I’m crossing the street when I hear the shouts behind me.
“Stop right there, bro, stop!”
I don’t stop. I make it to the sidewalk as fast as I can, but he’s faster. I feel something touch my lower back.
“Stop or I’ll stick you with this knife.”
I’m 13, and I’m about to be robbed for the first time.
“Alright, lemme see those shoes,” he says.
I’m wearing my brand new purple Patrick Ewing shoes, and they’re dope. It’s gonna suck to lose them.
“Niiiice. What size are they?”
“Size 12.”
“Goddamn, that’s way too big for me!” He looks me up and down, and says,
“What else have you got on you?”
I haven’t got anything on me. I was on my way to a friend’s house to play basketball, and I left with nothing. Well, almost nothing.
“I don’t… I mean… all I have are my house keys… and this floppy disk.”
“What’s a floppy disk?”
Oh, crap. He’s probably never seen a floppy disk, there’s no way he’s caught up with all the new technology.
I wanted to show the Prince of Persia game to my friend, but if I explain what the disk is for this guy might think I’m rich. What if he wants to go back to my dad’s house for the computer?
“It’s… ahm… just something I… it’s for school.”
I can see in his eyes he loses interest immediately.
“Bloody hell. Ok, run along, and don’t look back! I’ll be watching you.”
I get to my friend’s house and tell everyone what happened. It doesn’t get me more than a “That could’ve sucked” and “You got lucky there!”
We live in Brazil, crime is everywhere. It’s no big deal. It’s surely not worth losing sleep over.
*
About 5 years later, someone will break into my house and put a gun to my brother’s head.
A few years after that, my girlfriend will have her car stolen in broad daylight by armed men.
A friend will lose his mom in a bank robbery gone bad.
Once I have kids, the world will show me over and over stuff that will give me nightmares.
And I’ll miss the days when all I had to worry about was having my new basketball shoes stolen.
So good it’s criminal
There are many ways to find stories, but one I use all the time is either looking for the same or the opposite.
If I want to talk about how messed up the world is now, I can tell you a story about the opposite: how cartoonish crime felt when I was a kid.
But I could also have told you about what happened to my brother, my girlfriend or my friend; that would have been same.
Do you want to talk about good leadership?
Think of a time when you had a great leader. Maybe this was a teacher or a boss. Maybe it was one of your parents. Once you have the person in mind, try to remember one example of what made them such a good leader and you'll have your story.
You can also look at the opposite: most of us either had crappy leaders - or were one. In that case, think of the thing that upset you the most, or that you most regret doing, and that's your story.
Let's say your company is rushing ahead with a project and you think that's a bad idea. So ask yourself,
Did you ever do the same, and got carried away with something that ended badly? Maybe that was when you were a kid. Maybe it was in your first job. Maybe with your first girlfriend, like what I did.
Did you ever take your time doing something, and it turned out great? That would be the opposite.
If what's happening now is good, look for a story about doing the same. If you want to create change, look for the opposite. It doesn't need to be more complicated than that.
This technique will let you find stories, but that’s not all:
If it also lets you get nostalgic about your terrible taste in shoes and one of the most fun games you ever played…
Then that's a steal🤘
-Francisco
Whenever you're ready, there are 3 ways I can help you:
Getting clarity through your story to stand out from all the other coaches, speakers and entrepreneurs out there
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
If you (or your team) got any storytelling challenges, I’m sure there’s something we can do together ;-)
Thanks for reading! Reply any time.
