Photo by Toa Heftiba on Unsplash
A statement I often hear from people is, “I don’t have a story anyone would want to listen to.”
I can give you one thousand reasons why this is not true, but here are three:
If you own a business,
If you’ve ever been in a long-term relationship,
If you have children,
You have stories to tell.
These are only three reasons, but they’re a good starting place.
Why People Don’t See Value In Their Own Stories
The problem every person has is that we are each familiar with our experiences, so they often don’t seem meaningful to us. We can’t see the value in them for others.
This is true of speech coaches, too. I’ve shared my experiences and stories with friends and had them ask me, “Is that in one of your speeches? If not, it should be!”
This idea was driven home to me this week when I was listening to the Unforgettable Presentations podcast, hosted by my friends Darren LaCroix and Mark Brown, CSP Brown. During their most recent episode, entitled “The Greatest Story Never Told” they shared this idea…
One person’s mundane is another person’s magnificence.
This quote has stuck with me for the last two days. There’s so much significance in it. Because we’re 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 you’ve given them a new perspective or new insight. The worst they can do is say “no.” Most of the time, however, you’re going to be pleasantly surprised at the responses you get.
When you hear this new wisdom your story provides, it’s time to get to work, to prepare it to present to audiences.
Don’t fall into the trap many people do that, because your story isn’t newsworthy it isn’t valuable. The most valuable narratives I’ve 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 you’ve just read, the biggest challenge to writing stories is you usually cannot see the power or the message in your own experiences because you’re too close to them. You lived those through those events and it’s 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 you’re 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
Michael’s 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 - it’s a learnable skill. Once he discovered this ‘secret’ he became a voracious student of the craft. He took courses, studied some of the world’s 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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