Try This 5-Step Storytelling Exercise

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I want you to try this quick storytelling exercise.

Part 1: The Story

This week, I had one of those window wipers in the street come up to my car at the traffic light.

I just had a car wash, so the last thing I wanted was this guy ruining it with his dirty squeegee, then asking for money.

But something interesting happened…

He stopped, looked at my windshield, gave me a 👍, then walked back to the curb. I actually felt grateful, so I rolled down my window to give him a couple dollars.

Part 2: The Exercise

Pause for a moment and see if you can find a lesson in this story.

There are no wrong answers.

Once you’re ready, continue reading.

Part 3: My Answer

Most businesses are like most window wipers. They don’t actually care whether you need their service or not.

They will tell you that you do because that’s how they make money.

Window wipers will tell you your window is dirty.
Therapists will tell you that you have trauma.
Copywriters will tell you that your copy sucks.
Mechanics will tell you that you need a new transmission.
This makes the customers feel skeptical.

But when you’re actually honest with them, like the guy in my story, you’ll earn their gratitude and more importantly, their trust.

Part 4: My Story

This reminded me of a story that happened in my own business.

Years ago, I had a client who wanted to spend $120k to build a custom membership site for her community.

I wanted to take the money and build her what she wanted, but then my conscience kicked in.

The thing is, we’ve built these for other clients before, and they all ended up going back to using FB Groups because engagement was much better on FB. They basically wasted their money building a custom site.

So I told her the truth.

I told her “You don’t need it, just use FB Groups”

I explained why and about the other clients.

To my surprise, she said “Sun, you just saved us $120k. That’s why we pay you the big bucks. We trust you.”

The truth is, being honest lost us revenue in the short run, but we ended up making a lot more in the long run because we gained her trust.

Part 5: Your Story

Did this exercise remind you of a similar story in your own life?

Take a moment to write the story and share it on social media.

Recap

There are little stories, like with the window wiper, that happen everyday in your life.

Storytelling exercises (like this one) will train your brain to become more aware of these moments and to connect the dots between your stories.

If you’re interested in doing more exercises like this, that’s exactly what we do in my community Night Owl Nation.