A few years ago, I’m coaching a speaker for her first big keynote. We rehearse endlessly, tweaking every word and gesture. On the day of the event, I’m sitting in the audience feeling a mix of pride and nervousness for her.

She walks onto the stage confidently. Just as she starts her opening story, the microphone cuts out, and the room goes silent. All you can hear is the awkward shuffle of the tech team rushing around to fix it.

She freezes for a second, and I can see the panic in her eyes. She glances at me, and I give her a small nod; that’s our code for, “You’ve got this.”

After taking a deep breath, she raises her voice and speaks to the room. Without a working mic, she owns the silence and wins back the audience with confidence and a bit of humor.

The tech team gets the mic working halfway through her presentation, yet by this point, she already has the room in the palm of her hand. She ends her keynote and receives a standing ovation.

You don’t have to be flawless to be a great speaker. It’s how you handle the unexpected that makes you memorable which is a storytelling lesson everyone can learn.

In this installment of the “Storytelling 7 Series” on the Storytelling School Podcast, you’ll learn how to find stories like these hiding out in the open. I’ll also answer questions like:

What do the biggest speeches, most viral videos, and most shared social media posts have in common? And where are stories hiding and waiting to be told?

• Why small, ordinary stories matter so much
• What questions to ask yourself to help uncover hidden stories
• What to do once you’ve found one story in plain sight to tell

Hi there. I’m Kymberlee.

As a Speaking Strategist and founder of Storytelling School, I’ve had the pleasure of working with over 500 speakers, business leaders, and entrepreneurs worldwide for over a decade. No matter if those folks were getting ready to take the TED or TEDx stage or preparing for a high-stakes presentation with everything on the line, my specialty is High Stakes Short Form Communication. I’ve seen what works when influencing change and what doesn’t. It turns out storytelling is one of the most powerful tools you can have in your arsenal. That’s why I’m building a movement of master storytellers to affect change in the world on a global scale to help people tell real stories that have influence and impact. With effective storytelling, you change people’s lives.

Since competition for potential client attention is fierce, a story can make the difference between being memorable or irrelevant. You’ll find me sharing my matcha tea mishap to discuss perfectionism, my quest for Bruce Lee and Hello Kitty art to explore kindness or the six months of live blade training I underwent to illustrate presence. I spend my days showing the power of using stories to help cement ideas and bring lessons to life and teach my clients to do the same.

If you think business owners can’t tell stories or don’t have stories to share with their clients, staff, donors, followers, or investors, I invite you to reconsider your perspective. There’s no better place than in business to tell your stories so audiences, no matter how big or small, can understand how you think and what you value.

Now it’s your turn… If you’re ready to become a master storyteller and effect change in our world, you’ve come to the right place.