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Read time: 3 mins
"So, tell me about you."
Inner response:
UGH do I have to?!
What to say?!
How to not be boring?!
Talking about yourself and sharing your personal story can feel HARD.
But you can't avoid it if you want to build a career or business.
Today we're sharing 3 simple tactics to make it easier for you.
Our hope is that one day, you love sharing your story and that this newsletter helps.
Let's get into it:
Opportunities to tell your personal story come up everywhere:
- During the job hunt process
- When you're positioning yourself for a promotion or raise
- As you're networking
- Through building relationships with new or potential customers
It's important because people will want to work with you if they know, like, and trust you.
Sharing who you are and what you're about helps build that relationship.
Once you master the skill, it can be your superpower💪.
3 WAYS TO MAKE SHARING YOUR PERSONAL STORY EASIER
1. Remember it's a skill that you can learn:
Please do this immediately:
Stop telling yourself you're bad at talking about yourself.
You're not.
You're not boring.
You don't have nothing to say.
Rather, you just haven't learned the SKILL of telling your story.
Good news!
It's a skill that can be learned.
2. Use a framework:
There are lots of frameworks to choose from, but the easiest one is PRESENT, PAST, FUTURE.
When talking about yourself, state a sentence or two for each time period.
E.g. In an interview:
- Quick overview of what's unique and notable about you (i.e. the qualities you have today/PRESENT)
- What got you here today (i.e. your PAST skills, experience, etc.)
- What your goals are going forward (i.e. your FUTURE)
We suggest keeping the story short (under 60 seconds) to maintain interest and evoke curiosity.
The best personal stories are the ones that have your listener wanting more, leaving room for questions and conversation.
3. Practice:
You won't be a master storyteller on Day 1.
But if you practice it, you'll get really good, really darn quick.
We suggest writing down your story so you're not winging it.
Once you have written it, get creative.
Share your story with your partner, your dog, your mirror, your phone, etc.
The more reps you put in, and the more feedback you get, the more effective you'll be.
BONUS: Have different 'cuts' of your story
You need to adjust your story to suit different situations:
- How well does your audience know you?
- What does your audience care most about?
- What outcome do you want?
Don't have a one-size-fits-all story that you recycle every time.
Get creative again, and create multiple versions of your story that emphasise different aspects of you that will suit a variety of situations.
Then get out and play!
Remember, this is a skill that you can learn.
For those of you who are action takers, we're offering even more free help. 👇
For the action takers:
We know it's not easy. So we'd love to help.
-
Record your personal story on a video or voice memo and send it to us here.
-
We'll be choosing 1 submission and offering a free 1:1 consultation to help you elevate your storytelling to support your goals.
There may be extra benefits for those who send us videos too :)
Thanks for reading!
Speak soon,
Lynne and Steve
TLDR
- Telling your story confidently is hard for a lot of people, but it's an important skill that can be learned.
- Use a framework to structure your story, and practice telling it.
- Make a video with your story and send it to us so we can help you! See the For action takers section.
PS
Did you find this useful?
If so, please share this newsletter with a friend or colleague who could benefit from it.
We're aiming to make this newsletter a valuable free resource for the community, thanks so much for helping us grow it!