To tell better stories, don't believe in Shakespeare

I’m on my way to meet some friends for a curry, and I’m walking as fast as I can. 

I’m looking forward to seeing Ian and Peter again, but that’s not why I’m in a hurry: 

I want to get to the restaurant early so I can grab myself a beer and listen to a radio show, or maybe finish the book I’m reading, not sure — all I care is that I’ll be by myself. 

But that makes very little sense: I work from home. I spend almost all day alone until my family comes back. There’s no shortage of time away from other people in my life. So… how’s this different? 

I guess not all time alone feels the same. When I’m home during the day, I’ve got work to do, I can’t just read a book for fun (well, I can, I just don’t).  

When the kids are busy playing, or already sleeping, I usually got chores to take care of, or it’s already late and I’m turning in as well. 

In other words, I got responsibilities (it makes me feel old to even think that sentence…) 

Being able to snatch a bit of time for myself when there’s nothing else I should be doing feels like a gift, so I cherish those moments: 

When I’m on a train or a flight. 

When I’m waiting for a doctor’s appointment. 

When I arrive early at a restaurant. 

That’s what’s on my mind when I walk into the curry house, flag the waiter and say, 

“I’ve got a table for three in the name of Francisco.”

“Ah, yes, one of your party is already here.” 

I look around and see Ian, drinking a beer and reading something on his phone. 

“Hello sir,” I say as I pull out a chair. He looks up from his phone, a little surprised, and says, 

“Oh. You’re here already. I thought I had a little more time...”

“Yeah… I know exactly what you mean.”

*

Dinner is great. When we part ways, Peter and Ian walk together to the train station, but I decide to walk back home. 

It will take much longer — but I’m alright with that.  

It’s all in your head

This is something I’m trying to work on more: tell stories that are less external than internal, less about what happened, and more about what it made me think about (or remember). 

I sometimes think about these as “stage stories”: the type of story that works well in a storytelling event like The Moth, or that you hear from a stand-up comedian: 

• They start with a real event (a meeting, a conversation, something witnessed) 

• Then they move to thoughts, feelings or opinions about the subject

• Often they go into completely different events that are like the original (or at least related) 

• They come back to the beginning and close that loop 

I don’t think of them as “stage stories” only because that's where they're often told, but also because (I think) they are a lot less likely to work offstage. These are not the types of stories you’d easily pull off unless you had a captive audience willing to give you at least 3 to 5 uninterrupted minutes — which is fine for a keynote, probably wouldn’t work in a TEDx talk, would be way too long for a meeting, and absurd in a conversation. 

And yes, I know Shakespeare said “all the world’s a stage,” but this is really not what he meant ;-) 

But… what if I’m not onstage? 

If you’re not speaking on a stage you can still use this style of storytelling: all you have to do is make the leaps “inside” very short, and use them sparingly. It will still allow you to go somewhere interesting without completely losing — or freaking out — your audience. 

Sometimes the most interesting things take place where no one can see them. 

You just have to make sure the door you’re opening…

Is a door your audience feels like walking through 🤘

-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 ;-)

Thanks for reading! Reply any time.