If you use it right, personal storytelling is the most powerful tool in the world.
But the truth is, most people have no idea how to do it.
Last week this post got 1500 impressions, where I shared a framework for creating compelling stories:
Today I’ll share a story:
I had a client who was 40+ years old (female) and interviewing for jobs.
She interviewed and interviewed, but just couldn’t get past the 1st round. She had been out of work for some time and the lack of success was weighing on her.
We started work together and I shared a framework for storytelling.
PROMISE OF HER TALK
STORY THAT SUPPORTS IT
3 THINGS SHE LEARNED AS A RESULT
In the first 3 weeks, she stayed high level, never injected much of herself or her own stories into her talk. She narrated the safe stories. We weren’t learning much about HER.
I encouraged her to share a personal story.
“Remember, YOU ARE THE MOST unique thing you bring to the table.”
Something shifted in week 4.
She came to class and shared a story of a time she was rendered homeless.
Her parents owned a motel. The family also stayed on premise. Through a series of unfortunate events, her parents lost the property, leaving her and her sibling homeless. She told a heart breaking story of what the following days and weeks were like.
Trying to go to school.
Trying to put food on the table.
Trying for stability.
She had never spoken of this experience aloud. To anyone.
For the first time in class, she was sharing.
Her biggest takeaway from that trying time in her teenage life was this: She didn’t want charity.
When someone is compromised for basic things such as a home, all a person wants is —options.
You could hear a pin drop. The silence was deafening.
I was so proud of her. She had finally gone there.
In the subsequent days, something shifted in her. She started to make it through round 2 of job interviews.
Weeks later, she shared an update:
“Joya! I got a job. It’s for a 15 % pay bump over my last position.”
The drought had ended.
I congratulated her and asked “What do you attribute to landing the job?”
Because of the personal storytelling in class, I started showing up authentically in interviews.
Because of class, I had gained the confidence to ask for next steps before an interview concluded.
Because of class, what I wanted at the beginning wasn’t what I wanted by the end.
Visualize yourself telling stories that are so compelling that your calendar is booked with clients who want to work with you.
Or want to hire you to host a workshop.
But you’re struggling to create content 3 x a week. Content that converts.
Join the 8 women learning the systems and processes to create content that converts in the 2024 class of my Mastermind. The Mastermind culminates in the 8 women giving a Tedx style talk on a NYC stage.
