Style Coaching: The Art Of Story Telling
From what my client, let’s call him J shared, I could sense the enthusiasm in him. What he specifically wanted to achieve in this coaching session was to further ignite his passion and propel forward.
Helping him tap into the deeper recesses, I unlocked his memories one by one.
Less you think I hypnotised him, I did not. What I merely did was to trigger the memories of his past.
Stories are not just for kids. Stories are for all of us. Since time immemorial, stories have been the chief medium to pass information from one generation to another. Stories have been the biggest influence in history. From Jesus Christ to Homer to Confucius to Adolph Hitler to Winston Churchill, we have come to realize the importance of great storytelling.
Storytelling is how we convey an event in words, images and sounds. People talk to each other in stories. When we complain about a situation or person, we are telling a story. When we are relaying information, we are also telling a story.
We all have stories to tell. The stories can make us happy, angry or sad. They can make us laugh or cry. It doesn’t matter. What matters is that storytelling and human emotion are closely linked together and they strongly influence every aspect of our life. More importantly, these stories belong to us and nobody can steal them away from us. Just think of these stories as our precious memories. When we walk down memory lane and unlock the floodgates to these memories, which stories in your life have left indelible impressions on you till date?
As a leader in his organisation, J wanted to further help his team boost sales and also do well enough himself to be considered for promotion. Indeed, who would not want to move up the ranks in the corporate world? Moving up would mean having a better quality of life (hopefully). But moving up would also mean knowing how to brand yourself. In short, sell yourself to your bosses, colleagues and suppliers to say you deserve the promotion, the deal or the big project.
At first, J thought it strange why I would want him to refresh all the memories over the years, some of which had been buried and almost forgotten. Then gradually, he understood my reason.
By telling others directly you want that promotion is a little too abrupt in the Asian context. However, much as you hanker it, you can still hint at it subtly by showing, through your stories, of what you have done in the past to warrant it. The art of story telling, and telling it well, helps us understand ourselves better and also helps others to know us by building a bridge into our world. By exploring our inner selves through words and stories, we come to understand the “real” us living inside our body.
As a style coach, I don’t teach the normal boring stuff that you can read from textbooks. I share with you real life experiences that work in the practical world. Why do I love telling stories? Because stories attract, entertain and invoke emotions.
If you too want to be a master at the art of story telling to brand yourself at the top of your game, contact me now 🙂