Podcasts Business Storytelling School How Relatable Stories Help You Connect With Any Audience

How Relatable Stories Help You Connect With Any Audience

Published: May 31, 2023, 7 a.m.

It\u2019s 2006. TEDx announces that they\u2019re holding the first-ever TEDx University. They invite all of us who are attendees to submit a description of what we want to share and teach the group. And a handful will be selected to do Talks.

At this point, I\u2019m not a speaker; I\u2019m still in the technology industry. Still, I know exactly what I want to do. I want to teach the other attendees something that makes me feel like a badass whenever I do it...

I\u2019m going to teach them how to break boards with their bare hands!

So I present my crazy idea for selection: Mind Over Wood. And\u2026

I get chosen as one of only 30 speakers out of over a thousand people!

Excited, I get to work right away on writing my Talk and start picturing myself speaking in front of world leaders, neuroscientists, and billionaires...

Wait. World leaders. Neuroscientists. Billionaires.

I start thinking, \u201cWho am I to teach anything to a roomful of those people? What if they laugh at me, or even worse, walk right out of the room?\u201d

So on the day of TEDx University, I\u2019m nervously standing in front of the room. I see the editor of Forbes to the left, three rows back. I see the founder of Flickr walk into the room on the right. I realize there\u2019s a Nobel Prize winner sitting in the front row.

But I\u2019m also feeling good about my Talk because I\u2019ve been rehearsing it relentlessly. So OK, it\u2019s go time! I take a deep breath and begin.\xa0

And I can\u2019t tell you how many people came up afterward to tell me how impactful my presentation was. Wow.

At that moment I realize how fun this was and am astonished that people get to do this\u2026 for a living... including my incredible guest today! Adiel Gorel is sought-after as an international speaker and recently joined the TEDx stage. In this episode of the Storytelling School Podcast, he talks about how discovering something that exists only in the U.S. motivated him to help others change one area of their unfolding life story. He also answers questions such as:

What\u2019s the biggest financial gift you can add to your story in the U.S. (if you\u2019re not already)? What should you do before you close your story in a Talk (which many people don\u2019t do)? Why does storytelling belong in the real estate industry? And what do you want to have at the ready when someone asks you a question like, \u201cWhat do you do?\u201d

What you will learn in this episode:

  • How sharing a more relatable story in drier subject areas helps with your message
  • Why the short story form is a more effective format for spreading your message today
  • How breaking the rules can open doors and create an even better story

Who is Adiel?

Adiel Gorel is a CEO, author, and international speaker with a Master\u2019s degree in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University and a lifetime passion for engaging audiences of all sizes in multiple languages. His company International Capital Group (ICG) is a leading real estate investment firm in the San Francisco Bay. With over 35 years of experience in the industry, he has not only invested in hundreds of properties for his own portfolio but also successfully assisted thousands of investors with purchasing more than 10,000 properties in the U.S.

As a six-time published author, Adiel\u2019s books cover topics ranging from building wealth to breathing correctly. From being a Computer Science instructor at Stanford to creating public TV specials, his life\u2019s work is to challenge conventions in order to offer insight on how everyone can improve their health, build their wealth, and live a better life. He has two grown kids and currently resides in the Bay Area.

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