Does Every Story Need to Teach You a Lesson?
The mind thinks in narratives.
It’s much easier to transmit a lesson when your content has a narrative rather than raw facts.
Stories with a moral speed up our maturity.
When we really understand why we are doing something, we are bound to do it.
Storytellers have shifted peoples’ perspectives for the best.
Do all stories need a lesson though?
I would say no.
I believe it’s fine to tell a story without a lesson.
These stories are a series of events that don’t lead to any breathtaking insights.
Just know one thing though.
There will be times when you were not trying to relay a lesson, but your audience perceived a lesson anyway.
The Point of Stories
We have to first define what a story is.
At the fundamental level, a story is an interconnection of ideas designed to make a point.
One example is the Toastmasters Icebreaker Speech.
This is the first speech you give at Toastmasters to tell the club members more about yourself.
A point has been assigned for you:
- Allow the audience to know more about you.
Then you select moments from your life and intertwine them in unique ways to reveal information about yourself.
You have officially told a story.
The are a variety of points a story can deliver.
A few points of a story are:
- Entertain.
- Educate.
- Entertain and educate (edutainment).
What about a purposeless story?
Can the point of a story be to not have a point?
Yes, Stories Can Be Purposeless
I believe telling purposeless stories is a way to work on the storytelling craft.
If you are always telling stories that have a lesson, then eventually, telling stories will become a chore.
A lot of stories don’t have a purpose.
You are just telling them just because.
One example is a story about how you stumbled into your career.
- You say how you got a degree in college.
- Used that degree to get a job.
- Stayed stagnant in the job for a decade.
- Then decided to switch fields.
You’re just talking about what you did in your life.
There is no point.
However, just sharing something like this can be perceived as insightful to the right consumer.
As you’re talking about how you got to where you are, the consumer hears:
‘You were stranded in the same job for 10 years before deciding to do something about it.’
The consumer is in the 9-year mark of their job.
As of late, they have been thinking that they are wasting their life.
As soon as they heard that you spent 10 years in the job before transitioning, they perceived a moral:
- It’s never too late to change careers.
The storyteller didn’t have a lesson in mind.
Yet, a lesson was perceived.
Tell a Purposeless Story
A storyteller who is used to telling stories with a lesson feels guilty when telling a story without a lesson.
It feels like they are blowing into a balloon and not tying the knot.
I recommend you experiment with this style.
The easiest way to experiment with this style is to articulate your observations.
To make it even easier, start your story with:
‘Today’s talk won’t have a lesson. I just wanted to share some of my observations out loud.’
I wrote about a purposeless story recently.
I talked about how public restrooms have been changing as of late.
Before, I used to see a bathroom for men and women.
Nowadays, I just see bathrooms.
A few weeks ago when I went to Atlanta, I went to use the restroom.
There were women and men standing in the same line waiting for the restroom!
Back then, there was a line for men and a line for women.
So, if I looked in front & behind me, I’d see men.
If a girl looked in front & behind them, she’d see women.
Nowadays, if someone looked front & behind them, they wouldn’t know who they’d see.
I just wrote my observations out loud.
If someone asked:
‘Okay…and what’s your point?’
I would proudly say:
‘There is no point!! Isn’t that cool?’
Telling a purposeless story is freeing.
It feels like you’re flying.
Which Observations Stick Out?
Other places to look are at your pet peeves.
Pet peeves are things that irk you.
You know what irks me?
The rise of new-aged beggars.
These are the people who stand outside an establishment and ask you to donate money to their charity or sign a form.
They bombard you when you’re trying to get some food.
The reason I call them new-aged beggars is because they don’t look like homeless folks.
They smell good, are dressed up, and have a cause.
When you turn them down, you feel guilty.
‘Geez, I should have bought some candy from them. It was for charity, you know?’
When I articulate this pet peeve, I am sharing a couple of observations about how business owners are allowing folks to set up shop outside their establishment to get their patrons to support a cause.
Once again, no point.
If someone asked me what my resolution was, I would boldly say:
‘I don’t know!’
Immature people never say, “I don’t know.”
They propose solutions to situations they know nothing about.
But mature people routinely say, “I don’t know.”
Telling purposeless stories allows you to see that you don’t have the answers to everything.
That’s fine.
Your purposeless story can spark a solution in the future.
One day, a person will discover your story.
This is right after they were bombarded by a few new-aged beggars as they were trying to go to Chipotle.
They are fuming.
Once they see your observations, they feel good.
They’re not alone.
Since you articulated their inner world out of them, they are determined to find a solution.
You have passed the baton.
This is what happens when you tell occasional stories without a purpose.
It doesn’t end with the story.
It’s only the beginning.
