Stop Pitching and Start Telling Stories: they aren’t the same thing
My anti-pitch stance wasn’t well-articulated or even defensible position in the beginning. It was a feeling. Pitching feels wrong to me the same way pick-up lines feel wrong, like a poor substitute for getting to know people and their ideas. Something in the word gives me the heebie jeebies. The Webster’s 1913 dictionary offers five […]
You aren’t funny (and that’s OK)
Earlier this week, I had a conversation with a friend-turned-client (who I still consider a friend first). She told me that introducing herself is stressful because she’s busy trying to remember all the things she wants to say and trying to make sure she fits in a joke. First of all, introducing yourself is hard. […]
Don’t Polish Your Stories
A client talked about telling only polished versions of her stories yesterday and I jumped in to correct her. Not great manners, it’s true, but this is a topic I have big feelings about. There are no polished versions of stories you tell. Every story you tell is always a story in progress. It’s a […]
When a Simple Question Makes You Freeze
You know that thing where you’re in a group and someone asks you something that seems innocent like “where are you from” or invites you to “tell me about yourself” and you just freeze? Yeah, me too. My mind races. I’m trying to analyze my audience, gauge the situation, and figure out how much energy […]
4 Ways to Tell Exciting Stories About Your (Boring) Life
You probably think your life is pretty routine and that you don’t have exciting stories to tell. You get up, eat breakfast, go to work, take kids to school, study yourself, write, whatever it is that you do to fill your days. This mundane life does not seem to be the stuff of stories, let […]
How to Use Your Professional Story to Get Hired Faster
Your professional story is made up of a carefully curated set of personal and professional stories you use to tell people about your professional goals and accomplishments. It’s the story of you. A professional story augments your resume or CV. It offers the person who reads your LinkedIn profile or your CV/resume a glimpse of […]
A Professional Story Can Help You Find a Job Faster
You can find a job faster by standing out with your story. Your resume or CV doesn’t show your employer what kind of person you are. A professional story does and that’s how a professional story can help you find a job faster. If you’re the person sorting through a pile of CVs, most of […]
How to Customize your Story and Connect with People
In the past, I’ve written about how you can start a story library and how you can pick the right story for the moment. Today, I want to share with you a method to customize your story for your audience while you’re telling them and offer you a free Audience Analysis Worksheet that identifies the […]
You Need a Story Library
None of us have just one story. We have a multitude of stories. We have a multitude of identities and selves that all need their own stories. I am a mother and a reader and a writer and an entrepreneur. I am also an immigrant, Chinese, American, Dutch, woman, and so much more. So are […]
Why Controlling Your Story Matters
Life feels wildly out of control these days. COVID-19 has taken all our plans and pulped them. Some of us have been thrust into the wild world of homeschooling and others are isolated like never before. It can feel like we don’t have many choices. It can feel like we don’t have control of our lives anymore. […]