It’s 2006. TEDx announces that they’re holding the first-ever TEDx University. They invite all of us who are attendees to submit a description of what we want to share and teach the group. And a handful will be selected to do Talks.

At this point, I’m not a speaker; I’m still in the technology industry. Still, I know exactly what I want to do. I want to teach the other attendees something that makes me feel like a badass whenever I do it…

I’m going to teach them how to break boards with their bare hands!

So I present my crazy idea for selection: Mind Over Wood. And…

I get chosen as one of only 30 speakers out of over a thousand people!

Excited, I get to work right away on writing my Talk and start picturing myself speaking in front of world leaders, neuroscientists, and billionaires…

Wait. World leaders. Neuroscientists. Billionaires.

I start thinking, “Who am I to teach anything to a roomful of those people? What if they laugh at me, or even worse, walk right out of the room?”

So on the day of TEDx University, I’m nervously standing in front of the room. I see the editor of Forbes to the left, three rows back. I see the founder of Flickr walk into the room on the right. I realize there’s a Nobel Prize winner sitting in the front row.

But I’m also feeling good about my Talk because I’ve been rehearsing it relentlessly. So OK, it’s go time! I take a deep breath and begin.

And I can’t tell you how many people came up afterward to tell me how impactful my presentation was. Wow.

At that moment I realize how fun this was and am astonished that people get to do this… for a living… including my incredible guest today! Adiel Gorel is sought-after as an international speaker and recently joined the TEDx stage. In this episode of the Storytelling School Podcast, he talks about how discovering something that exists only in the U.S. motivated him to help others change one area of their unfolding life story. He also answers questions such as:

What’s the biggest financial gift you can add to your story in the U.S. (if you’re not already)? What should you do before you close your story in a Talk (which many people don’t do)? Why does storytelling belong in the real estate industry? And what do you want to have at the ready when someone asks you a question like, “What do you do?”

• How sharing a more relatable story in drier subject areas helps with your message
• Why the short story form is a more effective format for spreading your message today
• How breaking the rules can open doors and create an even better story

Adiel Gorel is a CEO, author, and international speaker with a Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University and a lifetime passion for engaging audiences of all sizes in multiple languages. His company International Capital Group (ICG) is a leading real estate investment firm in the San Francisco Bay. With over 35 years of experience in the industry, he has not only invested in hundreds of properties for his own portfolio but also successfully assisted thousands of investors with purchasing more than 10,000 properties in the U.S.

As a six-time published author, Adiel’s books cover topics ranging from building wealth to breathing correctly. From being a Computer Science instructor at Stanford to creating public TV specials, his life’s work is to challenge conventions in order to offer insight on how everyone can improve their health, build their wealth, and live a better life. He has two grown kids and currently resides in the Bay Area.