And I was Stunned and other Anecdotes

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                                                 Anecdotes


I was zapped this time

A CEO walked into my office and told me, ''I want to learn from you, how to inspire.''
I was zapped this time and he was smart enough to sense it.
Clients come to me to learn social media, online branding and storytelling. No one has ever asked me after all, to coach him /her, how to inspire.

He reminded me, ''You are an inspirational storyteller. Can you help me write inspirational anecdotes and stories? ''

'Oh! so that's the matter' I thought. I took a deep breath and then we began the discussion.

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''I shall be brutally honest''
The lady was tomboyish and had rather a masculine, commanding voice. On top of that when she told me ''Amit I shall be brutally honest'', I had no option but to wait with bated breath and ponder. ''What is she going to be brutally honest about?''

She continued, ''I was able to learn social media by reading articles, but I am not able to learn storytelling by reading stuff. I am feeling a need for coaching.''

I said, ''Social media is more about knowledge and storytelling is a skill you learn with practice.''

Thank God ...that was honest but hardly brutal. 


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And I was stunned

The gentleman appeared over-friendly first and I began to feel uncomfortable. After a while I could not stop myself from asking him, ''You are behaving as if you already know me though we are meeting for the first time.'' 

He replied, ''May be you don't know me but I do.''

I was even more perplexed. And he continued, ''Familiarity  breeds a connect too. I am already familiar with you because I have read many of your stories.'' 

'Oh' and I heaved a sigh of relief. 

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First story, then theory

Recently while starting my training session on 'Storytelling on Social media' with senior executives, I joked with the audience ''I am here to tell you stories and you have to tell me the underlying theories.''

And being a facilitator I will just add on, if needed. And the one fine day game began. 

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Interested in an evergreen romance
I was asked at an event to differentiate between image management, personal branding and storytelling. I replied, "On a lighter note, I would say Image management is like teasing, personal branding is like flirting and storytelling is like an evergreen romance."
 
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                                    Giving a Story Touch

A purposeful story
We need a life purpose and we need a life purpose partner.
The confusion starts when the partner becomes our purpose or the purpose becomes our partner.
Either way you get lost in the desert. We need both to write a purposeful life story.  

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An enlightening story
May you ignite the spark inside you into a blazing fire of your life purpose!
May all cynicism be consumed in this fire and may your anger blossom into passion!
May the light inside you shine and spread through your enlightening story!!!

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The rebellious story
You can win over rebellion only through compassion. The more rebellious the person, the more compassion he or she needs. You can win over the mind through nuisance value and ganging up, but you can't win over the soul.

Only by winning over the soul, you can give a compassionate ending to a rebellious story. 
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Brief Profile
Brief Profile

Dr Amit Nagpal is Chief Inspirational Storyteller at AL Services. He is an Author, Speaker/Trainer and Coach. He is also a Social Media Influencer and blogs on Linkedin as LinkedIn Influencer-MarketingHis special interest and expertise lies in inspirational storytelling, anecdotes and visual storytelling for brand building. To know more, visit www.dramitnagpal.com

AL Services offers content development/story writing, consulting, training and other services in the area of brand storytelling. To know more, write to amit@dramitnagpal.com.  If you have doubts about the power of storytelling on social media, connect with Dr Nagpal, on Linkedin or Twitter and see for yourself.



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