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Why should you tell your story? Who are you to tell others how you feel and why you feel it? Who are you to tell others about the life experiences that have brought you to this point? Indeed, who are we to believe we

1. have a message of value for others,
2. worthy of being shared, and
3. compelling enough that others would want to hear it?

The audacity! Who are we? Why do we matter? Why does any of it matter?

Jesus Christ is recorded as saying, “Whatsoever you do to the least of my people, so you do unto me.” The Golden Rule is to treat others as you would ask to be treated (which assumes you want to be treated well!) Begin, then, with the question, “How do I want to be treated?” Not sure how to answer that? Think about a time when you felt elevated as a result of your interaction with another. Ask yourself, “When have I felt the most loved, accepted, nurtured, safe, inspired, encouraged or supported?”

Exercise

Complete the following sentence: “I have felt the most ________ (positive adjective) when ____________________________________________________________ (positive event, interaction, condition). Discuss your experience.

This is what the whole Metamora effort is all about. One of the Metamora Group’s prime reasons for being is to inspire, educate and entertain people while establishing the idea we’re all in this together. The Metamora Group is a collection of individuals and organizations who are tuning into their responsibility to uphold Metamora’s simple, concise mission statement: Elevate humanity. One of the ways the Metamora Group seeks to accomplish this is to bring people together (fostering a connected community) through live events. These live events focus on a myriad of topics including physical wellness, spiritual health, emotional growth and financial well-being. At the very core of this effort is the focus on providing a platform whereby people are called to get up and share their stories and their passions with the ultimate goal of elevating their audience. It is through the sharing of our stories and experiences that we come to learn how very similar we are to one another. It is through sharing our stories that we come to realize we’re really quite normal after all. Further, it is through the sharing of our stories (and then supporting those stories with action) that we inspire true, lasting change in the world.

Now, when I say “our stories”, I’m not saying you have to talk about yourself. Your stories may be derived from your own life experience, certainly, but you have much more to pull from than that. Tell us about the thing that keeps you up at night thinking. Tell us about the stories that mean something to you and then tell us why they mean something to you. Finally, tell us why those stories mean something to us. Stories are repeatable. There are layers of meaning within stories. Ever heard the adage “facts tell, stories sell”? Facts and statistics can be used to reinforce your point, but they will seldom make your point for you.

Okay, so now that you’ve determined what your passion is… wait… have you? If you had to get up and give a presentation tomorrow and the only requirement for the presentation was that you had to leave people with a greater sense of awareness and empowerment, what would you talk about? On what would you expand their awareness and how would you help them realize they were part of the solution? How would you move them to action? Move their minds and they’ll forget you tomorrow, but move their hearts and their minds will follow.

Exercise

Tomorrow is your last day on Earth. You will be leaving on a long trip and will be out of touch until you return, 50 years hence. You have been told by a trustworthy source there is one person who especially needs to receive encouragement from your before you leave. Who is that person? What do you say to them? Anyone want to share their answer?

Why this exercise works: If you cannot be around to shepherd, counsel, enable or otherwise influence another, you are forced to let go and believe they will be able to find their own way. The most you can do, therefore, is to release your attachment to their outcome and offer them the encouragement to seek their own growth and happiness. How do you do this then? What do you say? How do you say it? Finally, what if it was more than one person you were charged with inspiring? What if it was one hundred? One thousand? One million?

As you begin to solidify your message, you begin to craft the answer to “So what?” Assuming we want to hold true to the high mission of elevating humanity, how do you do this? Again, we return to stories for the answer.

Tell others why you feel the way you do about your passion of choice. Were there experiences that lead you to the views you now hold? What events helped for your current concerns? Why do you fell like others want or need to know about your topic? What happens if you remain reticent and choose not to say or do anything?

“Men’s courses will foreshadow certain ends, to which, if persevered in, they must lead. But if the courses be departed from, the ends will change.”
~Ebenezer Scrooge, in the Charles Dickens classic, “A Christmas Story”

Can one person make a difference? Ask Gandhi. Ask Martin Luther King, Jr. Ask Jesus of Nazareth. Gandhi said, “Be the change you want to see in the world.” You want to see change then? Begin living the change. Begin leading the change. Begin with one person; you. Then lead by your example.

Realize then, you have something to offer the world. You don’t have to worry about being particularly eloquent, but you do have to consider whether you’re doing your part with the gifts you’ve been given. I’ve heard sagacious speakers state that really, all we ever need to do is just be. That’s it. If we just be, we will have done enough. I understand and agree with the sentiment of being okay with yourself regardless of your personal results. I disagree, however, with the notion that we are okay to do nothing to improve ourselves and the lives of those around us. I would like to conclude this with a story most of you have heard before.

The Servants and the Talents

A rich man who was going on a long journey called his three servants together. He told them they would be caretakers of his property while he was gone. The master had carefully assessed the natural abilities of each servant. He gave five talents to one servant, two to another, and one to the third—to each according to his ability. The master then left on his journey.

The servants went forth into a world open to enterprise and investment. The servant who had received five talents went into business and made five more. The servant who received two made two more. But the servant who received one hid the master’s property in a hole in the ground.

The master returned to settle his accounts. The servant who had received five talents came forth. “My lord,” he said, “you entrusted me with five talents; see, I have made five more!”

“Well done, good and faithful servant!” the master responded. “You have been faithful over a little, I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your lord!”

Then the servant who had been given two talents approached the master. “My lord,” he said, “you entrusted me with two talents; see, I have made two talents more!” The master praised the servant in a like manner.

Then the one who had been given one talent approached his master. “My lord,” he said, “I knew you to be a hard man; you reap where you have not sown, and gather where you have not scattered; and being afraid I went and hid your talent in the ground. See, you have what is yours!”

The master’s response was swift and harsh: “You wicked and indolent slave! You were aware that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered; you ought for that reason to have invested my money with the bankers; then, on my return, I should have received my own with interest.”

The master ordered that the talent be taken away from the lazy servant and given to the one with the ten talents. “For to every one who possesses not,” said the master, “even that which he has shall be taken away. Cast that useless slave into the outer darkness; there shall be weeping and the grinding of teeth!”

What do we do with the gifts and hearts we’ve been given? Do we hide them or do we risk the investment of putting them out into the world? What does Christ say will happen if we choose the latter?

Know your passion.
Share your passion.
Ask yourself everyday, “What will I do today to elevate humanity?”

Speakers’ speaker, John Childers, talks about the three ways we represent ourselves when we speak publicly. The first way, he says, is to present ourselves as the Expert. This usually means we’ve been in our field for a while and we have amassed a body of knowledge and experience from which to speak and teach. This is the role most people think of when they think about a public speaker.

When I first considered public speaking as a profession, I immediately discounted myself on the thought I was not an expert at speaking about God or spiritual matters. I had 16 years of web design and online marketing experience and if you had asked me to teach a full day seminar on that subject, I could have gotten up, formulated the curriculum and delivered a workshop right there on the spot. After 16 years in that industry, I could speak easily about web design, content management systems, search engine marketing and optimization. But to hold a 20-minute lecture on God and matters of the spirit? I didn’t feel terribly well-equipped, even though I was fairly comfortable in my relationship with God.

Fortunately, “Expert” is only one of the three roles John discusses.

The next way is to present yourself and your message through the Reporter. The Reporter–just as it sounds–studies other sources of information and inspiration and reports out on them. I am speaking to you now primarily through the Reporter role. Upon studying John Childers’ material, something resonated with me and now I am bringing that material to you in the hope it will help you in your own life. It is my desire you will be able to connect with what I’m saying and use it to find your own voice (if you’re in the process of discovering it, as I imagine I will always be.)

By being a Reporter, you shine the light on someone else’s work, giving credit where credit is due, while bringing a deeper level of substance and credibility to your own message (providing you’ve chosen your source well.) Additionally, you remove some of the burden of having to “know it all” and you share that mantle with your sources. Don’t feel like you’re an expert on something? Share the spotlight with someone you feel has something expert to say and bring that value to your audience.

The third role in speaking is that of the Student. When you speak as a Student, you place yourself at the same level as everyone else around you. You share your experience and your ideas, but you do so in a very open, humble way. This role is less used to lead your listeners to a particular conclusion or insight, and more to share, intimate and normalize. When you approach as a Student, you say to your audience, “Hey, I’m making my way, just like you. Here is what I’ve seen.” I feel the Student role is, by far, the most intimate of the roles we take on.

So, there we have it; three roles: Expert, Reporter and Student.

When you speak, do you pick one role and stay in it? No, not usually. You’ll find most people will move very fluidly from one to the next. We use these roles without thinking, and we do it whether we’re before an audience or having a one-on-one conversation.

When I first learned about these different ways to present our ideas to others, I was relieved. I found it was easier for me to get started presenting spiritual material through the Student role. This allowed me to remove myself from the pressure of the Expert’s spotlight and humbly approach my audience as one of them. I still try to bring that humility to my audience when I talk, as I 1.) am quite aware I don’t know it all, and 2.) I feel the speaker-audience relationship is a sacred thing. You have sought me out or allowed me into your experience for however much time we have together and for that I am always honored. I love my audiences and I see them as a reflection of myself and I, a mirror back to them. I believe we would not be here, together, if it were not a part of the Divine Plan.

One final thought: I think it’s possible to whittle this list of three roles down into one. It feels like it may be possible–even preferable–to dissolve the Expert and Reporter roles into the Student. After all, if we approach our audience with humility and an earnest intent to serve by bringing value and insight, I believe the natural result of that research, self-analysis and preparation will organically lend to the easy expression of the Expert and Reporter roles. For me, that originates from working and speaking from the Student.