I believe stories can make a difference. Not only in your own life, but in your business.
An amazing thing happened at two conferences recently. At both, I presented the same speech. An inspirational talk that was intended to get people thinking about their stories. How they can use their life struggles in their businesses and in their marketing efforts. But also how they can and should use tools and workflows to get past life’s struggles. For me, it’s dyslexia and color blindness that plays a role in my day-to-day. But I was also bullied heavily growing up which impacts my social abilities. I am an ambivert, meaning I border both introversion and extroversion.
At the end of the speech, I ask the attendees what their stories are. I offer everyone the ability to stand (or sit) and share a struggle they have gone through or are going through. In a way, it can be a nice release for people to share. But many are too shy or introverted to do so. What I find is most of the time people come up after a speech to talk more, in private. They like asking questions too, without others hearing.
At the first conference I presented this to, a woman who is also a photographer, came up to me afterward to talk about her blindness. She can see, but she’s legally blind and uses a magnifying glass to read. She was sharing her story and struggle and I felt happy to have the knowledge to share some tools that can benefit her.
At the second conference I presented this to, a man sat and said that he wanted to share his story but was nervous. I told him I was too and it’s ok. He didn’t have to share it. But then he did. The man has autism and he shared that growing up he did not know how to make friends. Eventually, he discovered the Rubik cube and competitions for them. At those competitions, he felt comfortable and able to make friends. I asked him how fast he can solve a cube and he said 24 seconds.
Stories are powerful.
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