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Shifting the Mental Health Story Within the World of Aviation (and Beyond)

Release Date: 05/29/2024

How Storytelling Can Turn Crowd Chaos into Connection

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It’s my very first time at Comic-Con. I’m with my dear friend Denise, and it’s her first time, too. The second we arrive in downtown San Diego, we’re hit with a wave of everything - cosplayers everywhere, camera crews darting around, and volunteers all over the place. There are 135,000 people moving in every direction at once. It’s buzzing, massive, and honestly thrilling! Since it’s Day One, we find our way to the convention center and step onto this long escalator. We’re heading up to the top, and I’m trying to act calm - for Denise, sure, but really for myself, too. Inside,...

200 Episodes In: Your Storytelling Masterclass in 50 Moments

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It’s a Tuesday morning. I am sitting in front of my computer, matcha tea in hand, staring at my podcast dashboard. A little number in the top corner catches my eye. 200 episodes, 200! Part of me can’t even believe it. I think back to those first recordings; I was so nervous, wondering if people would care about storytelling the way I do, yet week after week, I kept going. I didn’t always know if I’d have the time, the stories, or the right guests to keep it fresh. But every single conversation, every solo episode, every moment behind the mic has taught me something. And at each...

Why Storytelling Mastery Lives in the Middle

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I am standing on a court in Santa Barbara, and it's my very first pickleball lesson. I arrived early and I’m already warmed up, focused and ready to do everything exactly right. In fact, even before booking this lesson, I researched every single coach in town. I landed on Richard Pastoria because he's the real deal: a professional coach for over 25 years, the resident pickleball pro at the Valley Club of Montecito, and - not only that - he also has a military background. That combination of structure and discipline and high standards speaks to me because I've been an athlete my entire life,...

How Great Speakers Rehearse (It’s Not What You Think)

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I'm on a Zoom call with one of my private clients. She is a powerhouse executive and is preparing for a TED-style keynote. Her ideas are solid, and her story is incredible; it's emotional, has high stakes and everything you would want in an opening story. And the rest of her Talk? That’s epic as well. Plus, she's done the work and is ready to go. We start rehearsing and everything… falls flat. Her delivery is kind of robotic, and there's no energy in her voice. Even the transitions between her story and her insights kind of feel like speed bumps. She is reciting her script but isn't...

The Callback Strategy Every Speaker Should Know

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I’m working with my client on a TEDx Talk. In her opening story, she shares a vivid moment from her childhood: She is standing on a stranger's doorstep, completely nervous and uncertain if anyone is going to answer at all. It's a small detail yet it’s emotionally powerful and completely gripping. After the story, we go ahead and develop the rest of the Talk. And as a whole, her Talk is strong. It's structured and meaningful… except when we get to the end. Something is missing. Her idea and her content are clear, but there isn't really an emotional lift at the end. I suggest going...

What Knife Fighting Taught Me About Storytelling

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I am standing in the dojo, drenched in sweat. We’re in the middle of a dynamic circle knife drill, and I’m surrounded by fellow black belts, each armed with metal training knives and ready to attack in a simulation of real-life danger - fast, chaotic, and unrelenting. At first, I hold my own, fueled by adrenaline and a strong desire to prove that I can hang with the best. I move quickly, using flashy moves and relying on sheer speed, but as the drill speeds up, my technique falls apart. I'm rushing transitions, missing critical details, and losing confidence. My partners sense the...

Why Sharing Difficult Stories Can Change Lives

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I'm a freshman at the University of Hawaii, living the dream on a full-ride softball scholarship. One night during finals week, my roommate and I decide to take a break from studying and grab a bite to eat. On our way back to the dorms, riding our mopeds, the unthinkable happens and I get hit… by a cement truck. I wake up five days later in the hospital with massive head injuries and indescribable pain. The doctor tells me that my sense of taste and smell is gone, permanently. For years, I don’t talk about the accident. I think, who wants to hear a story like that? It feels too...

How Embracing Imperfection Can Transform Your Storytelling

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It's the early 2000s, and I get invited to speak in New York to a room full of tech heavyweights - people and thought leaders I dreamed of being in front of. I am determined to crush it, so I do what any overachiever would: I obsess. I write, rewrite, and practice endlessly. No improvising. No mistakes. I even buy a stiff, serious outfit that doesn’t feel like me but seems like something a “real” speaker would wear. On the day of the event I deliver my Talk flawlessly, every word in place. The audience claps, though I leave feeling like something is off. It was perfect, yes, but...

How to Make Numbers Unforgettable Through Story

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It’s 2006. I am sitting in the audience at TED surrounded by visionaries, innovators, and thought leaders. The energy in the room is electric and everyone is buzzing with anticipation about who’s going to take the stage next and what new insight we’ll walk away with. When the next speaker, a Swedish professor specializing in global health and data, is introduced, I brace myself for a dry, academic talk full of statistics and charts. Instead, the speaker starts moving across the stage with visible, infectious enthusiasm, pointing at animated visuals and telling a story through data....

Why Many Stories Fall Flat in the Final 10 Seconds

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I am coaching a speaker as she prepares for one of the biggest keynotes of her career. Her story is powerful, full of resilience and triumph. As she runs through her story, I am captivated... until it just... stops. She smiles, says thank you, and that’s it. There is no call to action and no invitation. I deliver the news, gently: her ending isn’t serving her or the audience. She pushes back because she doesn’t want to sound salesy. And while I do definitely understand her concerns, I explain that, while her story hits hard, her ending needs to hit home. So we roll up the sleeves...

More Episodes

It feels like I’m flying all the time while running my software company. Every month, I’m going somewhere to meet clients.

It’s standard practice until, out of nowhere, I have my first anxiety attack.

These attacks become serious and start happening randomly on different days at different times of the day. Weeks and months go by, and every single time I step on the plane, an attack triggers.

While I’ve been flying on planes my entire life, I find myself having to take medication just to step on to an aircraft.

As I’m searching everywhere looking for answers to get to the bottom of what’s going on, I meet with a therapist, Dr. Keith.

He asks me a simple question:

“Kymberlee, do you think pilots have a fear of flying?”

Sounds like a preposterous question, right? So I respond: “Of course not!”

Then he advises me to ask the pilot on my next flight what their favorite thing is about flying. I do exactly that.

With my heart racing, I board my next flight and ask if I can say a quick hello to the pilot. As I’m having a conversation in the cockpit with this pilot, I quickly learn that his favorite part is the landings.

Suddenly, I go from having heart palpitations to laughing and smiling and learning so much about the craft of flying. In the months (and flights) that follow my perspective on flying changes so much that eventually I don’t even need to take the medication anymore.

His story changes my story.

Speaking of aviation and stories, my special guest, Reyné O'Shaughnessy, is a retired commercial airline pilot and captain with intimate knowledge of mental health. In this episode of the Storytelling School Podcast, you’ll hear about the importance of changing the story within the aviation world (and beyond) as it relates to mental health, as well as get answers to questions like:

How does the story within the aviation industry regarding changes in mental wellness policy need shifting? And why is it so important to share your stories publicly in the world?

What you will learn in this episode:

Why the collective mental health story in aviation needs to change
How we can adopt a better story through shared responsibility
How to prevent your mental health from turning into a story of mental illness

Who is Reyné?

Captain (ret.) Reyné O'Shaughnessy stands as a prominent figure within the aviation industry for her unwavering dedication to both pilots and the aviation industry. With a remarkable 35-year career as a commercial airline pilot, she has accumulated a vast reservoir of experience, expertise, and proficiency with flight time exceeding 10,000 hours on heavy jet aircraft.

Beyond the cockpit, Captain O'Shaughnessy has devoted over a decade to honing her skills as an aviation strategist, with a specific focus on health and mental wellness. Her dedication led her to become a certified practitioner in Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) from Brown University. She founded Piloting 2 Wellbeing and co-founded The Aviation Health and Wellbeing Institute, and her holistic approach to aviation has solidified her position as a trailblazer and influencer within the industry.

In addition, Captain O'Shaughnessy is the author of the best-selling book, This Is Your Captain Speaking: What You Should Know About Your Pilot's Mental Health. Her insights have been featured on reputable platforms such as Fox News, NBC News, CBS/KDKA, and AOPA, and she is a sought-after speaker at conferences worldwide.

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