Did You Hear The One About...?

No, not a joke, but rather a story. Don't you love listening to stories...and to further clarify, not fantasy stories, but real life stories.

As for me, an ol' southern boy, I always tell people "Don't expect to ask a southerner a question and expect a short answer." We love to tell stories. Painting a picture with words makes the conversation so much more enjoyable.

I was talking to a friend of mine last week about hunting, and he started telling me a story about a hunt he had a week ago and it was fascinating! For me, I've learned so much from the times I've been out hunting. And the stories I hear & the ones I can share are so full of memories, laughter and, sometimes, tears. Some of the best memories some folks have are of the times they spent hunting or fishing with their parents.

Just the other day, I went out and sat in my tree-stand on a bow-hunt for whitetail deer. I'm 15' about the ground, perched in a ladder stand against a huge pine tree with plenty of cover behind me. I've an incredible view of pine trees to my right, a large grass pasture in front of me and several hundred acres of soy beans to my left...what a perfect spot. While I'm silently, motionlessly sitting there pondering the issues of life and constantly scanning for any movement, a honey bee from a local hive flies down my shirt collar. WOW! He's walking around my chest, my neck and under my camo face-mask. I know he's not going to sting me - he's only out looking for some moisture/water...but he sure does have me squirming. But I can't move to do anything about it! What if the buck of a lifetime is just inside the tree line inspecting the field before he steps out and sees someone in a tree going crazy beating themselves? BOOM, he's gone! So, I just sat there while Mr. Bee did his thing, eventually he flew off...WHEW!

Life is all stories...yours, mine, our parents, their parents, our kids, our friends, neighbors, family, colleagues, teachers, preachers, etc. We hear these stories through face-to-face interaction, through media (TV, radio, newspaper, magazines, etc.), through Social Media, and on & on.

And, of course we all know some folks are better at telling these stories than others. I'm sure you can think of someone right off the top of your head that you know who tells a great story when sharing something about their life.

Even businesses can prosper with "the right story". Some of the most successful businesses are that way because they are able to share a great story about who they are and why they do what they do.

Scott Ginsberg just wrote a great article about how to be interesting in your story telling endeavors...some great advice. And Salesforce.com CEO, Marc Benioff, shares his advice too.

So THANK YOU for allowing me to share this story with you and I'll be listening for yours as well.

What is one of your favorite story?

Thanks and remember: “Your Success Is My Business.”™

[Note: photo from http://www.graphics-folio.com/]