The Jennifer Kamara Podcast

Jennifer: Thanks for being here, Laura.

Laura: Oh, thank you for having me. I'm excited.

Jennifer: You've got so much experience with storytelling and there's so much for us to get into.

So how about we dive in?

Laura: That sounds great.

Jennifer: On the topic of how to tell a great story, thought we could get started with maybe seeing what some of your favorite stories are.

Laura: Um, you know, it, it varies so greatly between, I mean, storytelling spans from business to TVs to books, uh, But if I can be totally honest, I think the most powerful stories, the ones I love both most are the, the short ones,

Jennifer: yeah.

Laura: powerful, um, cuz I think they're so, so hard to do.

Jennifer: Mm-hmm. Wasn't there was this quote right? I, I didn't have enough time, so I wrote a longer letter. I didn't have enough time to write a short letter, so I wrote a longer one. So

Laura: yep.

Jennifer: the most powerful ones are short.

Laura: Absolutely.

And I think the stories we take with, at least for me, the stories I take with me the most are the, the personal ones that I,

um, that I've had in my lifetime. Um, and I think those are the ones that I remember the most. And I mean, I think that's why storytelling is

Jennifer: Yeah,

Laura: is because. , it makes things relatable and memorable.

Um,

Jennifer: I resonate So,

Laura: stumped . I'm like

Jennifer: the Maya Angelou quote as well. P, you remember how people make you feel and just the personal aspect of that. For me, the relatedness comes from seeing yourself in other stories, and I think that's a really beautiful, really powerful thing. To your point, maybe we can talk then about what the power of a great story is.

What is

Laura: Uh, I think the power of a great story is simply that it makes you relatable, memorable, there's all kinds of statistics. I think it's, if you just share information and your expertise and. You know, researchers statistics, it is 10 minutes later, someone is 5% likely to remember that information. Whereas if you

wrap that information research, whatever it might be into a story, there's 65% more likely to me remember that. And also as a storyteller, it builds trust. There's all kinds. Things that go on in our brain with dopamine and such, when we hear a story, it releases that and it, it literally biologically makes us feel like the storyteller is more trustworthy. Um, so, you know, from, from, say a business perspective or a leadership perspective, you need to gain that trust

Jennifer: Yeah,

Laura: relatability with your audience.

Jennifer: I'm hearing also vulnerability. Someone sharing about themselves allows us to put our walls down too.

Laura: Absolutely. Um, I think it also comes to just, you know, having passion and heart. We can feel that when we're telling a story and if it's something we're really excited about, if it's something we've put all of our hard work into the, the other person can feel that. And, uh, it's not just. Vulnerability is authenticity.

And I think there's a big misconception as well about vulnerability, that means we have to share everything and all of the deep, dark secrets of our life and you know, things we don't wanna share. And I, I think that's incorrect. I think we still get to build.

Guardrails what we wanna share or you know, borders of what we'd like to share and what we don't.

Jennifer: Yeah.

Laura: but it still does take sharing kind of that more of your authentic self and vulnerability and heart.

Jennifer: Totally. I love the word authentic authenticity and I think in a world of so many of us, 8 billion, there are so many other people, but there's only one you and you can be the best you out there. So that's beautiful.

Laura: absolutely.

Jennifer: Men. Laura, why is storytelling a skill that is worth mastering for us? Why is being authentic? sharing personal stories is an important thing to know how to do well.

Laura: I think it goes back to kind of what we were just talking about, about it builds trust, relatability.

Jennifer: Mm-hmm.

Laura: you're able to connect with whoever your target audience is, whether that be. Clients, consumers, whether it be, you know, board, stakeholders, investors, it gives you that ability to connect that much faster and better with your audience.

And then I think the thing that's so many people don't talk about

is I think it also makes your work so much more fulfilling to you. I think when you're able to really show. Who you are, your passions, your purpose, that into what you do. Your work suddenly

becomes so much more fulfilling and meaningful and opportunities come to you. Um, jobs, clients,

Jennifer: Yeah, connecting who you really are with the work that you're doing,

Laura: absolutely.

Jennifer: feels so much more meaningful. My heart was swelling as you were describing that just now,

Laura: Yeah, and I think a lot of people are, they're afraid that if they show up more authentic or they tell stories or personal stories, that they're somehow gonna be seen as unprofessional or that they're gonna be judged. And I think our world has just changed so much, um, you know, not just in the past decade.

Even with the pandemic, it's fast forwarded us even even quicker that we, we are inundated with so much information. There's so much at the our fingertips that how do you, how do you become seen? How do you become noticed? How do you make traction in this world? And I think it really is. We're, we're tired of the sameness.

We're tired of everybody being in this box, in this professional box, and the ones who really step up with purpose and passion are the ones who are differentiating themselves.

Jennifer: Covid has really propelled us forward 10 years. And to me, the fact that we work from home a lot more often. We talk from our living rooms a lot more often than from our offices relative to two years ago. To

Laura: Yeah.

Jennifer: m. , har emphasizes the point and the importance of being authentic because there's less boundaries between your professional self and your self.

And so bringing in more of the personal into the professional shows you as a whole human being

Laura: Absolutely. I kind of love that. I love that seeing zoom, like a ch a child run past someone in the background or the cat jumping up in your lap. it it really did fast forward us in being able to see people as more the whole self and not just, you know, that employee that inside that box.

Jennifer: perfect person, colleague, or boss at work actually has kids or a life and is messy and is

Laura: Yeah.

Jennifer: makes you feel more connected to them.

Laura: Yep.

Jennifer: this, uh, this video that came out, I believe it was maybe 2017, Laura, of this guy who was a CNN reporter maybe, and he was doing a segment and then his wife and baby walk in and everyone was like, oh my goodness.

And that was such an endearing video. Brought about so many comments, but like now we have that all the time and I, I love it.

Laura: I, I love it. And that, you know, there's multiple videos out there of the, the person giving an interview in a soup jacket, and then they

Jennifer: Yeah.

Laura: close the door and they're in, You know, shorts.

Jennifer: Yeah,

Yeah.

Laura: but shorts,

Jennifer: Yeah, . Oh my goodness. It's great. I think someone that does this really well too is Bok Saint John. She's like the CMO of Netflix, and she does a great job at bringing her wholesale to her professional life, and people love that. And just a great example of that and so many others.

Laura: It is, and that is, I really think it's the key to success, to great leadership is showing up in that manner. And it is for whatever reason, so hard for so many people, I mean, , I shouldn't say for whatever reason. I mean, it was hard for me. There's a reason I, I was behind a camera for 15 years

Jennifer: Yeah.

Laura: there was no way I was gonna step out in front of the camera. Um, it, it's hard to put ourselves out there to tell stories of our, especially our personal story. You know, you can tell

Jennifer: Hmm.

Laura: in so many ways. We can tell stories of our clients and the people we've helped, which are still super powerful. But I think the most powerful story is the one. ourselves.

Jennifer: On that note, Laura, how do we tell these powerful stories of ourselves? What are some of the essentials here?

Laura: Well, I think first and foremost, you have to get really clear on, you know, who am I? You know, what do I stand for? What's my purpose? What are, what's my unique value?

Jennifer: what a big question.

Laura: Yeah, I know we hear that a lot. And I really think it is super power. We just don't, in our crazy lives and busy lives, we don't take the time to stop and really examine it?

I wanna be in five, 10 years in my work? What lights me up? How can I bring more of that into the work I'm doing right now? So it's not all. Reinventing yourself, which some people are, you know, especially now reinventing and pivoting their careers. But I think there's a lot to say for just stopping and saying, what is it I love?

And how can I bring more of that into what I do right now? How can I share more of that? So I attract. The opportunities that I'm, that will really light me up. So that, I think that's the first step is just getting really clear on who I am. I think the next step is then how do I articulate it? How do I communicate that to the world?

Um, like I had a perfect example. There was, uh, it was working with, someone in the TV media

world,

Jennifer: Mm-hmm.

Laura: and they felt like they had been pigeon. They were in this niche of crime shows that they were in charge of and overseeing. They're pretty high up and, but yet her 25 year history had been, career had been so many varying amazing work.

Um, and it simply came down to, well, if you don't wanna be in just crime, why aren't you talking? All of these amazing other things you've done, like her LinkedIn profile and the way she introduced herself. So I think, we, we have a lot of expectations put on us from, uh, you know, the position we're in from society, from the way we were raised, from our gender, and it's a lot of looking at, you know, what stories am I telling myself? what stories am I telling the world and how can I, you know, is that in alignment with who I am and how can I, how can I communicate it differently if it's not?

Jennifer: Yeah, absolutely. Sounds really easy, but very hard to do when it comes down to

Laura: yes. And you also need that. You often need that outside perspective to kind of listen and mirror back.

Jennifer: When I think about what you said about figuring out who it is that you are

and what is it that you stand for, and figuring out how you want to incorporate that into what you do, I've done a lot of thinking and processing on this, and for me what's been helpful on that has been just connecting with myself.

Lots of people find meditation helpful for that. Journaling helpful for that. I love doing that on my runs. I love looking back at actual experiences I've had. What did I like

Laura: yeah.

Jennifer: about those experiences? What did I not? What are themes and patterns that come up for me? Where do I feel the most alive and the most fulfilled?

Laura: Mm-hmm.

Jennifer: of that data into figuring out what it is that I care the most about, which for me is people love humans, love relationships, and wanting to bridge more healthy, respectful communication and together. and how do I bring that into my work is how, for instance, Jennifer Kamara podcast came about.

And then coaching, which is something, both things that I love that bridge, all of these,

Laura: and that's beautiful.

Jennifer: and the other thing for me that was really important was what do I wanna surround myself with? And it's really high quality humans who I can learn from and we can help each other and inspire each other.

And that also is very much present in the work I. .

And then I think for the second point that you mentioned, and then how do you communicate that? How do you let go of the societal pressures? Oh my goodness. So many societal pressures, either for your age or where you live, or to your point, your gender,

Or maybe you should be doing this career path, et cetera.

And those are one, or acknowledge how hard it is to break free of those. Depending on your background, you may have been fed all these stories your whole life, and so just wanna acknowledge, um, but encourage folks to take a step back and,

and look at that.

Laura: it's a journey. It's

Jennifer: Yeah.

Laura: it's not. Um, I love the quote, it's by Helen Keller. Life

Jennifer: Hmm.

Laura: a daring adventure or nothing at all.

Jennifer: Right.

Laura: So I think part of it is embracing. Who am I trying things out? I think the biggest point though is we're so much more than a, a title in the company we work for and how

Jennifer: Yeah.

Laura: you know, even when we introduce ourselves, how do we tell the story a little bit more of who we are by something a little bit more intriguing or memorable. Maybe it's a passion. Maybe it's, um, something that really differentiates you.

Jennifer: I love that. What would your speed, Laura, I feel like you've got such fun interests.

Laura: uh, that's a great one. Um, I mean, if it's short and sweet, I often just say like, I help leaders, executives, and founders like light their ideas or spread their ideas like wildfire.

Jennifer: Cool.

Laura: So, and then I get it, then, you know, it's something that grabs people. That's the other

Jennifer: Hm.

Laura: about storytelling, you're kind of a asking. the key. I forget how you've asked the key factors or elements of telling a good story. And the first is, you gotta grab someone, grab their attention. What can you say to get them intrigued, to say, Ooh, I wanna know more, or tell me more.

Jennifer: Mm.

Laura: to make you memorable. And then, you know, I can say my title, you know, coach and communications advisor helping da, da, da, da. So, Grab people. then if you're telling more of a story of yourself, take 'em on that

journey. You know, there's usually something of a transformation. Um,

Jennifer: say more on transformation. You, you've got me hook. Laurie. Gotta keep, gotta keep going.

Laura: So this would be, we were talking about introducing yourself. So this might not apply to introducing yourself, but if you are. You know, whether you're standing on a stage and giving a talk, a keynote talk, or whether you're giving a presentation to your board or your team, a story is going to grab them.

So, and make them remember the information more, like we were saying earlier. So you always kind of, in business, you know, you're gonna usually start with a problem. This is what happened. This is where I was stuck. This is what we did. And. Where we ended

up like,

Jennifer: feels like I've heard this a million times. That format.

Laura: yes,

it's kind of the up and down.

Jennifer: Yeah.

Laura: gosh, Steve Jobs, if you Google his talk when he announced the first iPhone,

Out there. He does that exactly. It's up, down, up, down, up, down. Um, and that's what gets your emotions up and down and that's what gets people hooked into what you're saying. So you can, you know, your keynote talk or your

presentation can just be one arc, but you can also have multiple arcs in it as well.

Jennifer: Mm. So that's what you mean by the transformation, the evolution And the journey.

Laura: And it's often, usually, here was a problem. A sticking point. Here's how we overcame it.

Um, and in the sense of personal stories, you know, get on a stage, I talk about, you know, one of the first things I say is, you know, I never thought I'd be here. My first stage appearance, I was a the

dead witch and Wizard of Oz. I was labeled as so shy that the only part they would give me was the non-speaking dead witch and I had to roll off stage.

So that's ways you can like, you know, just grab people. make it personable. Make it relatable. Oh my gosh, I'm terrified of speaking on stage. And if she was a dead witch, maybe I could do it too.

Jennifer: Mm.

Laura: of thing.

Jennifer: Yeah. So I'm hearing, well, first of all, what you shared in terms of the introduction piece, in terms of how to tell a great story and how to engage folks, you used metaphor there, so spreading your ideas like, wildfire really brought me into. Literally a story. I see. I picture wildfire. I'm like, tell me more, Laura.

I

Laura: Yeah.

Jennifer: hear this. Uh, that was a really great technique. Um, and then you mentioned kind of using a story arc or ups and downs, sort of evoking transformation, bringing the, the listener in, having them emotionally invested.

Laura: Yeah.

Jennifer: obviously, all these aspects of relatability, sharing more of yourself in an authentic way where they can feel connected to you, to your personal story. What other tips for telling a great story,

Laura: I think a huge piece of it is also knowing your audience. . So even though you're telling a story about, say, you know, you're telling a personal story about yourself and connecting with your audience, it really comes

down to what does my audience need,

Jennifer: Hmm.

Laura: hear? How can I educate, inspire or entertain them is really usually, um, those were kind of like the three key things.

Uh, having worked in television for a long time, that was always it. Educate, inspire, and entertain. it often, some of the stories you tell can vary depending on who you're talking to and what they need to hear.

Jennifer: Mm-hmm.

Laura: We, especially when we're telling, you know, say a personal story or um, a story of a client, there are so much information that we can include in that story, and the key is only telling those relevant bits of what that person.

What that audience needs to hear.

Jennifer: Sounds like coming back to what we talked about earlier in terms of being short

Laura: Yes. Yeah. I worked in television for almost 15 years before doing this. And one of the hardest things was you'd sit in the editing room and you know, you'd go out, it's kind of like your life. You'd go out and shoot hundreds of hours of footage.

Jennifer: Mm.

Laura: you had to boil it down into, you know, a 30 minute

show,

which

Jennifer: did you do it?

Laura: it's all, and it's exactly what anybody telling a story, it's finding that one key thread.

Jennifer: Mm.

Laura: that ties everything together and that your audience needs to hear. So you could have some of the funniest things happen in the field, or the most amazing things that people say, but if it doesn't relate to what your audience needs to hear Then

Jennifer: Cut it out.

Laura: on the, yeah, it got cut. and I think that's the same with all of our stories.

You have to remember to be the, this.

relentless editor not tell everything,

Jennifer: Mm.

Laura: what's really pertinent to your audience.

Jennifer: This is an art and science.

Laura: it is. It absolutely is.

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