Storytelling Formula

Honestly… I was fighting to pay attention. Most of the engineering award winners were talking about their technologies.

And these were amazing technologies that made such a difference! But I found it hard to listen to them.

I was going to try something different… and I was a bit nervous about it. But after hearing a few of these acceptance speeches, I decided I needed to try it.

After I accepted my alumni achievement award, I told a story about how I felt stuck in my career. How I wasn’t sure how to break free and move forward. But then, one day I decided to take on building an innovation space, even though it wasn’t my job. Even though I wasn’t even a director yet.

And I did. I secured President stakeholdership, received $1.5 mil, and was able to use half of an office floor to reconstruct this new space. The first year it opened, over 65 teams used it. Because of that, I learned I didn’t have to wait for someone to give me an opportunity – I can create one for myself. Because of that, I had the belief in myself, that I needed to start my own business. And here I am today, a business owner.

That was the first time I told that story, outside of the organization I built the innovation space. And I received so many comments afterward…

“Out of all the speeches, yours is the one I remember.”

“I really connected with what you said.”

“It was so inspiring!”

That’s the first time I felt the real power of story for myself.

Maybe you’ve heard it before. The importance of storytelling. I know I had. But had I actually done it? Not really. Not until that point.

It’s how our brain works. It’s wired to take in information through a story format – because we connect with people (at the core of the story) and not a list of information.

Yet… lists of information are used in business all the time.

Part of the problem for me was… I didn’t know how to tell a story. Especially within the workplace. Since it really isn’t done very often.

But you’re not going to have that problem. Because I’m giving you the simple formula for how to tell your leadership story.

I actually took this format from Pixar, but adapted it for the workplace.

“X months/years ago, I was ___________. I noticed ____________. One day, I decided to ________. Because of that, ________. Because of that, ________. Until finally _________.”

If you look above, I followed this format pretty closely for my story.

That’s all there is to it. You can tell a powerful story too.

Go and inspire, excite, and be remembered.

Go tell your story.

“Stories constitute the single most powerful weapon in a leader’s arsenal.”

– Dr. Howard Gardner

Harvard professor and American psychologist