The Art of Storytelling and Human Connection: How I used it to survive in a Male-Dominated World

But I can't sit here and say I invented storytelling because that is not true.

It's something as humans that has been built into us for so many years.

It's what cavemen did when they sat around the campfires.

It's how people connect.

It's how people find partners, and it's how we sell products in the modern-day world.

So why is it so many people say to me, "Michelle, I don't have a story," or, "I don't know how to share my story"? Well, I think it comes down to a couple of things.

I think one of the things is that they don't wanna be vulnerable, and they don't wanna share every aspect of their life, which is understandable.

But also, you need to understand that vulnerability and emotion is the real pathway for a connection, but we'll get into that at the end of this video.

When I worked in construction, I found that listening to other people's stories really helped me connect on a much deeper level.

And then when we'd connected on a deeper level, I could then take relationship further and would allow me to ask them to do things that they wouldn't do for another stranger.

As the only woman on site, I was constantly fighting this battle of power, control, and ego, and once I connected with somebody, that seemed to diminish.

And on the flip side of that, I understood where the power came when I started to share my story.

I was someone that went to a all-girls private school and then landed on a construction site where I was working with criminals and people that had had quite hard upbringings.

So what on earth would I have in common? Well, there was a ton of things.

Sense of humor for once.

I love a good story that can make people laugh.

Life experiences of traveling, what you read, what TV shows you're into.

All of these things create a connection, and you can tell a story about any of them.

It doesn't have to be a personal experience.

You can tell a story about something that you watched on the TV or a conversation you overheard at a local bus stop.

It doesn't always have to be about you.

But I can't sit here and say I invented storytelling because that is not true.

It's something as humans that has been built into us for so many years.

It's what cavemen did when they sat around the campfires.

It's how people connect.

It's how people find partners, and it's how we sell products in the modern-day world.

So why is it so many people say to me, "Michelle, I don't have a story," or, "I don't know how to share my story"? Well, I think it comes down to a couple of things.

I think one of the things is that they don't wanna be vulnerable, and they don't wanna share every aspect of their life, which is understandable.

But also, you need to understand that vulnerability and emotion is the real pathway for a connection, but we'll get into that at the end of this video.

When I worked in construction, I found that listening to other people's stories really helped me connect on a much deeper level.

And then when we'd connected on a deeper level, I could then take relationship further and would allow me to ask them to do things that they wouldn't do for another stranger.

As the only woman on site, I was constantly fighting this battle of power, control, and ego, and once I connected with somebody, that seemed to diminish.

And on the flip side of that, I understood where the power came when I started to share my story.

I was someone that went to a all-girls private school and then landed on a construction site where I was working with criminals and people that had had quite hard upbringings.

So what on earth would I have in common? Well, there was a ton of things.

Sense of humor for once.

I love a good story that can make people laugh.

Life experiences of traveling, what you read, what TV shows you're into.

All of these things create a connection, and you can tell a story about any of them.

It doesn't have to be a personal experience.

You can tell a story about something that you watched on the TV or a conversation you overheard at a local bus stop.

It doesn't always have to be about you.