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Let me tell you a story about me

Using personal story in seeking work makes you stand out as an expert in your field. Your part in the story tells your listener that you have been there and can tell the tale.

You will find that storytellers are listened to with renewed interest by an interviewer who may have been through the interview process many times by now and who will welcome a breath of fresh air.

You will be listened to with closer interest for you are an experiential expert simply because you are the person that was at the centre of the story. Who better to tell the story than you?

Your story is unique. You are unique, so tell your story with confidence and talk your way to work, whether with a new client or a new employer, or an internal promotion in an organisation.

Speak out your story. You will be heard. Everyone loves to hear a story.

Everyone remembers the storyteller.

Your stories of real achievement illustrate skills and qualities and capabilities you possess that you want people to know about and to remember.

You will be remembered simply because few others will have the self-belief to tell their own stories.

You must have belief in you before others will believe. You believe you; after that it's simply a matter of gathering some believers of your own.

If it helps, write out your story beforehand and tell it like no other. You are you. You are the story.

Map it out in bullet points, add a sentence to each point; build it up until you have a story that will take less than two minutes to tell in a relaxed delivery.

State the situation, the problem, and how you were involved in its resolution and you have a story that will be heard by others with authority to make a decision on your future.

Read your written story aloud, to yourself; in the beginning it's a work in progress and you don't need others' opinions. Time enough to declaim it to loving listeners later on.

Few stories spring forth in perfect form. You must change yours and adapt it as best suits the telling. Tell and tell until you know how the story breathes without thought or hesitation.

Once the written version is to your liking, start to read it aloud.

Record it on your phone and listen to it in playback. It's often best to listen to the recording while you do something else, driving, walking, anything that will force you to listen to it in its entirety without editing.

By now, you have read the story on paper; you have read it aloud; you have listened to it as a listener. Try it on live listeners before you arrive at the critical delivery of the tale.

Once you have one good story you can develop a clutch of personal sure-fire winning stories for all uses.

Create a winning portfolio of stories and tell your story with confidence to win the day.

© Brendan Nolan 2010
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