How Story Can Help You Cultivate Courage and Bridge Divisions
Release Date: 10/01/2024
How Storytelling Can Turn Crowd Chaos into Connection
Storytelling School
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,...
info_outline
200 Episodes In: Your Storytelling Masterclass in 50 Moments
Storytelling School
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...
info_outline
Why Storytelling Mastery Lives in the Middle
Storytelling School
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,...
info_outline
How Great Speakers Rehearse (It’s Not What You Think)
Storytelling School
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...
info_outline
The Callback Strategy Every Speaker Should Know
Storytelling School
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...
info_outline
What Knife Fighting Taught Me About Storytelling
Storytelling School
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...
info_outline
Why Sharing Difficult Stories Can Change Lives
Storytelling School
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...
info_outline
How Embracing Imperfection Can Transform Your Storytelling
Storytelling School
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...
info_outline
How to Make Numbers Unforgettable Through Story
Storytelling School
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....
info_outline
Why Many Stories Fall Flat in the Final 10 Seconds
Storytelling School
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...
info_outlineIt’s the third night of a very intense survival training course with a Green Beret guy. I haven’t slept or showered. I’m muddy and exhausted and just want to go home to Santa Barbara. I tell myself I just need to make it through one more night and this will all be behind me.
When it’s time to call it a night, I am given a choice: I can either sleep in my tent or in this lean-to I’ve built. The lean-to is essentially a hole in the dirt with some twigs on it. At this moment, I’d love nothing more than to be at a resort, yet I remind myself I came to this insane training for a challenge.
So I say, “Fine. I’ll sleep in this lean-to.” I trek down the road around the bend and shimmy myself into this little hole in the dirt. I can’t even see the base camp anymore.
I can hear every sound around me as I lay there, and I realize that I’ve never been alone like this before. But hey, it’s fine!
“I’m fine; in just hours, I can go home,” I think to myself.
Then, after slightly dozing off, I wake up to this crunching sound just off in the distance. It’s coming towards me, and I keep telling myself everything’s fine. Then the crunch gets louder and faster until, in the moonlight, I see it: the tusk of a wild boar!?!
I lie there, frozen and deciding whether or not to scream, when I remember something: animals sense fear. So I need to be strong, be still, be silent, and stick this out.
While it’s rooting around my head, something suddenly distracts it, and it runs off into the forest. And when morning arrives, I get out of the lean-to, go back to camp, and announce I survived.
The Green Beret guy says, “Yeah. Good job Kymberlee.”
Here’s the deal: I am committed to affecting change in our world. With change comes challenges. With challenges comes fear. That means that different levels of fear are always coming up for me. What this unforgettable experience has taught me is that we must cultivate your courage. And when I think of courage, I can’t help but think of that Green Beret guy who has become a dear friend. His name is Retired Lieutenant Colonel Scott Mann. Scott is with us today in this episode of the Storytelling School Podcast to discuss the transformative power of thematic stories of survival and courage and answer questions like:
What is the significance of storytelling leadership roles? What do personal stories that resonate with others have in common? And why is your delivery of a story as important as its content?
What you will learn in this episode:
- How storytelling can help you cultivate courage and de-escalate fear
- What kind of questions lead to powerful stories that can bridge divisions
- What three storytelling myths cause you to avoid telling your stories
Who is Scott?
Lieutenant Colonel (Retired) Scott Mann is a former U.S. Army Green Beret with tours all over the world including Colombia, Peru, and multiple tours in Afghanistan. He is a warrior storyteller and the founder of Rooftop Leadership, where he shares the rapport-building and storytelling skills he learned in Special Forces to help today's leaders make better human connections in high-stakes, low-trust engagements.
Scott is the author of the instant New York Times Best-Seller, Operation Pineapple Express, a third-person narrative detailing the harrowing stories of the veterans, volunteers, and Afghan allies who navigated the U.S. abandonment of Afghanistan in August of 2021. The Gary Sinise Foundation partnered up with Scott to bring his play, Last Out: Elegy of a Green Beret, to stages across the country to provide healing for our veterans and families of the fallen, as well as provide insight for our citizens on the personal cost of the longest war in our nation’s history.
Links and Resources