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Storytelling
🍀 Fortunately / Unfortunately
Build a story that keeps swinging between good luck and terrible luck.
What you need
Two or more players, or one person alternating lines.
How to play
- Begin with one simple situation.
- Add a sentence beginning with “Fortunately…”
- Next add “Unfortunately…”
- Keep alternating until you find a satisfying ending.
See one in action
Start: “Mia missed the school bus.”
Fortunately: her neighbor offered her a ride.
Unfortunately: the neighbor was going to the airport, not the school.
Fortunately: they passed a train station.
Unfortunately: Mia had left her wallet at home.
Keep alternating good and bad turns while making the story still connect.
Fortunately: her neighbor offered her a ride.
Unfortunately: the neighbor was going to the airport, not the school.
Fortunately: they passed a train station.
Unfortunately: Mia had left her wallet at home.
Keep alternating good and bad turns while making the story still connect.
10 ideas to try
Choose any one of these prompts and use the activity steps above:
- A student misses the school bus.
- A family finds a mysterious envelope at the door.
- Someone wins free tickets to a concert.
- A person adopts what they think is a very calm pet.
- A traveler gets upgraded to first class.
- Someone finds $20 on the sidewalk.
- A family rents a beautiful cabin in the woods.
- A student is chosen to represent the school in a competition.
- Someone gets the last table at a very popular restaurant.
- A person wakes up and discovers they can understand animals.
Make it harder / funnier
Every new turn must make the situation more extreme while still making sense.
Why it helps
Builds narrative flexibility, transitions, cause-and-effect, and playful improvisation.
Ready to use this skill?
Try it in Public Speaking →Take the activity into a full SpeakCoachLab practice session.