Your Story

Dear Uncommon Leaders, 

As you prepare for the week ahead, we hope you are challenged to be more uncommon in all you do!

Your Sunday Nugget

This Week's Question:

How good are you at telling your story?

This Week's Challenge: 

At Uncommon Influence, we often hear people share their work backgrounds with us. There is a wide variety of story telling skills among people we meet. After hearing so many people tell us their journey, we have come up with a few tips on crafting a compelling story:

1. Communicate what’s “uncommon” in your story.
Everyone has a story and yet not everyone shares what is uncommon in theirs. If you want your story to be memorable and compelling, think about the unique experiences that have helped shape who you are and make sure you include those when you tell your story.

2. Inject passion into your story.
No one is compelled by a boring monologue! If you’re telling your work story, make sure you focus on what brings you energy and passion at work. What do you absolutely LOVE about your job? Talk about that!

3. Keep it concise.
A great story should be long enough to describe yourself and your journey, but it shouldn’t be a 45 minute keynote speech. In my experience, the best are able to tell their story in about 5 minutes or less. The listener can always ask you questions if they want to hear more, but short and compelling is the goal.

4. Smile!
Much of communication is in our facial expressions, tone and body language and not just the words we use. If you’re telling your story and it’s not causing you to light up and smile, keep working on it. Radiating positivity can help make your story more uncommon.

Your challenge this week is to imagine someone asking you to tell them your story. What would you tell them? Use these tips to craft a compelling story you can tell in a few short minutes. So much of leadership is providing compelling clarity to those around us, and this exercise can help you get better at connecting with others.

Have a great week!

This Week's Quote to Ponder:

"Courage is to tell the story of with your whole heart." -Brene Brown

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Until next week,

LET'S GO BE UNCOMMON!

W. Kevin Harrison

Founder and Executive Coach

Uncommon Influence

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