Tell Us Your Story

The simple act of telling a story has become all the rage in the business world. There are websites, videos, blog posts and entire books devoted to the topic of storytelling.

Bios are being rewritten with an eye toward developing a good narrative, and business people across all segments of the economy are looking for new ways to incorporate this powerful strategy into their promotional materials.

But there’s one place where storytelling hasn’t yet seemed to make much of an impact. And that’s when we introduce ourselves at networking meetings and events.

I think you know what I mean: You’re at a networking event and the intros begin. No matter what has been set forth as the format that intros should take, most everyone seems to slip into what we have all become accustomed to: the old-fashioned custom of flatly reciting what it is that we “do.” This doesn’t serve anyone well and it doesn’t present the speaker to his or her best advantage.