I have this kind of unusual branding challenge for my work. For my life, really.
“Hi, I’m Shannon. I’m a storyteller & story coach.”
“Storyteller? So you’re a _____ [insert: writer, filmmaker, social media person / marketer, any number of other things and assumptions people bring to the word, storyteller.]”
What I usually say in reply is, “Nope, the OG kind. Where you get on a stage and tell a story to other people live.” I then go on to talk about other forms my work has taken, but also how incredibly sad it makes me when people reply that they “aren’t a good storyteller.” This is where the coach part comes in.
Storytelling is something we all used to be able to do. It is our most ancient legacy. We would stand around the fire and swap stories about the tiger we escaped from that day. Until a really messed up education system disempowered us, and our stories were stolen away from us and sold back, piecemeal, by large, profit-driven companies.
The more powerful we become as storytellers, the more we are able to move from hapless victim in our stories to hero and then even to step out of the story altogether, becoming the bold narrator of our stories. We start wielding our stories like light sabers. And like Jedis, we understand that storytelling is like the Force, able to be wielded for good and the not so good.
Now, Jedi Storyteller, here’s where I want you to look around, really start to see the world as it is. Literally everything starts to become a story.
Money is a story.
The clothes you wear: a story.
Race is most definitely a story.
Your relationship with your neighbor or another religion? Story.
Whether you were on time today, whether you will be able to get out of bed tomorrow…Story, story, story.
If it’s all a story, then you have the power to make different choices to change that narrative, subtly, over time.
Now that you understand that you have this superpower, too, I hope you’ll use your powers for good. For you, and for many.