This comment seems to come up every time we discuss storytelling, “But I don’t have any stories!” I have but one response when I hear that comment (with both a smile and a wink.) “You’re wrong.” I’m usually not one to tell my students they’re flat out wrong, but this is one of those exceptions.
If you think you don’t have any good stories, maybe you’re not really looking or maybe you don’t really know where to look. Let’s help you with both.
- First, HOW can you become better at looking for stories?
- Second, WHERE is the best place to find the seedling of your next story?
First, Become an Observer
Daniel Kahneman has studied how we all think for most of his career. In his book Thinking Fast and Slow he explains how we all have two systems operating in our minds. He calls them System 1 and System 2. (I can’t help but think of Dr. Seuss and The Cat in the Hat with Thing 1 and Thing 2 every time I read that.)
The world of System 1 is the automatic. It’s in charge of directing your attention and making snap judgements. For example, System 1 is great at driving on a straight and empty highway, noticing a surface is hot when you touch it, or knowing that 2 + 2 = 4. This is the part of our brain that’s always on and always monitoring. It takes care of our day-to-day, mundane habits so we don’t have to bother the big thinker… System 2.
System 2 takes care of the heavy lifting. It gets involved when System 1 has prompted it into action. When you hear a loud “bang!” your System 1 will whip your head around to look. It will also notify System 2 to figure out the source, assess any damage, and figure out what to do next!
When we go through our day on autopilot (System 1 is in the HOUSE!) our System 2 stays calm and relaxed. In fact Kanehman points out that deep down we’re all a bit lazy. It’s hard work to activate System 2 and we don’t like doing it. We tend to select our actions based on the paths of least resistance (“If System 1 can handle it, then just handle it!”). Because of this, our System 2 tries to stay on the couch all day watching Netflix while System 1 is on the clock.
Second, The Unexpected Source
If you want to train your brain to notice more story sources, start taking notice of where System 1 draws your attention. Your best source for stories is something unexpected. By the way, that’s not a sentence meant to be a cliff-hanger before I tell you the unexpected source. THAT IS the source… the unexpected!
Any time you experience something unexpected, your System 2 will be required to pause BirdBox on Netflix and get off the couch. It’s required to look at the situation because System 1 doesn’t have this one in the playbook. It’s new. It’s different. It’s unexpected. This situation has never been encountered before, so System 1 doesn’t know what to do.
Don’t worry, you’ll do this naturally because we’re all wired this way. System 2 looks at the situation and attempts to make sense or rectify the situation. But it also develops a template for System 1’s future playbook. If System 2 can get the new play into the playbook for System 1… then maybe System 2 can spend more time with Sandra Bullock and Netflix!
This is our brain’s natural learning process. We experience a new situation. We reflect on the situation to learn from it. We file it away in the playbook for future reference.
These unexpected experiences happen all the time and they are the seedlings for your next great story!
Now,… Write it Down!
Here’s the problem… we all know how to handle many of life’s simple situations (filed away in the playbook for System 1’s future use), but if we’re asked, “Where did you learn that?” We might be at a loss because we’ve forgotten. We forgot the original learning experience. Once you experience the unexpected and learn from it, write it down!
A great suggestion from one of our Sr. Trainers, Todd Zwissler, is what he calls the Daily Homework. Each day write down one unexpected thing from your day. If you do this with a digital tool (Apple Notes, Evernote, OneNote), you can include key words or tags so you can easily search your story seedlings in the future.
For example, you might have the following experiences documented for the past three days:
- The VP asked EVERYONE on one side of the dinner table to slide down a little, so I had more room at the end of the table. #leadership #service #courtesy
- Visited Federal Hill in Providence and noticed the Italian colored stripe down the center of the road. #history #Italy #family
- Talked to flight attendant and found out best place for food in Taiwan #travel #cuisine
With these recorded in your Notes tool, you can easily search them later by keyword or tag to find the seedling for your next story.
Here’s my challenge for you… Write down one unexpected thing you experienced today and what you learned from it.
Here’s something you can expect… I’ll see you next week.
Russ
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iSpeak teaches workshops on Professional Selling to help sales leaders gather the most important data and then use that information to create the right message. Are your sales presentations closing eyelids or deals?R
Russ Peterson Jr. is the co-founder and Managing Director of iSpeak, Inc. – An award-winning professional development training company. Russ is a speaker, international trainer, and published author on Professional Sales Communication and Business Communication. He delivers workshops, keynotes, and personal communication coaching services to business professionals in the US and around the world. His leadership blog assists leaders in giving voice to their vision. You can connect with Russ directly through Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.
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