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How To Tell Your Story When You Have No Story To Tell
Many years ago, I watched as an author was interviewed about her new book. The book was about loneliness. Judging by the number of attendees, the topic was a popular one.
“Why did you choose this topic?” the interviewer asked.
The author seemed caught off-guard.
“My agent suggested it,” she blurted out. “She said it’s a hot topic right now.”
It’s hard to imagine a worse story. But I couldn’t help feeling sorry for that author.
A lot of marketing consultants are insisting, “Tell your story.” What’s implied is, “Share a soul-baring, heart-wrenching story of how you got here.”
But sometimes you just don’t have a first-person story to tell. Like that author, we take action for purely mundane reasons that aren’t worth sharing.
One of my clients went to an event where a well-known marketing coach claimed, “You can’t run a business till you tell your story.”
No story? “Make one up!” he’d demand.
My client left early. She decided this coach had outworn his reputation.
