feeling good.”

Contact John Przybys at jprzybys@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0280. Follow @Jjprzybys on Twitter.