This is the story that Robin Gibb from The Bee Gees told when he was asked how the band wrote the song “I Started A Joke”:
“The melody to this one was heard aboard a British Airways Vickers Viscount about a hundred miles from Essen.
It was one of those old four engine ‘prop’ jobs, that seemed to drone the passenger into a sort of hypnotic trance, only with this it was different.
The droning, after a while, appeared to take the form of a tune, which mysteriously sounded like a church choir.
So it was decided!
We accosted the pilot, forced him to land in the nearest village and there; in a small pub, we finished the lyrics [with Barry].
Actually, it wasn’t a village, it was the city, and it wasn’t a pub, it was a hotel, and we didn’t force the pilot to land in a field… but why ruin a perfectly good story?”
I’m not suggesting that you make up crazy stories when you’re writing emails or social media posts, but it is important to dress your stuff up with your personal stories to pull the audience in.
You have lots of (true) ones that you can benefit your community, just waiting to be released.
When I tell clients this, they reply: “But I have no stories!”
Newsflash:
Everyone has stories!
I’ve been on this Earth for over 15,000 days (wow, I feel old now …). You may have been here for less, or more, but either way you have a treasure trove to pull from.
You’ve experienced things that are trapped inside you that could benefit a lot of people.
I once interviewed a coach who is now one of the top coaches out there. She had her own reality show, won an Emmy and tons of accolades. She’s written best-sellers and was on Oprah (several times).
But she’s also had to overcome tragedy to get to where she’s at.
As a child, she witnessed her father kill her mother (right in front of her on her front lawn) and he then turned the gun on himself.
She had to battle guilt that she could have stopped it from happening, and tried to kill herself a couple of times.
The big turning point for her was when she opened up about her story, and started sharing it to the world.
And many thousands of people have benefited because of that decision.
Your stories may not be as dramatic as hers, but can help others nonetheless.
Start sharing those stories. Let others know what you’ve been through, what you’ve overcome and help others.
At the very least there could be a good song in there somewhere …
Anyhoo, I share lots of stories to help coaches get more business in my Secret Coach Club hard copy newsletter, and the December issue heads to the printer tomorrow night.
There’s still time to subscribe:
