Story Prompts
Sharing personal stories about yourself and your business can create a connection with your audience and strengthen your brand.
Below are prompts you can use for inspiration as you craft your own stories.
Overview Video
Watch this short video for ideas and recommendations on how to use story prompts in your content strategy and planning.
Business Related Prompts
- A moment of doubt: Share a time when you doubted your abilities or questioned your decision to start your business, and the story of the outcome. What were you leaving behind?
- Learning from failure: Discuss a business failure or setback you experienced and the lessons learned.
- A turning point: Describe a pivotal moment that significantly changed the direction of your business or your approach to your work.
- Overcoming adversity: Share a personal challenge or hardship you faced while running your business and how it affected your mission or values.
- Empathy and connection: Talk about a time when you truly empathized with your audience’s challenges or desires and how it influenced your business decisions.
- The power of mentorship: Share a story about a mentor who guided you during a challenging time in your business journey and their impact on your growth.
- Unexpected inspiration: Describe a situation where you found inspiration in an unlikely place or from an unexpected source, leading to a breakthrough in your business.
- The importance of collaboration: Share an experience where collaboration with strategic partners, colleagues, clients, team, or someone else led to a significant achievement or discovery. This is a great story to share with the diverse range of people and organizations in your audience.
- Embracing vulnerability: Discuss a moment when you chose to be vulnerable in your business communications, and how it led to a deeper connection with your audience, clients, or team.
- Gratitude and giving back: Share a personal story about your business’s impact on a client, audience, or a particular individual and how it has inspired your work.
Funny or Embarrassing Prompts
- Miscommunication mishap: Share a funny story of when a miscommunication led to an unexpected or embarrassing outcome in a business setting. However, be mindful that what you share will not cause harm to you or others.
- Technology troubles: Describe an embarrassing moment when technology failed you during an important meeting or presentation, and how you managed to recover.
- Rookie mistakes: Share a funny story about a mistake you made and how it taught you a valuable lesson.
- A case of mistaken identity: Tell a story about a time when you confused someone for another person in a business context, resulting in a humorous situation.
- Dress code disaster: Share an embarrassing story about a wardrobe malfunction or dress code misunderstanding.
- Mispronounced words and typos: Recall a time when you mispronounced a word or phrase or let an epic typo sneak through, leading to laughter and an unforgettable moment.
- Unexpected interruptions: Describe a funny or embarrassing moment when an unexpected interruption occurred. Pandemic Zoom moments come to mind.
- Learning to laugh at yourself: Share a personal story where you made a mistake or experienced an embarrassing moment, and how you laughed at yourself and moved forward.
Personal Anecdote Prompts
This list contains prompts for personal anecdotes. Little stories of personal experiences. These brief story bits are wonderful for creating a connection without requiring too much investment from the person or audience on the other side.
- Tell a story about your childhood best friend. Are you still connected? Have you reunited?
- What is a treasured childhood memory?
- What is your earliest memory?
- How did your parents meet?
- What is your greatest aspiration? Have you achieved it? If not, what are you doing to meet that goal?
- Is your life what you expected it to be? Why? Why not?
- What inspires you and why?
- Share an embarrassing teen experience.
- Tell a story about your first love.
- What is the most meaningful gift you have ever received? Do you still have it?
- What do you wish people knew about you?
- Share a weird or crazy experience that most people have not had.
- What would you do with a totally free day, month, or year?
- What is something silly that will always make you laugh?
- What movie, book, or song will always make you cry?
- What was your favorite birthday? Why?
- Share a passage from your favorite book, poem, or song and why it’s meaningful to you.
- Who do you miss? Why?
- What surprises you about YOU?
- What would you change about YOU?
- What gets you in trouble?
- What is your favorite word? Why?
- What does FREEDOM look like to you?
Guidelines for Sharing a Traumatic Story
Although sharing a traumatic story can be challenging, it’s a powerful way to connect with your audience. It’s essential to strike a balance between being honest and not making the audience feel uncomfortable or triggered.
Here are some strategies to help you share a traumatic story in a way that is respectful to both your audience and yourself, while effectively communicating your message.
- Focus on the emotions: Instead of sharing graphic or disturbing details, focus on the emotions you experienced during the traumatic event. This can help the audience empathize with your experience without feeling overwhelmed by the details.
- Focus on personal growth: Share how you have grown from the experience, and the positive changes or lessons you’ve learned as a result. This can help shift the focus from the trauma itself to the resilience and growth that emerged.
- Be mindful of your audience: Consider who is in your audience and their potential sensitivities. Adjust the level of detail and the language you use accordingly to ensure your story is appropriate and does not cause harm.
- Use a clear narrative structure: Organize your story with a clear beginning, middle, and end, and use transitional words like ‘first, next, and then’ to help the audience follow along without getting lost in the details. Take them on a journey.
- Practice self-care: First, ensure that you are ready to share the story, having reached a level of detachment where it will not be harmful to you or anyone else involved. Once you have established that you are ready, sharing a traumatic story can be emotionally draining, so take care of yourself before, during, and after. This may include deep breathing exercises, connecting with your support system, or practicing relaxation techniques. Also, try to anticipate any questions that might be asked so you are prepared.
- Provide a content warning: If your story contains potentially triggering, offensive, or sensitive material, consider including a content warning at the beginning of your presentation or article to give your audience the option to choose whether to engage with the material.
A Few More Suggestions
- Be cautious with personal stories: Sharing personal stories can be powerful, but make sure you have the consent of the people involved if the story concerns them. Also, consider how sharing the story might impact your own privacy and well-being.
- Check the credibility and accuracy: When sharing news stories or other content, ensure that the information is accurate and comes from a reliable source. Sharing misinformation or false stories can contribute to the spread of false information and be harmful. Always verify accuracy when using AI to generate content.
- Avoid perpetuating stereotypes or harmful narratives: Be aware of the potential impact of your stories on public perceptions and beliefs. Avoid sharing stories that perpetuate stereotypes, stigmatize certain groups, or promote harmful narratives.
Use these prompts and guidelines to craft your stories, jog your memory, and make more informed decisions about the stories you choose to share. Always be kind, respectful, thoughtful, and accurate in your sharing and the exchange of ideas in your communications.
Thank you for taking the time to learn more about story prompts.
If I can help you share your stories or become intentionally visible, let me know. I’d love to help.
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