Several years ago, I spoke at a conference in Leeds, England. I am asked more often and it is always fun to do. But at that time, I was not a ‘special’ speaker. I was one of the many speakers in my field who shared knowledge. That changed in Leeds.
The conference had set up a special session. In this session, I had the freedom to choose what I wanted to tell. The only demand was that it had two elements: it had to be educational and fun.
I decided to tell a story. A personal story. I then linked that story to a strategic lesson for marketing. What happened surprised me. Until that time, so many people had never approached me afterwards. There has never been so much interaction. And even years later people talked to me about it.
This was the result of me finding my own style of speaking: personal and through the use of stories. Since that day I always use personal stories. One of these stories is about my grandma. A wonderful woman, who taught me many life lessons, and who even after she is gone still teaches us all.
This story I want to use as an example in this class.