Messy and marvelous little gifts for each other

Some recent thoughts on storytelling and a peek at something I'm reading

I've been studying areas of storytelling while learning from my own experiences here in this newsletter, as well as in my day job in employee communications. I’m in a creative writing course right now (struggling with short fiction, as it were). I like stories and I would like to grow more skilled in their creation. 

There's a lot of talk about using storytelling as a tool to sell - yourself, your product, a change at work employees will not like. In that spirit, there appears to be a desire to shoehorn a story into a sales pitch and pass it off as a Eureka moment.  

The problem with this approach is if the story isn't genuine, it's very easy for the audience to see through it. At least I think so, but I may be jaded by the barrage of hustle culture, thought leadership and other content you see on LinkedIn.  

Content. There's too much content. There's too much stuff. And how much of our scrolling amounts to something meaningful?  

This is all a “man shouts at clouds” moment, but I’d like a story can sit with, even for only a few minutes. Less content churn madness. 

I'm confident this does not bode well for website analytics or the algorithm.  

I don't care.  

I’ve experienced bouts of low readership/viewership/listenership in my internet life of 20 some years. I won't let that bother my enjoyment of the experience.  

Maybe it's the ‘90s kid in me who spent hours recording mixtapes only I would hear. Until I started sending some to the girl who would be my wife. She sent some back. We were the only two people listening and that worked out very well.

On studying storytelling

I recently picked up a copy of How to Tell a Story: The Essential Guide to Memorable Storytelling from the Moth. It’s a thorough look behind the scenes into how The Moth works with storytellers in crafting their story from idea to stage.

It’s full of excellent advice, but also insight into what keeps us from telling our stories as well as what happens when we tell our stories.

This comment from Moth founding board member Judith Stone jumped out at me because I’ve seen this firsthand with the Tell Me a Story series:

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Judith Stone, Founding Moth Board Member and Storyteller: Instructors in The Moth’s Community Program like to start each storytelling workshop by saying, “Sharing a story is an act of courage and an act of generosity.”

Both are spectacular components, but it’s the second that moves me most—the gifts storytellers bestow on an audience.

Thanks to the generosity of storytellers, we listeners are almost always granted the pleasure of simultaneously losing ourselves and finding ourselves in the story.

We’re restored to compassion and possibility and reconnected to our messy, marvelous, exasperating, exalted human community. For a while, at least, our hearts and minds are open. That’s good practice for after the stories are over.

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There is vulnerability in sharing an honest story, and I can understand why someone might be uncomfortable with that. I can certainly understand that when it’s with an audience, either in person or virtual.

I’ve also been witness to remarkable vulnerability and I can testify it does feel like a gift.

“Messy, marvelous” little gifts to open our hearts and minds and help us connect.

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While not necessarily a true story, I felt inclined to share this anyway.