Combining Your Best Attributes
The following chapter is from Word Play: 101 Short Stories, Essays, and Insights to Improve Communication Skills
It’s good to gain inspiration from others.
However, true artists know how to inspire themselves.
There is no one way to tell a story.
So, what is the next step?
I believe one of the best next steps is to combine a few of your best elements into 1 package.
Let me tell you my formula for writing the stories in this book. It comes down to combining my best elements.
By ‘best elements’, I am implying personal moments from my life which have resonated with me.
The 6 elements:
- Humor
- Impromptu
- Short
- Logic
- Rhythm
- Basketball
These 6 elements probably seem foreign to you. That’s the point.
These are my personal ingredients.
By understanding these 6 simple words, you may be able to unlock your own personal powers as well.
(These are in no particular order by the way).
1. Humor: Roastmaster
In one semester, I was voted the Roastmaster by my fraternity. This is a fancy term for the guy who made fun of others.
Never made fun of others maliciously.
It was all in good fun.
A way of boys being boys.
I would often post funny doppelgangers of the other fraternity brothers on the GroupMe that we all shared.
For some reason, getting someone to laugh always stuck out to me.
Loved humor & everything about it.
2. Impromptu: Toastmasters
Yep, we are changing from the Roastmaster to the Toastmaster.
Impromptu speaking.
One part of Toastmasters that I loved was the Table Topics section.
Where I got a random topic and had to create a speech about it on the spot.
This felt like an art form.
An underappreciated art form.
An art form that I felt could be warped into something grand.
Why only talk for the impromptu speeches?
Why not write?
Why only 1-2 minutes?
Why not 10-12 minutes?
Questions questions.
And I wanted answers answers.
3. Short: Quick Talks
Growing up, one of my favorite shows was Seinfeld.
As I got older, I loved certain talks from Ted Talks.
A commonality of the 2 forms of media was how they were short & they were not connected.
By not connected, I mean that I could miss 10 Seinfeld episodes, watch the 11th one & it would seem like I didn’t miss a thing.
Similar concept with Ted Talks.
4. Logic: Engineering
I also believe logic is an art form.
Logic and creativity are 2 ways of looking at the same thing.
My training in engineering stressed the importance of the scientific method.
Loved it.
However, I wanted to see if the method could be applied to humans. Can I use the scientific method to problem solve issues in the world of communication skills?
Like breaking down how to overcome shyness, fix a nasally voice, monotonous voice etc.
I believe so.
5. Rhythms: Informal
Overall, I believe humans are meant to be informal, not formal. Formal is an emergent property of a complex system. At our core essence, we crave informality.
This is why I still use slang & avoid very big words.
Very big words kill the rhythm & makes the content only consumed with the head.
Not the heart.
Simplicity is another art form.
And simplicity was always the goal.
Simplicity is the easiest way to penetrate someone’s subconscious mind & rewire their perception.
6. Basketball: Shoot at the hoop!
Basketball was always my sport of choice.
As time elapsed, I saw a stunning similarity between the world of basketball with the world of storytelling.
The objective of basketball is to get the ball in the hoop.
This rule allows for different creative moves to emerge.
-Dribbling, rebounding, stealing etc.
The objective of storytelling is to get the idea from your mind into the other person’s mind.
This rule allows for different creative moves to emerge.
-Humor, logic, analogies etc.
So, these are the 6 traits from my background which influence my present-day storytelling.
It’s a simple formula.
But a formula, nevertheless.
When trying to tell a story, see if you can spot a few moments from your life which stick out.
It’s good to get inspiration from others.
But it’s even better if you can get inspiration from yourself.
This is a method of introspection & being able to spot the emotions that stick out.
In the world of storytelling, the emotions give you the compass for what you should have been doing all along.
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