I’m lying down on the examination table.
The doctor is sticking sensors all over my body.
Once he’s done, he presses some buttons, looks at his monitor, and asks,
“You work out, right?”
“I do, yes.”
“I thought so. I can tell by how strong your circulation is.”
My first thought is, “Great, it looks like all that gym time is finally paying off.”
But that’s immediately followed by, “Hold on, why does he need a bunch of sensors to see that I work out? I’m in my underwear!”
When I get home I tell Patricia my heart is in great shape.
She asks me why I look annoyed, but I don’t say anything—she wouldn’t understand…
*
That wasn’t my first weird interaction with a doctor, nowhere near. It's happened over and over again.
I remember once going to the emergency room, and telling the doctor my back had completely seized up while I was playing sports (which wasn’t true).
“Can you show me what movement you were doing?”
“Oh. Actually, I… I wasn’t playing sports. It happened… in the bedroom.”
He just stares at me, so I add, “With my wife.”
“Ok. Can you show me what movement you were doing?”
“Do you want me to… act it out?”
“Well, you can just describe it.”
So I did. And he didn’t bat an eyelid.
I guess it takes more than a middle-aged guy having an awkward injury to faze an ER doctor—either that, or I’m just a magnet for this type of thing…
*
I was just about convinced stuff like this only happened to me, but then this past Sunday, I’m at a barbecue, when one of my friends tells me,
“Go ask my wife what happened at the doctor. You’ll love it.”
What happened was that my friend’s wife went to the doctor because of some knee pain. The doctor told her what it was, and she asked,
“What causes that?”
“Sex.”
“Hah, only if it’s a lack of sex!”
“I meant your sex. It’s more common in women.”
“Oh.”
She feels really embarrassed—but I’m ecstatic.
It feels great to know I’m not special after all 😅
String theory is no rocket science
Since I keep track of potential stories everyday, I often end with a bunch of disconnected anecdotes—which are fun to tell my friends, but can be a little too flimsy to do much else with.
One way to use tiny stories like these is what I’ve done here: string a few of them together, and (hopefully) end up with something more than the sum of its parts.
The process is simple:
Look at one anecdote and figure out a theme (“I have weird interactions with doctors”)
Find another one that doubles down on that (“Here’s an even weirder interaction”)
Now find an example that contradicts whatever theme you were building (“I’m not special after all”)
Then all you need is a few lines to string these episodes together and you’re done
You don’t always have to disprove your original idea, but since the best stories are about change, about the characters having an arc, it just works better if you do it that way: “I used to think this, but now I think that.”
For example, if I want to tell a story about being a better parent than I give myself credit for, I can use a couple of anecdotes about me screwing up with the kids, and kicking myself for it, and then one about coming up with some genius way of helping them out (or even just being there for them). Two anecdotes making one point, then the final one going in the opposite direction. (It might also work with just two!)
A note of caution
As I’m sure you’ve noticed, I went a little closer to the line with the subject of the second and third anecdotes. I’m good with that (and I’d probably be disappointed if any of my audience felt offended by it), but I still chose my words carefully, and told the story less explicitly than I could have. There’s no need to risk losing someone if the story doesn’t need it (t and this one didn’t).
Keep in mind, though, that I only believe that when it comes to my professional storytelling:
If you’re ever at a barbecue with me…
I can’t promise I’ll play that nice 🤘
-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.
