Stop Telling Boring Stories About Yourself

It doesn't matter who you are, everybody loves being told a good story. Obviously, you didn't need me to tell you that, you probably figured it out by the billions of dollars the movie industry makes every year. That's right folks, the telling stories business is huge. But we don't just get our story fix from the multiplex. We also get a healthy dose of it from songs, magazines, and television (duh!). However, there's one place that doesn't always come to mind when we talk about how we get our stories; each other.

We're all conditioned - by nature or nurture, I don't know which - to prick up our little ears and pay attention when someone wants to tell us about "that time in band camp", or that crazy thing that happened on the way to work. Like a good director or screenwriter, some are better at it than others. Don't you hate when someone starts off a good "my day" story and the ending just lets you down? or you meet someone for the first time, and they want to bore you to death with their life story?

I don't give a damn if you haven't lived the most interesting life thus far, your life story should never be dull. Nobody can tell your story better than you can. You can choose what stays and what goes. That time you peed your pants in second grade? - Stay. That time you had an epic #2 accident on the city bus? - Gone. That time you made out with a lesbian, on a futon, while a tranny looked on? - Stay. (all things that happened to me by the way) You should think of your autobiography as a really classic story with a  beginning, a middle, and an end (a "To Be Continued" if your young)

What makes a good personal story? Imagine the kind of stories that entertain you. Do you like a little mystery? Is comedy more your thing? or maybe a little adventure? In social situations, adding small genre elements to a true life autobiography can really spice things up.

 Being able to tell a good story about yourself doesn't just happen. Like any other skill, it's honed over time. Try telling the same story, different ways to many different people. Pay attention to their reactions to see what version works (as they say in the business of show) the best. The super famous actors get to practice every time they go on a talk show. If you're Will Smith famous, that can be a lot. 

I have an unusual name. Which inspires some creative pronunciations. I'm always being asked to explain where it comes from. "What's the story there?" I find that after I tell the story of how I got my name (which I'll tell you someday) their memory gets better and the pronunciations is more on point.

Most of us remember favorite lines of dialogue from a movie before someones name. People can recite entire verses from a song.  And others never forget that very special episode of a sitcom they liked growing up. All those forms of entertainment spring from our lives. They say something about how we perceive ourselves. A good tale told right lets others into our circumstances, our relationships, our wants. We were all born, and we'll die. Give people something to remember all the stuff that happens in the middle.

That's right folks, stories are huge.