Speaking Through Story

There are many who think of their lives as book chapters or as a three-act play. And, like any good book that captures the reader's attention or a play that transfixes the collective gaze of an audience, I, too, think of my life as a series of stories.

Many of my stories tap into the essence of yes – the notion that what is placed in front of oneself will be accepted into the fabric of their daily life. I cannot reveal the origin of my predisposition to say yes to life. It’s not that I am holding back – it’s that I don’t have a credible beat on the why of my yes.

The close of one year brings reflection to the closing pages of one’s current chapter in life. There might be a teaser to motivate the fingers to flip to the next chapter ahead of the calendar or a brooding reminder of lessons painfully learned over the course of the last 12 months.

I find this time of year rejuvenating, even dripping with anticipation for the sentences and stories that will ultimately define the next 12 months of my life.

This has been a year of fantastical journeys filled with travel, new opportunities and friendships, and moments that generated powerful pauses in my life.

At the start of 2023, I was fortunate to be invited to speak at a TEDx event as the closing speaker. I said yes, knowing that a majority of the preparation and work would take place while I was an ocean away, at the farthest reaches of the African continent, embedding myself inside a refugee camp.

After a series of events and extended hands, I discovered an old friend and a new path complimentary to my current storytelling pursuits – keynote speaking. The power of storytelling, as a speaker, to create a global currency of connection impacting personal lives, communities of professionals, and workplace environments steeped in purpose over profits.

The process to launch has been humbling, invigorating, and downright mind-numbing at times.

Laying the foundation for this chapter and for the keynote speeches of 2024 required a look back on my relationship to speaking and the role it has played, sometimes in the background, to a life built on the tenets of storytelling.

It was the early 90s, and I had a teacher who would become a mentor, pseudo-brother, and father to a teenager yearning for purpose. Chuck May saw something in me and launched me onto stage after stage without fear or favor, knowing that it was what was best for me.

I went from a high school student speaking at local schools to securing paid speaking gigs within a matter of months. Looking back, these experiences were my initial foray into storytelling with a microphone and within the community of an audience. A powerful zone to occupy and one that demands respect for the audience.

Chapters and years flipped these on-stage experiences into moderating events at SXSW, guest lecturing at universities, presenting business ideas in front of investors, and leading storytelling efforts through messaging, branding, and advising global firms. Bundled together, these experiences landed classic storytelling opportunities with iconic publication brands and people and places of bucket list eligibility.

As the pages of this year begin to give way to forthcoming chapters, I lean into a personal and professional history of stories that fill my library with acceptance of the past and anticipation for the future.

2023 saw incredible and vast developments that will nurture and shape the chapters of my 2024, bringing opportunities in television, podcasting, keynote speaking, and authorship.

My new website is but a bookmark in a literary work I call, My Life.

Thank you to all who have extended hands in kindness, service, collaboration, education, and inspiration with me this year. I am a lucky guy who believes deeply in the power of story – mine and yours!

Cheers,

Rod