How to tell stories and become a storyteller

Well, there is so much ‘content’ about how important it is to tell stories on LinkedIn. Yes, in order to speak impactfully, we need to know how to tell a story. But, it’s not as easy as it sounds. Do you have a story to tell? If you ask yourself this question, it’s not quite a straight answer. How do you even know you have a story?

It’s easy to say, don’t talk in dry numbers, talk in stories. But where do we get these stories from. For God’s sake, what is a story?

We are going to probe all of these questions in this piece, and hopefully, make everyone who reads this a better storyteller in the process, including myself. I am excited about writing this LinkedIn article on storytelling, because I do believe I will learn a lot about stories and the art of storytelling as we go. Writing, after all, is a process of understanding.

“I don't know what I think until I write it down.”

―?Joan Didion

Let us start with the basics.

What is a story?

A story is an account of events, whether fictional or non-fictional.

Let us take a couple of examples to consider what is or is not a good story. We will consider the two narratives below to get started with the discussion:

1.?Sanjoy got up and had breakfast served by his wife, and left for office. When he reached office, he met his manager Sapna, and said hello. She assigned the routine task to him, which he finished on time before the end of the day, and came back home. He spent some time with his wife and kids, and went to sleep.

2.?Sanjoy got up and was about to have breakfast, when Sapna, his manager called up. She said there was an urgent meeting and he had to leave immediately. He told his wife that he had to go and can’t have breakfast. His wife, Pooja, was frustrated since it had become a regular occurrence with Sapna calling in regularly from the office, and she suspected Sanjoy of having an affair. Pooja worked from home, and before she could respond to Sanjoy, she got a call from her manager, who told her of an urgent meeting she had to get on, and life moved on for both Sanjoy, and Pooja. He left for work, wondering what had happened in office, and Pooja got on her work call, while wondering if Sanjoy is having a work affair.

Is there a story in the above narration? Yes, there is a story in both options 1 and 2. Which one would you tell though? You know the answer. Most of us would tell story in option 2, because it is intriguing, since there is a conflict, and the reader doesn’t know where it may lead. For clarity, both stories are fictional. I made them up.

Without getting into details about the elements in a story like narration, dialogues, plot or conflict, a good story exists when something happens out of a routine. Routines, like the one in option 1, do not make for a good story because they are predictable and hence uninteresting.

Whether you are addressing a live audience, or writing something that will be consumed later in written form, you need unpredictability and surprise to excite the audience.

How to find stories to tell?

Your life is a story. Every day, as you live, you create a story. The point is whether the story is worth telling. If you don’t find a story worth telling from your own life (which is fine, since stories don’t happen every day) when you are looking for one, keep on the lookout for stories you can tell from lives of people around you. More so, if you are a reader, you could gather stories from books you read, and share whenever an opportunity presents.

What kind of stories you could tell?

Now, all of us live unique lives, personally and professionally. Therefore, we all have unique stories to tell. Let me tell you a story from my life- a story about mental health, and depression.

When I went for my MBA to Singapore, I was quite happy. However, something triggered in my mind, which made me feel inferior and created a self-perception that I was not doing well, which wasn’t the case, to start with. I got severely depressed.

I recovered in a few months (introspection and some medication), and completed by MBA. All my analysis about what happened led me to the conclusion that the depression happened because I was constantly comparing myself to others, while life is all about discovering yourself, and shining in your own self-awareness. Ever since, I haven’t compared myself to others, and have worked on creating an individual identity, and preach the same to everyone who would listen.

Now, that’s a personal story about depression. I haven’t written in as much detail as I could here, since I am aware of limited attention spans, but I am trying to make a point about what makes a story.

Is the story powerful enough, about helping people seeking self-awareness?

I think so. It could help people think about not comparing themselves to others, which I think is a wasted pursuit, while in search of happiness.

Similarly, you could tell stories about your experiences, or you could also tell stories from other people’s experiences, in a context that’s relevant.

A story of grit and determination

For example, whenever I feel life is hard, which is frequent, since life is hard, I remind myself that one of my greatest inspirations, Nelson Mandela spent 27 years in a prison cell, while he fought the Apartheid regime in South Africa. That’s a story I like to tell myself. It reminds me that if a man can spend 27 years in a prison cell for something he believes, I can also fight what life throws at me, if I believe I am doing the right thing. How do I know this story- it’s because I read the great man’s autobiography.

Now that I am on a roll, I will tell you one last story: a story about friendship, and perhaps about love too.

When I was a young kid under 10, and dumb, I had a friend. His name was Ravi. Once while playing in the street, and I hit him with some rock, and his head started bleeding. He went home, and I came home.

I though Ravi’s parents would be at my door anytime and I would be beaten up. Nothing happened that day. Next day, Ravi came home with bandage on his head, to play. He had lied at his home about how he got hurt. I have never forgotten that that guy let me go without any punishment. I lost him somewhere but never forgot what he did for me, or perhaps did to me.

In Conclusion: How to tell a story and become a storyteller

Well, I told you a few stories. The reason I wrote this piece because I see a lot of content about becoming a storyteller on LinkedIn, and not enough gets talked about the how’s of it. I hope this post helps you think about the stories from your life that could entertain, or inspire people. If not from your life, be an observer, and observe life around you keenly, and read widely, whenever you can. Books are great sources for stories, since we can't lead so many lives, after all, so we need to learn from the stories of those who have lived before us.

There are, and will be always stories to tell.

Hey, thanks for reading.

Amar

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