Photo by Toa Heftiba on Unsplash
A statement I often hear from people is, โI donโt have a story anyone would want to listen to.โ
I can give you one thousand reasons why this is not true, but here are three:
If you own a business,
If youโve ever been in a long-term relationship,
If you have children,
You have stories to tell.
These are only three reasons, but theyโre a good starting place.
Why People Donโt See Value In Their Own Stories
The problem every person has is that we are each familiar with our experiences, so they often donโt seem meaningful to us. We canโt see the value in them for others.
This is true of speech coaches, too. Iโve shared my experiences and stories with friends and had them ask me, โIs that in one of your speeches? If not, it should be!โ
This idea was driven home to me this week when I was listening to theย Unforgettable Presentationsย podcast, hosted by my friendsย Darren LaCroixย andย Mark Brown, CSPย Brown. During their most recent episode, entitled โThe Greatest Story Never Toldโ they shared this ideaโฆ
One personโs mundane is another personโs magnificence.
This quote has stuck with me for the last two days. Thereโs so much significance in it. Because weโre each susceptible to discounting our own experiences, we overlook how much impact they could have on others.
How Do You Overcome This Problem?
Ask.
Ask your friends and family which lessons they take from your stories. Ask them if youโve given them a new perspective or new insight. The worst they can do is say โno.โ Most of the time, however, youโre going to be pleasantly surprised at the responses you get.
When you hear this new wisdom your story provides, itโs time to get to work, to prepare it to present to audiences.
Donโt fall into the trap many people do that, because your story isnโt newsworthy it isnโt valuable. The most valuable narratives Iโve heard have come from people that have not been on the news.
Get out of your comfort zone, start asking for feedback, and discover the gold in your experiences which can help others.
Discovering The Gold In Your Stories Can Be Hard. Why Do It Alone?
As youโve just read, the biggest challenge to writing stories is you usually cannot see the power or the message in your own experiences because youโre too close to them. You lived those through those events and itโs difficult to see how they can positively impact others.
Even world-class speakers have coaches to help them see the gold in their stories.
If youโre not getting the responses you like when you talk to friends or family about your stories, talk with Michael. Schedule a 15-minute call to determine how he can help you.
Schedule your no-cost & no-obligation ZOOM call:https://calendly.com/speaker017/15-minute-call
Michaelโs mission is to help leaders, managers and sales professionals communicate with more confidence, impact, and influence. This passion is born from his own communication difficulties early in his career.
Fortunately, he discovered that public speaking is like riding a bike, swimming or driving a car - itโs a learnable skill. Once he discovered this โsecretโ he became a voracious student of the craft. He took courses, studied some of the worldโs best speakers and storytellers and continues to study presentation and business storytelling skills.
He is hired by companies and organizations, leaders, managers and sales professionals, and TEDx speakers to help them become more confident, impactful and influential communicators.
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