TELLING STORIES
Sep
13
INCIDENT - POINT - BENEFIT
One day, I bought and read Dale Carnegie’s book HOW TO WIN FRIENDS AND INFLUENCE PEOPLE. I got excited and decided I could “change my world”. Despite the fact that I was poor and only had $20 a month of money to spend, I bought 3 copies and anonymously sent them to the Administrator of Good Samaritan Hospital, forget his name; the Nursing Administrator, Miss Hine, and the administrator of the Nurses Training School, Miss Grimes.
Twenty years later, November 1976, I started an in-home nutrition and family counseling business and decided to take a 6-week Dale Carnegie course offered in down town Seattle. Two of my classmates were the son of Larry’s Market owner and the now famous J A Jance, whose books are constantly featured at grocery store checkout counters. I learned to tell stories and teach others to share their stories benefiting our physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health.
The average reader or listener has a 2-minute attention span. To engage someone, there needs to be an INCIDENT - POINT - BENEFIT. We practiced telling stories. When I give a presentation or write a book, I need to re-engage my listener or reader with another incident each 500 words.
The best incidents are in first person, start with “one day” and have an intention or point that will benefit the individual or audience.
Then in 1991, I started an OMOIDE (memories in Japanese) writing group with these same guidelines. We have used Dale Carnegie's principles to share stories about our Japanese American heritage and will hopefully publish book number VI.
This week is September 2019. It's been 60 years since I first learned about Dale Carnegie and I'm 80 years old. A colleague and I sat and watched Oprah impress us with her stories with "INTENTION" to help us live purposeful lives. I intend to keep practicing!!
