Everybody has a story No matter locale you go or who you talk to, everybody ' s got a story. This district is filled with stories. Talk to ten people, hear a hundred stories. Some make you guffaw, some make you cry. Some inspire you; some accumulate you quick-witted at night. Long story short, short story long, Some people rap " With my life, I should write a book " Positively, they should. Who needs fiction when you are surrounded by stories to your uncherished or to your equitable?
From Chelsea Market in Manhattan to the Quakertown Farmers Market, there are plots, scripts, novels, screenplays, and essays. People with twenty - five thousand dollar smiles to people with no smiles... there are stories. Perk your ears up. Listen to the stories. When you say " I should write this down ", do it. Write it down. You can ' t possibly remember it all. Want to have a great life? Ask people about their stories. Learn the questions that make people talk. Things like " Tell me about your first love " and " What were your parents like? " are a good start. A famous cancer surgeon, set up a microphone on a stage and let people tell their stories of survival in a huge auditorium. He stood by the door at the end of the night and shook everybody ' s hands on the way out. Person after person told him " Thank you, this was one of the best seminars I ever went to ". He thought to himself later, " I didn ' t do anything but set up the microphone, open up the evening, let people share their story one at a time to the audience. "
" What is... " and " tell me about... " are the best icebreakers. The " why " questions bring too much opinion. You want to hear the " what " and the emotions that accompany it. When grandmoms and grandpops talk to their grandkids, it ' s great to say " tell me about your day, the play, the game, your friend, etc. Kids get off the hook and you get the short end of the stick when you ask them only yes or no questions. Those kids want to share with you but don ' t know how to do it.
While in the corporate world, I had many employees over the years. I started doing things like having SCI meetings. SCI stands for " Sharing Concerns and Ideas ". I would have quarterly meetings with each employee and talk to them about their life, goals, kids, health, continuing education, and sometimes even work - related issues. They valued those meetings. There was a " what gets said here, stays here " rule. No one ever had to share anything they didn ' t want to. Some of the meetings were fifteen minutes, some were an hour. One administrative assistant said " You are the best boss I ever had " and the head of the organization gave me a hand - written note once saying " Thank you for making our company a great place to work ". Hmm.
What did I do differently than anyone else?
I listened to people.
I listen to people because I am of the belief that everyone has a story that needs to be told and listened to.
Soooo, what ' s YOUR story?
