How To Tell Your Story

*This blog is a continuation to the prior blog: Your Personal Brand & Telling Your Story. If you haven’t done so, we recommend reading that post first in the link below!

Your Personal Brand & Telling Your Story

“Tell me about yourself.” “What’s your story?” “Walk me through your resume.” Some variation of this question is usually the first thing someone will ask when meeting you for the first time, particularly if in a professional environment (interviewer, reporter, brand, networking event, etc.) It is also the most important part of the whole interview/conversation. This is your chance to tell them who you are, what your goals are, and why you bring value to them. So how do you best answer it?

With a well-crafted story, you will have them wanting to hear more, establish an immediate sense of credibility and likability, and let them know exactly who you are.

When telling your story, it is best to break it up into five key parts. These components are meant to flow chronologically, thus allowing you to tell a compelling and logical story, just like a Hollywood script.

The “Beginning”

Always start with some basic information about yourself. You don’t have to go through every detail about your background, but mention where you’re from, where you go to school, etc. Understand who you’re talking to, the setting you’re in, and what you’re hoping to get out of the conversation. Then, consider what aspects of your background are most relevant to all of that. If you know the other person is from your area, spend more time talking about where you grew up to develop an immediate connection. If you don’t have much in common, or you know the other person is more interested in the things below, quickly get through this part with the most important bullet point or two.

The “Spark”

Here is where you mention how you initially became interested in the subject you’re discussing. Try to point to a specific moment or anecdote, if you can. If talking to an interviewer or coach about your love for your sport, talk about when you knew that sport was the one for you, and why. If you’re talking to a potential employer, discuss where your interest in their industry/career path came from. If meeting with a cooking brand, tell them when and how you fell in love with cooking. Clearly articulate the specific moment that “sparked” you.

Your Growing Interest

Now, it’s time to build on your spark. This is when you demonstrate how your initial interest has grown into something you’re passionate about and good at. Be sure to highlight any major successes you’ve had through this journey, and any failures you’ve overcome.

Keeping with the previous three examples. To the interviewer or coach, talk about all the work you’ve put into your training, what motivates/drives you, and any team and individual awards you’ve won. For the employer, mention if you’ve had a prior internship or relevant work experience in that industry, or all the self-studying or research you’ve done to build your knowledge. With the cooking brand, talk about practicing in the kitchen with your mom or creating cooking content on social media and sharing your favorite recipes to your followers.

Why You’re Here Today

This is probably the shortest of the components, but needs to be explicitly said. If you’re talking to an employer, it can be as simple as, “I’m here today because I want to work for your company” or “I’ve reached out because I want to learn more about your career (or their company).” When connecting with a brand, it’s “I want to partner with you.” Talking to a coach, it’s “I want to play for your school” or “I want to play in college.” This part seems obvious, but you can’t gloss over it. Let the other party know exactly what you want.

Your Future

The final component is where you see your future going, and how what you mentioned in the previous section helps you get there. Back to the employer example, mention why you want this role and what critical skills/experiences it will give you to help get you closer to your dream job. In the brand example, it’s demonstrating why you want to partner with this brand and how the relationship will benefit you and them. Talking to a coach it’s telling them why you believe you’ll make a great fit for their team – by now I’m sure you’re starting to pick up on the theme.

Now, how long should your story take? Ideally, 2-3 minutes is what you want to shoot for. A little over 60 seconds is even better. Either way, you want to make sure the listener knows exactly who you are without losing their attention. Most of your time should be focused on the 3rd and 5th parts (your growing interest and future), with the 1st and 4th (your background and why you’re here) being limited to 1-2 sentences.

While working on your story, keep in mind these five rules.

1. Stay in chronological order. Speak in order of the way everything happened in your life.

2. Avoid too much detail. Tell enough to get the point across. If the listener wants to know more about a certain topic, they’ll ask a follow up question.

3. Be conscious of time. Don’t be too short (30 seconds) or too long (over 5 minutes).

4. Sound confident in your story. Be proud of your experiences and background, and talk about your goals and future with conviction.

5. Don’t just list your experiences, but provide a smooth transition between each.

   
   

The only way to nail your story is to practice, practice, practice. Practice in front of a mirror and/or in front of others, and solicit feedback. You’ll soon be surprised how fluid you can spit out your story and cater it to whatever setting you’re in.

Ideally, 2-3 minutes is what you want to shoot for. A little over 60 seconds is even better.

And for social media, going through this exercise, provides you with all the content pillars you’ll need to show people who you are. Talk about all these areas through your content. Show them your growing interest with training videos or cooking new recipes. Discuss your background and future goals. Your social media is the visual form of telling your story.

The importance of telling your story can’t be understated. Most often, someone will have already made up their judgement on you within the first couple minutes of talking to you. Fortunately, this is also the moment you get to tell your story. With a well-crafted story, you will have them wanting to hear more, establish an immediate sense of credibility and likability, and let them know exactly who you are.