Tell Stories

I was trying to explain how the drug war doesn’t work. I would write these very careful, very well researched pieces and they would go into the ether and be gone. . . It was such an uphill struggle to tell this story with facts. When you tell a story with characters, people jump out of their seats.

— David Simon, creator, producer, and primary writer for The Wire.

If you have any interest in the drug war, the plight of our inner cities, or the power of finding your voice, set aside forty-five minutes this week and watch both parts of this Bill Moyer’s interview with David Simon. Great stuff.

Simon is insightful and inspiring on so many levels. He has a keen understanding of what is happening to our inner cities and, more broadly, to the “unneeded” classes of our society. His observations are poignant and delivered with restrained passion.

There are many ideas that jumped out from Simon’s interview but one that should not be missed is Simon’s discovery that telling stories was a much more powerful way to communicate than journalistic articles based on facts. As I continue to develop as a public speaker I find myself on a similar journey of discovery.

I started my career as a teacher, teaching math and physics to high school students. I honed my ability to communicate complex ideas in a logical and progressive way that could be easily absorbed. Like Simon, I prepared judiciously and thoroughly to present facts to my students.

My message today goes far beyond the trigonometry and calculus of my early days of teaching. The lecturer is giving way to the leader and the speaker. As I seek to inspire people to take ownership of their careers and engage head-on with their lives I, too, am discovering that stories and metaphor are a much more powerful medium for moving people to action. I don’t expect to follow David Simon’s footsteps all the way to the writer’s room for a television show but I will continue to follow his inspiration in looking for ways to share powerful stories.

Write on David!


Soaring to the Highest Heights

. . . those who can soar to the highest heights can also plunge to the deepest depths, and the natures which suffer most sharply are those which also enjoy most keenly.

– Lucy Maud Montgomery
Ann of the Island

I grew up in a home where showing emotions was not encouraged. As I set out on my own I was proud of my ability to maintain an even keel. But as time wore on I came to realize that holding my emotions in check was just a cloak for numbness. A dear friend offered me this quote and I was suddenly free.

In order to soar to emotional heights I had to allow myself the possibility of plunging to the deepest depths. Goodbye even keel. I learned to embrace the lows and reveled in the highs. Sometimes you have to live with the rain. But when the sun eventually comes out, and it always does, the warmth and the light are more glorious than ever.

Passion

Don’t ask yourself what the world needs; ask yourself what makes you come alive. And then go and do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.

– Harold Whitman