The Corporate Storyteller

Do you, like many leaders I've worked with, feel challenged to find appropriate stories to tell when you need to drive home a point? If you believe you just don't have good stories to tell, remember that everyone has a lifetime of great stories to draw from--and tells them regularly. You simply need to learn to be intentional.

To start mining your experiences for the gems from your own life, try this simple process:
1. Clarify your key point until you can express it in a few words
2. Recall various times in your life when you've gained appreciation for that lesson
3. Fill in as many details about those experiences as you can remember
4. Jot down the details until one of those comes alive all over again
5. Develop the story of that one experience and relate it to the point you want to make

By practicing this process on a regular basis, you'll soon have a group of reliable stories that will be the start of a rich collection to draw from.