Former Vice-president of Australian Storytelling Guild (NSW) Inc, Berice is a storyteller & puppeteer, accredited public speaker, travel writer and co-author of ‘About Storytelling’ and ‘Riotous Riddles’, who presents workshops and seminars on storytelling and lifestyle issues.
Using story to connect with her audience and get her message across, she addresses diverse groups on getting the most out of life. She works in tandem with Helen, presenting Storytelling, Writing, Speaking and the Life Skills workshops -`Meeting Life’s Challenges’ and `Happiness and The Art of Living’. Berice was the instigator of ‘The Happy Book’, a strategy she used, to find the keys to her happiness (See notes of the book “Keys to Your Happiness”).
To enhance her performances, Berice uses aids such as, music, costume, and puppets from the enormous collection of glove and finger puppets, gathered on her extensive travels to countries around the world. With these puppets, magical connections are made to everyone from tiny children to retirees – and even astute businessmen – during Berice’s storytelling.
A grandmother to a number of gifted grandchildren, Berice has a specific interest in education for gifted children. She has a special rapport with pre-school children, and VPs (Vintage people) who adore her puppet performances (even hardened businessmen find them fascinating). She was invited to present storytelling workshops and appear as an after dinner speaker, for teachers of gifted and talented children at Confratute Downunder, run at Waverly College, Sydney, by the University of Western Sydney and the University of Connecticut.
Berice often travels to conferences at Universities overseas, gathering current information about aspects of storytelling and other areas of interest to her, such as, life issues. On her return, she offers lectures to students at Universities around Sydney, about the skills she has gained.
Recently, Berice has drawn heavily on her communication skills as a speaker, fighting against pollution and other prominent community causes, around Sydney – such as The Stack, in Darling Harbour.