More stories, please

You and I share two similarities.

1. We are suckers for a good story.

2. We are storytellers.

Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash

The problem is that we’ve been brainwashed into believing that’s someone else’s gift, not ours.

The world is in dire need of more stories. Not Snapchat and Instagram stories. Real stories. We cannot afford to miss out on the untold stories brewing inside of you. It’s time to embrace your inner storyteller.

What’s the deal with stories?

Above all, they help us make sense of an otherwise nonsensical world. It doesn’t matter if the story is true or not. All that matters is if it resonates.

The first recorded stories date back to 700 BC with Gilgamesh and The Iliad. But I have an inkling we started telling stories thousands of years earlier around a campfire to celebrate another day of not being eaten by a tiger on the savannah. Now we tell stories around a dinner table to celebrate another day of not being eaten by a boss on the job.

Stories are the closest thing we have to time travel. They connect us to each other across millenia. They are the best tool we have to transfer a message from one brain to another. Refusing to storytell puts our existence at risk. The stakes could not be higher.

Here’s one of my favorites shared by the late great Anthony de Mello.

A bus ride

There was a bus full of tourists riding along a winding road. They were driving through the most beautiful countryside imaginable. Surrounded by a pristine lake, a stunning sunrise, and an enchanting forest. But nobody could see any of it because the curtains were drawn.

Meanwhile, the ladies were arguing over who was best dressed. The men were bragging about who had the highest 401k investment returns. The kids were jostling over who got to sit in the front row.

These superficial battles waged on throughout the entirety of the trip. Nobody thought to open the curtains to let their eyes feast upon the natural beauty all around them. They arrived at their destination without ever realizing what they had missed.

Wasn’t that more powerful than merely telling you to stop arguing over petty things and to take a step back to appreciate life as it is?

Why not you?

The challenge is that we underestimate our storytelling capabilities. We’ve been bamboozled into thinking a select few of us are natural born storytellers. But not us. It’s a false belief. Storytelling is a skill that can be improved.

There are no out-of-the-womb storytellers. The good stories inside of us only begin to reveal themselves after telling hundreds of bad stories. It requires a dose of vulnerability to get your reps in.

Comedy

Photo by Call Me Fred on Unsplash

Comedians are the perfect example because they are modern day storytellers at their finest. They are able to captivate an audience who willingly sit in silence and listen to them tell story after story. Yet they weren’t naturals which makes it even more beautiful. 

Jerry Seinfeld and Dave Chappelle were willing to put in the failed reps of standing up on stage night after night telling one bad story after another. Watch their first few gigs and take solace in the fact that they got zero laughs, or even worse, got booed off stage.

The only difference between them and the countless would-be comics who were lost to history was that they kept showing up. Tweaking their stories bit by bit until they got those first few laughs. The rest was history.

The fascinating part about comedy and stories in general is that there is no one size fits all. But everyone can find their own audience who will resonate with their story.

My favorite story may do nothing for you. Your favorite story may do nothing for me. And that’s ok. There is no such thing as a bad story, just an unperfected story that requires more reps.

Your turn

We need more storytellers. So how about you?

You may think you are incapable of telling a good story because you don’t have the storytelling gene. Nonsense. It just means you haven’t told enough bad stories yet.

It comes back to what I previously wrote about in my essay “Merely do the work”. The path to a good story is paved with countless bad stories.

I believe wholeheartedly that we can never become oversaturated with too many stories. Once we hear a good one we want another. And another.

So start small. Tell a 30 second story about a surprising moment from the day to your partner or best friend. See what works and what doesn’t. Do less of what doesn’t work. Do more of what does. Your stories will have no choice but to improve each time.

The best story is a well-told tale (true or not) about something the listener feels is relevant or significant to them. It takes the listener on a meaningful journey that leaves them with a jolt of insight. So always keep your audience in mind.

I guarantee you have already told a good story without even knowing it. Now I urge you to tell more stories with the intent to captivate. The ability to tell a good story pushes humanity forward.

So what?

It’s one of the most underrated skills out there. Study any person you admire and you will notice that they are good storytellers.

I didn’t write this because I consider myself a good storyteller. I wrote this to remind myself I can become one. So can you.

You have the right to remain silent, but I hope you won’t.

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Thank you to my helpful editors: Brian A., Elizabeth E., Charu G., and Sandra Y.