My family spent most of Sunday re-arranging our house. My wife Barb, for reasons I still don’t understand and probably shouldn’t, changed our living room and dining rooms around. This arrangement has created a problem for Captain Jack, our Jack Russell terrorist. You see, Jack loved staring out the window into the front yard. His duty is to protect our house from the crazy rabbits and he does a fine job. Now that the sofa is no longer there, this has become an issue.
Today, I find that Barb has placed a chair right at the middle window. This has now become the “Captain’s Chair.” Life is again good for Captain Jack and rabbits be warned. Ah, to be a dog. Free rent, free food, free health care, and now his own chair at the window.
I’m not sure how yet, but this will at some point turn into a story I will use in a speech somewhere. I don’t know what the message will be, or who will be the audience. I do know I like the story and can make it humorous.
What about you? What personal stories pop up in your everyday life? The audiences you speak to – employees, prospects, Toastmasters, service clubs, associations – all prefer hearing a personal story that becomes a metaphor for a message. It sure beats PowerPoint, handouts, and bad jokes. If you want to transform your speech or presentation, create a story file where you can pull out your best personal stories to include in your speech. They will add humor and become memorable to your audience.
You will undoubtedly have your audience as enthralled with you as Captain Jack is with rabbits. And THAT is a good thing!
Cheers,
(c) 2009 Dan Weedin – All Rights Reserved
