The Art of Storytelling
Sharing stories from your own life is one of the best ways to build rapport. People who only hear about your profession only stay for what they can get.
What The Art of Storytelling Is
Stories do something credentials cannot: they give people a reason to stay with you through changes. The Manifesto describes followers who stayed through several career pivots because they were there for the person, not the profession.
Stories do not have to come from the past. What you are living now, a trip, a run, a lesson from this week, is material, as long as you choose what to share with the purpose it serves in mind.
One of the absolute best ways of building rapport using your personal brand is through sharing stories from your own life.
Personal Branding: A Manifesto on Fame and Influence, Second Edition, 4.14
How to Use Stories
- Find the Story You Already RepeatThe one you tell friends and family. It has already been tested on an audience.
- Choose Each Story for Its PurposeSome stories connect emotionally; others show the size of a risk you took. Pick by what the moment needs.
- Document the PresentLet people in on what you are doing now, within sensible limits.
- Invite the Audience InAsk whether they have been through the same thing, then tell yours.
Where It Comes From
- Source
- Personal Branding: A Manifesto on Fame and Influence, Second Edition (Mashman Publishing, 2025)
- Chapter
- 4. Branding
- Subchapter
- 4.14 The Art of Storytelling, page 155
- Pillar It Serves
- Seamless Branding
- Free Tool
- Story Builder (opens in a new tab)
The Full Method Is in the Book
This page is a summary. The subchapter itself goes further, with the reasoning, the stories behind it, and the exercise that closes it.
Frequently Asked Questions
What stories should I tell as a professional?
Stories that serve a purpose: ones that connect, ones that show what you risked, and ones that explain why you do the work. Choose them for what the moment needs.
Do stories have to be about my past?
No. Documenting what you are living now is often easier and more current than mining your past.
Related
Coaches
A coach's personal brand is the proof of the method. People hire the coach whose life and results already show what they are selling.
The Skyline Strategy
A 2:1 ratio from Identity Positioning: A Macroscopic View on Personal Branding. For every two steps that grow the brand side, take one that grows the personal side.
The Elevator Pitch
How you would describe yourself in less than a minute. The Manifesto's version is not a sales pitch; it sells you as someone to get to know or follow.
Pivoting
Who you are today differs from who you were a decade ago. A pivot is not something to fear; it is an opportunity to promote something new.
Your name is already being interpreted. The question is who are they, and what are they thinking?
Engagements are accepted by application and seats are limited each quarter. Tell us who you are, what you are building, and the position you intend to hold.