On Unconventional Storytelling

Storytelling. 
What is it? 

If you asked most people, they'd say that it's a process that happens at a computer desk or with pen and paper in hand, or even around a campfire. 

In reality, a good storyteller is curious to a fault. Which means that more often than not, they ask questions. Lots of them. 

Questions are important and have been for hundreds of years. In the 18th century, the notoriously rebellious Voltaire is quoted as saying, „Judge a man by his questions, rather than his answers.“

Once the right questions have been posed, there's a whole lot of listening that has to happen. Not just with the ears, but with all of the senses. And even the heart. 

Once upon a time, I wanted to be an anthropologist, studying the cultures of the world through observation. This very skill is what you have to bring to the table if you want to tell a good story. You have to be a scientist of sorts, asking pointed questions, making observations, then determining which of those observations could help to solve the puzzle. 

To tell a good story, you have to transport the listener, reader, or viewer to a certain place. Make them feel a certain emotion, and deliver them safely back "home", with a change in perception. 

And that is precisely what Tim Ferris does with his listeners. Just recently, he interviewed Catherine Hoke, founder of Defy Industries and one of Forbes "Top 40 Women over 40 to Watch", on a journey to the maximum security prisons she frequents on her mission to rehabilitate people with a criminal past. EiT's she calls them, or Entrepreneurs in Training. 

Use your drive-time over the next couple days to listen to this powerful stuff. From an unconventional storyteller. Which of course wouldn't be possible, if it weren't for Tim's carefully thought out, sometimes controversial questions. So have a listen. True to any good story, it will change your life. 

Why am I so obsessed with stories? Because through stories, we learn, grow, and understand one another better. The world needs more storytellers.

What about your story? Doesn't it deserve to be told?