Confab Storylab

Want to become a fantastic storyteller?

 Confab StoryLab offers in-person workshops for individuals and organizations in Montreal and Victoria. Take a deep dive into the art of storytelling while building a community, as you learn to shape and share your story.

Confabulation offers a variety of storytelling workshops and 1:1 coaching sessions throughout the year.

 

In our workshops, you’ll learn how to:

  • Communicate your story with clarity, concision and conviction
  • Find the emotional truth of your story
  • Work with storytelling tactics: structure, suspense, pacing, humour, vivid description, character, style and point of view
  • Select time-tested approaches for beginnings, middles and ending
  • Choose the most meaningful detail to move your story forward
  • Work with techniques to get your story on its feet.
 

 Confab StoryLab  Autumn 2026 

StoryLab MTL is a hands-on workshop where you’ll shape a true story from your own life, with guidance from Confabulation’s storytelling team. 🎤

This is a 5-week in-person course where you’ll learn the fundamentals of storytelling and how to apply them to write, craft and deliver memorable narratives, be it on a stage or in a presentation.

When:   October 7 – November 4, 2026  Wednesdays, 7-9pm  (plus a showcase date for friends and family TBA)
Where:  4001 rue Berri, #201 (Metro Mt.Royal) IN PERSON
Instructors:  Deb Vanslet and Michele Luchs, Confabulation story coaches

Cost: 300$ (including tax) There are only 12 spots, so register as soon as you can at the link below.

All experience levels are welcome — whether you’re new to the mic or looking to deepen your voice as a storyteller

 
Registration

What You’ll Learn

Through our 1:1 coaching, shorter sessions, or workshop series, you’ll learn how to:
  • Find your story
  • Write, edit, and structure your story
  • Offer and integrate feedback
  • Present in front of live and virtual audiences
  • Use storytelling techniques to better share ideas

Whether it’s on a stage,

in a job interview,

in a meeting room,

or at a networking event,

we’re going to help you

tell your story.

 
 

Meet our storytellers

Tap into the wealth of experience from our storytelling experts. They're here to accelerate your training, provide you with practical tips and tools you can apply to everything you learn.

Smriti Bansal

Smriti Bansal is a Montreal-based content-marketer and story coach who specialises in the art of business storytelling. She's worked with leaders in organisations including Novartis Pharmaceuticals, Braindate by e180, Fringe Festival, Creative Mornings and Grove Atlantic, helping them find their story, deliver memorable presentations, and forge deeper connections with their audiences.

Deb Vanslet

is a Montreal storyteller, writer and media artist. She has been telling stories at Confabulation since 2010, and has told stories at Yarn, Vancouver Story Slam, and Stories from the Stage at WGBH studios in Boston. In 2015, she won the 3Macs Carte Blanche QWF prize for her short story Self-Serve, and Ghost Station was published in the Queer Perspectives edition of The Malahat Review. Deb won the QWF Ian Ferrier Spoken Word prize in 2023.

Lukas Rowland

is a Montreal-based queer writer, storyteller, and bodywork practitioner specializing in Swedish massage, shiatsu, and fascial technique. He writes queer fiction, memoir and speculative stories exploring identity, and fantasy.

Michele Luchs

Michele Luchs is a Montreal-based storyteller and story coach who specialises in storytelling for non-profits and the education milieu. She has shared stories at Confabulation, This Really Happened, Yarn, The Mosquito Slam, Vancouver’s The Flame and Record Club, and is three-time winner of the Vancouver Story Slam. She has helped teachers, professors, scientists, librarians, and other professionals find their story, and use storytelling to better collaborate with others, present to diverse audiences, and develop stronger teams. 

Matt Goldberg

Matt Goldberg is the founder and artistic director of Confabulation. Through Confabulation, he has taught storytelling and coached stories and pitches for students, professionals, artists and amateurs for a range of ages and backgrounds, and for all kinds of purposes. Matt is a Montreal-based comedian, writer, actor and storyteller. He is also a founder member of Uncalled For — an award-winning Canadian sketch and improv comedy troupe, based in Montreal and Toronto. He hosts the Confabulation podcast, and has performed at Fringe Festivals and storytelling shows across Canada, as well as at special events with Centre Phi, CBC Books and Just for Laughs. Matt teaches English literature and storytelling at Vanier College, in Montreal.

Loved by Storytellers Around the World​

“Singing in the shower is great fun, but storytelling needs an audience! Joining a group workshop at Confabulation gives you both the audience and the expertise of a team of leaders. You will effortlessly, okay there's some work, go from an anecdote to a compelling story in your own unique voice. With support, encouragement and respectful feedback every step of the way.”
Claire Sherwood
csherwoodzines.com
“I had been thinking about storytelling for some time. Three years ago I saw a live performance of Confabulation. I found the performance very interesting and the fact that it was about real life events made them very touching. After that performance I joined a few Confabulation workshops and learnt a great deal about storytelling. Performing for Confabulation has given me a new career opportunity and has encouraged me to become a storyteller myself.”​
Roksana Bahramitash
bahramitash.ca