These 4 words are in all the best stories

It’s last week, and I’m on an airplane to Brazil with my two little kids. 

We’re off to spend some time with our families, and in a few weeks Patricia will fly out to join us. 

As soon as the kids fall asleep, I reach down into my backpack for my Kindle. 

It’s not there. 

“That’s strange,” I think. Did I put it somewhere else? 

Starting to get a bad feeling, I touch the outside of my backpack hoping it’s flat and hard–but it’s soft. 

My laptop is not there either. 

Then I realise what happened: 

I went through airport security, put the tray with liquids on top of the tray with my electronics, got distracted helping the kids get all their stuff and left it there. 

Then it hits me: without my laptop, I don’t have any of their movies or cartoons anymore. How am I going to keep two small kids entertained for 15 hours??

I also realise I have a ton of work I need to do, and I need my laptop to do it. 

And finally I think about how much it’s going to cost me to replace the damn thing… 

As we land, I call my wife in Barcelona and tell her what happened. She tries the airport lost property and no one answers the phone. 

She emails them, and gets no reply. 

“Once I finish work I’ll go there, maybe they’ve found it!”

I don’t really share her optimism, but what can I do? 

So I spend the next hours kicking myself for being so stupid, thinking about the nightmare my time away is going to be. 

Then I get a message on my phone. It’s from Patricia. 

It’s a picture of an airport security tray. 

With my laptop and Kindle in it. 

But the best thing is what she tells me right after: 

“There were 18 laptops left behind just yesterday. Crazy, right?”

So now my wife’s happy because she can watch Bridgerton while I’m gone. 

And I’m relieved, because I might be stupid, but at least I’m not the only one 😅

Four words

There are many things a story can do: 

• Entertain 

• Make a point 

• Share a lesson 

• Explain something through an analogy

• Make something more memorable

• Move people emotionally 

But at its most basic, a story can connect people. It can show we understand them, we have empathy for their problems, we’ve been where they are. 

The best stories, the ones that stick with us for longer, all have the same four-word message: 

You are not alone. 

And that’s why stories of success and triumph are less powerful than stories of mistakes and failures–because they are harder to relate to. 

At our core, we humans are full of doubts and fears. We think we’re not good enough. We’re afraid of what people will think of us. 

The stories that show you struggling and questioning yourself are the stories that tell your audience: I am just like you. I screw up too. You are not alone. 

And that is reason enough to tell some stories 🤘

-Francisco 

Whenever you're ready, there are 3 ways I can help you:

1. Getting clarity through your story to stand out from all the other coaches, speakers and entrepreneurs out there 

2. If you dream of speaking on the Red Dot, take this Scorecard and instantly discover how likely your idea is to be accepted by a TED-style organizing committee

3. If you (or your team) got any storytelling challenges, I’m sure there’s something we can do together ;-)

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