Around the corner from where I live a new pharmacy is under construction. It’s rising on a good-sized corner on a busy street and the big blue sign makes the promise of “coming soon.”
The workers haven’t begun the actual building yet because they’ve been busy pounding wooden telephone-pole sized support beams into the muddy earth. By now, there are dozens of them inserted vertically into the earth and all you can see above-ground is the round top of each pole.
Each of these poles plays an important part in support of the building yet to come. No pole is too small, each makes a valuable contribution.
As you think about what stories to share, be aware that no story is too small. You have many potential stories to draw on as you develop this skill. You don’t need the big “my car almost drove off the cliff and my life passed in front of my eyes” type of story. People are interested in people and are drawn to the “every-day,” so you have a rich storehouse of potential stories to develop.
Here is a simple tool to start identifying possible stories: start working on your Life Story List.
Story Idea (one sentence) Teaching point to the Story
The time when_______________________ _________________________________________
The time when_______________________ ______________________________________
The time when_______________________ ______________________________________
You can use this by making a list of events you’ve experienced and write a one sentence idea on the left column.
Or, you can start with the right column: what do you want people to know – what’s the point or life lesson. Write that first then think about stories which match that and write this on the left.
No story is too small and each contributes to the big picture.