A very useful skill in English is to be able to tell a story or an anecdote. Anecdotes are short stories about something that happened to you or someone you know. So in this lesson you will learn to convey past events in words.

First step to tell a story is to link your ideas together. Once you sequence them it is easy for you to put it in words.

Beginning

If you are going to tell your story after someone else has already spoken to you, then you can start by saying:
- That reminds me!
- Something similar happened to me.
- Words like Firstly, to start off with can help you to start telling your story or any past event.

Continuing

Words that help you to connect or continue your story are:
- Then
- After that
- Next

Interruptions / New elements to the story

While you are telling your story and certain elements have to be added then you can use words like:
- Suddenly
- Unexpectedly

Ending

To end the story words that can be used are:
- Finally
- In the end
- Eventually
- Lastly

Tenses

Varieties of tenses are used to tell stories such as:
1) Present Tense -- used for telling jokes, or to give a dramatic effect.
2) Past simple- used to tell a story in a chronological order
3) Past continuous -- used to describe activities in progress at the time of your story or give a background to it.
Use wide range of vocabulary to make your story interesting and hope you enjoy this lesson.