• General structure
  • Set the scene
  • Problem
  • Suffering
  • Growth
  • Solution
  • Growth for audience
• Make it personal
• Specific > generic
  • Use names: Melody Bochannek > A good friend of mine
  • Perspective: I, you, we > someone/he/she/they
  • Use dates, places, etc.
  • direct speech > indirect speech
• Focus on emotions, especially suffering
• High level
  • Paint the scene vividly, talk to all the senses
  • Focus on the audience, make them relate to your story

Think of a something that happened to you that

• made you (at least a bit) emotional
• put you in front of a problem that was difficult to solve
• had a solution that might be a relevant learning experience to the audience

That something is your story.

An alternative way of finding your story is to first think about the message you want to bring across. What is it that the audience should have in their minds when leaving? Then, think about why this is so important to you. Usually this will have a nuanced and complex answer. Try to pinpoint it to a specific moment in your life where you learned that this is so very important. Thats your story

Now that you have your story. Try to fit it into the general structure above. Tell the story, be direct, only elaborate where it serves a purpose. Such a purpose would be to pull the audience in, increase their immersion, make them feel your emotions, etc.. Definteley worthy of lots of time are the pain you had and the learning experience that relieved that pain.