The Best Speakers Tell Stories About You!

The best speakers tell stories about YOU!

A speaker walked onto the platform wearing a rugged jacket and hiking boots. He set an ice axe down on a small table, pulled off his snow goggles, and began to recount his dangerous ascent to the top … of Mount Everest.

At first, the crowd was spellbound. Mt. Everest! But as the narrative climbed higher and higher—from basecamp to the first stop, the crowd grew restless. Attendees’ eyes shifted from the stage to their cellphones. A few people offered the speaker a polite wave, faked looks of apology, and pointed at their phones to suggest they had urgent matters to attend to as they filed out of the room.

A friend turned to me and whispered:

“Why is this so boring?” 

“He has a great story—and how many people have been to the top of Mount Everest?”

“I’ll answer your second question first. Over 4,000!”

“But no matter how amazing your story is, you only get a few minutes to talk about yourself before people lose interest. You have to tell your story … about the audience. The best speakers tell stories about YOU!

What do I mean by that?

“We all have mountains to climb—lofty goals, impossible things we need to make possible. We all need to summon up the courage to make the journey—our journey.”

My father used to tell me: “Narcissism is the only disease in the world where the sicker you are, the better you feel.” Every step on that speaker‘s climb up Everest has a metaphorical counterpart in the life of everyone in your room—but he never got there.

Who wants to listen to anybody talk about themself for an hour?

Whether we’re building a business, fighting cancer, getting a new degree, or overcoming addiction, we have our own mountains to climb. We can watch real mountain climbers all day on NetFlix without having to share air with a crowd of people.

And that’s why that speaker’s exciting story was so boring. It was all about HIM … He failed to bring US into it.”

The best speakers tell stories about YOU!