Stories to Never Tell: The Chauffeur Story

Like the Starfish story, the Chauffeur story get recycled over and over.

In the story, Max Planck, the famous physicist, is being driven around Germany on a lecture tour.

One day, the driver makes a suggestion: “Mr. Planck, these scientists know your work but they don’t know your face. I’ve heard you give this lecture a hundred times. How about you wait in the audience and I’ll pretend to be you.

At the next presentation, the driver delivers the lecture while Planck dons the chauffeur’s cap and sits with the audience.

But when the lecture is over, one of the scientists asks a question that the chauffeur is not prepared to answer. He’s flustered for a moment and then he speaks:

I’m surprised to hear such a simple question from a sophisticated audience like this. This is so basic that I’ll ask my chauffeur to answer it!

Cute story right?

And years ago, Time Magazine actually reported it as true.

But this is yet another story that thousands of speakers share.

Sometimes it’s Max Planck and sometimes it’s Albert Einstein and sometimes it’s Neils Bohr.

There’e even a joke version where the pope wants to drive so his driver gets in back. When they’re pulled over, the cop gets on his radio and says, “I have no idea who he his but the pope is his driver!”

All fun stuff … but it’s been done to death.

Chances are good that your audience has heard it before … maybe even at the same event, you’re about to speak at!

Professional speakers mine true stories from their own lives or craft tales worth sharing.

Quit recycling other people’s old content!

Be creative.

Be unique.

Be original.