Quick Win: Matthew Dicks - Stories are about emotion

The greatest stories inspire, terrify, inform and change us. They might change our lives, or simply help us get through the day. But if we know how central stories are to the human experience, why don’t more of us learn how to craft them more effectively? 

Matthew Dicks has been writing (and teaching writing) for decades now, and he’s seen the craft of storytelling change many lives in many ways. Most of all, he’s seen just how beneficial it is to tell stories to ourselves. 

Whether your ultimate goal is to share your stories with the world, or you just want to give better presentations at the office, learning how to craft a great story won’t just give you more influence over others, it’ll give you more influence over yourself. 

In that spirit, I asked Matthew to help me improve a story I was preparing for a work presentation, and he walked me through his thought process every step of the way. 

Connect with Matthew on Twitter, Instagram or at his website. Pick up a copy of Storyworthy, or check out Matthew’s newest course if you want to improve your writing. 

You can find the full interview here: Matthew Dicks teaches you to think and write like a master storyteller

 

My latest book The Health Habit is out now. You can order a copy here: https://www.amantha.com/the-health-habit/

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If you are looking for more tips to improve the way you work and live, I write a weekly newsletter where I share practical and simple to apply tips to improve your life. You can sign up for that at https://amantha-imber.ck.page/subscribe

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CREDITS

Produced by Inventium

Host: Amantha Imber

Sound Engineer: Martin Imber

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
The greatest stories inspire us, terrify us, inform us, and
ultimately change us. They might change our lives or simply
help us get through the day. But if we know
how central stories are to the human experience, why don't

(00:21):
more of us learn how to craft them more effectively.
Matthew Dix is a world renowned storyteller and also a
teacher of storytelling who has witnessed the profound impact of
storytelling firsthand. Matthew believes that crafting compelling stories isn't just
about influencing others, but also about gaining influence over ourselves.

(00:47):
When I interviewed Matt I asked him to help me
improve a story that I was preparing for a work presentation,
and he walked me through his thought process every step
of the world. And after delivering this story at the workshop,
I can tell you that it made so much more
of an impact. My name is doctor Amantha Imba. I'm

(01:15):
an organizational psychologist and the founder of behavioral science consultancy Inventium,
And this is how I work, A show about how
to help you do your best work? On Today is
my favorite tip episode. We go back to an interview
from the past and I pick out my favorite tip
from the interview. In today's show, I speak with Matthew
Dix about getting some help with a story I wanted

(01:39):
to tell. So, Matt, I was hoping to get your
advice because I've got a workshop coming up with my
team on Friday, and it's Tuesday today when we're recording this,
and I've been racking my brains for the right story
to open this workshop with. And I need a story
that's essentially about like not taking something for granted and

(02:03):
sort of you know, treating something with the care that
it deserves. And I've sort of been thinking about times
in my life where I've you know, taken something for
granted that like, I haven't spent a lot of time
on it, but it's in the bend in the back
of my mind. I've only got one example. It feels
a bit lame, and I wanted to, like, you know,

(02:25):
if you can pretend that you are coaching me through this,
I would love to know how I can get to
a point where I've actually got a story that then
I can you know, start to craft.

Speaker 2 (02:33):
So sure, well, what's your what do you have? What's
the thing that's kind of lame?

Speaker 1 (02:37):
So the thing that feels kind of blame is when
I was in my twenties, I was living in Sydney
and I got a lease on this apartment in a
city apartment, and it had this amazing view of the
Sydney Harbor, which is kind of like the most beautiful
thing about Sydney. And I remember the first time I

(02:58):
walked through that apartment and I was struck by the
view and I just thought, oh wow, like, I will
never ever get sick of this view for the entire
time I live in this apartment. And then several months later,
and this is where my memory is fuzzy. I think
I had a party or something like that, and I
remember people standing on the balcony and just ewing an

(03:20):
hour ing over the view, you know, and it occurred
to me I'd broken that promise with myself. I'd forgotten
the beautiful view and that's kind of all I've got,
And it's how do I work with that? Or do
I go I can do better than that, because I
feel like that's I don't know.

Speaker 2 (03:41):
Right, Well, let's play with that, you know. In terms
of finding other stories, I guess I'll say this, it
wouldn't be hard for me and I don't think I'll
be hard for you to just look at things in
your life that you sometimes seek for granted. You know,
I would instantly think my son, my daughter, and my wife.
Any story about them will I can easily transform into

(04:01):
a I'm taking them for granted.

Speaker 1 (04:04):
Right.

Speaker 2 (04:04):
My job, I'm sure I'm taking it for granted, And
it's easy, be easy to tell a story about teaching
children and how twenty four years ago I was desperate
to get a job in teaching, and today I actually
complain about going to work sometimes, right, even though it's
the dream job I wanted and still my dream job today.
So I would just sort of inventory things I take

(04:24):
for granted and then tell a story about that thing
without really even being worried too much about taking for granted,
because I can tell a story about my son that
has nothing to do with me taking him for granted.
When a story's done, I can say, can you believe
that I take that boy for granted sometimes? That amazing
story that I just told you about my son that
caused you to love him and open your heart in mind?

(04:46):
Can you believe that there are sometimes when he wants
to play a game with me, and I say no.
That is taking things for granted, so easy pivot from
almost any story, right, anything you care about. So that's
the simple story. But you know what you gave me
was interesting because that's not easy thing the Sydney apartment story,
because it's kind of boring, like it's I bought an

(05:07):
apartment and then eventually I didn't appreciate it in the
way I should. But the way I might craft it
to make it a little less boring is again at
the beginning, we have to cause people to wonder. So
I would start the story doing something like this. I'm
hosting a party and I look out on the deck
and everyone is staring out at something, and I have

(05:30):
no idea what that something is. Like I have looked
outside my deck for the last three hundred and sixty
eight days, and as far as I can tell, there
is nothing to stare at. And yet for some reason,
I've got music playing in the room, and I've got
things to do in the room, and everyone's got their
eyes outside, and so I'm starting to wonder, like, is

(05:52):
there a whale in the harbor today that I've never like?
You know, it is as a boat sinking in the harbor,
right now right, or you know, has a comment crashed
into the harbor that's caused people to pay attention to
whatever the hell they're paying attention to. So I finally
make my way outside to the deck and I sidle
up against one of my friends and I look out

(06:12):
at the harbor that they can't stop staring at, and
I ask my friend, like, the hell are you staring at?
And then I suddenly know they're staring at the beauty
of the harbor, which a year ago I swore to myself.
I swore to myself that I would never take for
granted because it is one of the most beautiful views
in the world. But it turns out that if you

(06:34):
stare at the most beautiful view in the world for
a year, it stops being beautiful and just starts being
a view, and that is a tragedy. I would tell
the story like that, But do you see how rather
than saying I rented an apartment and you told it chronologically, Yeah,
you've got to give them something a wonder about. So
the thing to wonder about is why are people staring
at a view that I don't care about anymore? And

(06:57):
the realization is I was supposed to care about because
it is beautiful and I've just forgotten to notice.

Speaker 1 (07:03):
If you enjoy this extract with my chat with Matthew,
you might want to go back and listen to the
full interview, which you can find a link to in
the show notes. If you're looking for more tips to
improve the way that you work, I write a short
fortnightly newsletter that contains three cool things that I've discovered
that helped me work better, ranging from software and gadgets

(07:25):
that I'm loving through to interesting research findings. You can
sign up for that at Howiwork dot com. That's how
I Work dot co. Thank you for sharing part of
your day with me by listening to How I Work.
If you're keen for more tips on how to work better,
connect with me via LinkedIn or Instagram. I'm very easy
to find. Just search for Amanthaimba. How I Work was

(07:50):
recorded on the traditional land of the Warrangery people, part
of the Cool and Nation. I am so grateful for
being able to work and live on this beautiful land,
and I want to pay my respects to elders, past,
present and emerging. How I Work is produced by Inventium
with production support from dead Set Studios, and thank you
to Martin Nimba who did the audio mix and makes

(08:11):
everything sound better than it would have otherwise.