Last night, I had dinner with a friend of mine. She was telling me about a recent job interview that she had. Her awareness of her approach astonished me. Here was what she did: every time she was asked a question or heard something from her interviewer that struck a chord, she would tell a personal story.
When she heard that her boss almost became a Priest, she told a story about her mom working in a monstery. When she wanted to outline her long-term commitment to a job, she told a story about working for a company for 10 years. She didn’t say she worked for a company for 10 years. She told a story about it.
Whether it be advice for an interview, a first date, or a dinner party, it revolves around a similar theme: tell stories.
Stories create tension. People crave to understand them. They want to know why you’re telling it. They want to know how it resolves.
Just think about the things you remember. You don’t remember facts, you don’t remember the how-are-yous, you remember stories.
Of course, a good story is much better than a bad one, but however the story is told, it is better to tell a story about how how the facts came to be than what the facts are.
Stories connect people. Tell them.
