Career Advancement Newsletter

Want people …?

??? to remember …?

???????? what you say?

Tell them a good story!?

People want to hear from … YOU!?

???? And always …?

Tell Your Own Stories!?

It was a Sunday afternoon family gathering, in the Autumn of 1946, following a delicious dinner of Grandma’s fried chicken. ?My father, uncles, and older cousins gathered on the porch of her old weather-worn sharecropper house.

The men arriving too late to get one of the rocking chairs brought a cane bottom straight chair from the kitchen and leaned back against the wall. We boys sat anywhere we could find a space, waiting for the day’s ... real feast to begin.?

It was story-telling time!?

World War II was over, but nothing would be the same again except … the wonderful stories the men shared.?

As soon as one storyteller finished, another stepped forward with an even better story along the same subject line. The longer it went on, the ...?

???? main point of the story became more memorable.?

It fascinated me that every man had his own version on each subject, usually confirming or expanding the objective of the previous man’s story.?

Every man’s similar story was on the subject except ...

???? the storyteller was the ... main character.

????????? It was his story!

While listening to the stories, I could visualize myself as the main character in each one. ?Have you ever found yourself doing that?

I tamed that stubborn mule. That was me walking five miles through the snowstorm to rescue the puppy. I was driving the tractor that the landlord bought last month.?

Those stories became mine!?

The experience left me with a Principle of Creative Followership I practice and highly recommend to you.

Tell Your Own Stories!

Good storytellers … relive … their own version of an event.

????? And, so do their listeners!?

When you tell your story …

??? Your listeners will immediately …?

??????? relive … a similar event …?

???????????? occurring in their own life.?

Around the age of twenty-five, while searching for the secrets of success to enhance my career, I attended a two-day leadership training seminar featuring a long list of highly rated professional speakers. ?The subjects ranged from leadership to salesmanship, along with motivation and self-development.?

On the second day, a man went to the microphone and told an elaborate story to make his point. It was a good illustration, well delivered, but another speaker had told that same story the previous day.?

That story was not all that was repeated.

Before the seminar was over, I heard other stories repeated and several stale jokes told more than once. It surprised and disappointed me to hear much of the material repeated by others who spoke later.

Had I expected too much … believing every speaker would bring his/her unique material?

I had learned a valuable lesson …?

My stories are from my own experiences.?

Good speakers are storytellers using ...

?????????? their own original material.

When I am introduced at a speaking engagement, the audience expects to hear a message from me, not my teachers, not my boss, not a historical figure, or anyone else.?

I will not disappoint them or …

???? embarrass myself …

????? ???I Tell My Own Stories!?

What about you?

Remember …

???? People want to hear from …

??????????? YOU!?

Tell Your Own Stories!

--- Jimmy Collins?

Like ideas for your stories? My latest book?Jimmy’s Stories?is available on Biblio.com ???https://www.biblio.com/book/jimmys-stories-jimmy-collins/d/1604855871

Career advancing principles are in my book,?Creative Followership available on Biblio.com:? https://www.biblio.com/book/creative-followership-jimmy-collins/d/1604564938

#storytelling #publicspeaking #yourstory #leadership #followership