I want to share some real life stories from a couple of the women in the LIGHTbeamers Community — which is our private group on FB.

Every week, I post a picture that is aimed to prompt them to tell their own story. You let the image spark ideas and creativity, mining a story the picture seems to tell.

Yesterday, I used this picture of a stack of rocks — the biggest of the rocks on the bottom and subsequent smaller rocks stacked on top, getting smaller as the pyramid went up. Each rock seemed to be perfectly balanced on the other — but delicately. The slightest shift of weight could make the whole ensemble come tumbling down.

One of the women in the Community shared these words — which blew me away:

In 2008 I hit rock bottom. I was mess physically, mentally, and emotionally. I wasn't sleeping, eating, my hair was falling out, I was having panic attacks, I was suicidal, and wetting the bed due to fear of him. I was living each day on eggshells. I was waiting for the moment where m...

I have a confession to make. I spent almost all weekend binging on an original series on Netflix. I watched one episode after another of Marie Kondo’s Tidying Up — a series about decluttering your home.

Now, hang with me here — because this is leading into something relevant to storytelling.

If you’re not familiar with Marie Kondo and the Netflix series — the gist of it is she has a 4-part system that is helping people all across the world declutter their homes, clean out their closets, and organize their bathroom drawers. But it goes so much deeper.... 

In each episode, Kondo — who is Japanese and travels with a translator — arrives to help a particular family by showing them how to systematically go through their clothing, books, paper, and miscellaneous areas like kitchen drawers, garages, and sentimental items.

What’s so fascinating about the show is the storytelling. You can learn so much about people by the way they live — and the stuff they are hiding in their closets, a...

I want to talk about how to "Next Level" your storytelling game.

Any story worth sharing, is worth sharing in a big way! 

The 3 V's to Victory:

#1 - Get Visible.
You have to show up, you have to share openly and use your voice. getting visible is the only way you can get your message out into the world, because here’s the thing — no one is going to do it for you so ask yourself today, how Visible are you with currently your story? 

#2- Get Vulnerable.
Being open, honest, and REAL with your audience is the fastest way to grow a loyal client base. People want to do business with human beings, not robots. So showing your vulnerability every once in a while is a really important layer to add into your storytelling.

Just this week, in my own Community, I shared some successes I was experiencing, and I shared some areas in my own life and business that need improvement. Does that make me any less qualified to do the work I do if I admit that I'm human and that I have my own challenges I’...

Listen to our daily blog-casts on Amazon. Enable our "What's Your Story" daily flash briefing and listen using your Alexa device!

Here's a fascinating prompt for you to use to create engagement with your audience, and showcase a fun piece of your own story in the process.

We recently offered up this prompt inside our LIGHTbeamers Community as a prompt for #wednesdaylive -- our open live-streaming day inside our Facebook Group.

Openly sharing things like "who would you interview" gives you a chance to really highlight a meaningful relationship or person you admire -- and then give you an opportunity to share more about why that person sticks out to you.

Tune in to this Flash Briefing to hear more.

This girl has a story! Amy Minyard has overcome so much in her life -- a single mom who's victory over abuse, abandonment, and obesity is a testament to the power of a woman determined to rise.

She first appeared in the LIGHTbeamers Community about 3 years ago with a heap of a story, but had no clue what to do with it.

3 Years later, she shares her story with ease and is on a mission to teach other women the power of Self Love!!!

Listen to our daily blog-casts on Amazon. Enable our "What's Your Story" daily flash briefing and listen using your Alexa device!

I want you to imagine a Mountain. Really picture in your head the landscape of this mountain, and imagine what it might look like if you were looking at this mountain from afar…. you’d see the base, the peak, then the other side.



This mountain is an image I use in all of my storytelling classes to help people understand their own story, and how to craft their message in a powerful way.

This applies to all great storytelling — for businesses, for people, for analysis of politics — everything. 



Here’s how this mountain relates to storytelling: 

What makes up a great story is the element of transformation. When people tell stories without this ingredient, the stories fall flat and are very boring. Think of a movie script — can you imagine watching a movie without experiencing the buildup to the climax? It would be a disaster. 



For my illustration, ...

Listen to our daily blog-casts on Amazon. Enable our "What's Your Story" daily flash briefing and listen using your Alexa device!

I’ve been thinking a lot about how much people STOP themselves from doing things that are stirring in their heart.

They stay quiet & hidden for fear of judgement from others. That simple question or thought — what will others think — can be so damaging and toxic if you let it stop you from moving forward in life or business.

HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:
The people who are ahead of you, those who are making waves and playing big, aren’t going to judge you!

Nope! They’ll see you and say, “You go girl! I know what it takes to get here and you are being so bold & brave! I commend you. Here’s my hand. Grab it! I’ll pull you along.”

So the judgement you fear is about the people behind you; the ones NOT stepping up their own life in new & exciting ways but rather playing small and sitting on the couch.

They aren’t reaching out their hand to help you.

Do you...

Listen to our daily blog-casts on Amazon. Enable our "What's Your Story" daily flash briefing and listen using your Alexa device!

I have a storytelling tip that’s so simple, you’ll be shocked when you hear it — yet I’m going to guess many of you are not using it. 

There is a simple question you can be asking in your content — whether it be written content like emails or blogs, or your social media posts, or live videos, or in-person talks and workshops.

If you start to sprinkle it into with your story — you will inherently draw more people in closer to you and get them to start seeing themselves in your story.

The question is ….. “Has this ever happened to you?” — or another iteration of it is ….. “Have you ever felt this way?”



Asking your audience directly if a part of your story is something they’ve experienced too is so powerful because what we experience we remember….. and asking them if they’ve ever felt the same as you is even more powerful because now you are tapping int...

I thought I’d share a bit of my story with you — as I am always encouraging you to share your story with your audience.

I realize not all of my listeners/followers really know who I am; you might not know the backstory on why I’m so passionate about storytelling and helping others find their story.

My journey began inside a CBS Television newsroom in Texas… where I was working the absolute worst hours ever trying to cut my teeth in the world of Journalism. I hopped around the southeast to a few different TV stations in the early years of my career — each step trying to land a better job with better pay and better hours.

While I loved those early years -- I learned so much about broadcasting, storytelling, journalism -- I also discovered I was completely in the wrong industry.

I did NOT love network news: The high-stakes pressure of gaining ratings; the rush to beat others stations to the story; the hovering over a police scanner waiting for something catastrophic to happen; the c...

Listen to our daily blog-casts on Amazon. Enable our "What's Your Story" daily flash briefing and listen using your Alexa device!

When was the last time you cried at a commercial? 
I know it probably doesn’t happen that often, but when was the last time a commercial made you take a pause and you thought to yourself, “Oh that was so good?” and that story touched your heart? 

Did that commercial talk about the features and benefits of it’s product…. or did it tell a story???

My guess is it told a story! 

I say this all the time…. everybody has a story! And they do! Everybody does indeed have a story — but not everybody is actually using their story to reach out and touch people, to create a human connection that makes people remember you.

Learning to tell stories to your audience is something that is so within your reach; If you aren’t already skillfully weaving stories into your messages, I want to give you a good list of ways you could start mining stories and brainstorming ways to in...