A version of this first appeared in Story Strategies—my monthly email newsletter designed to help you connect with your audience through the power of story. Get the next issue delivered to your inbox.
***
Stories can help us do many things. Like inspire action toward our goals …
When it comes to celebrity encounters, I’m somewhat lucky. In my travels through the years, I’ve randomly bumped into Martin Sheen, Reba McEntire, Marc Maron, and more. However, two stand out.
While having a drink in the Driskill lobby bar at SXSW in Austin, my friend Mike and I saw Billy Crystal. Mike loves Billy Crystal and was eager to pounce. In a rare reserved moment (I’ve been known to pounce myself), I said nothing and took a moment to assess the City Slicker in the wild. Glasses perched on his furrowed brow and a scowl on his face, Mr Saturday Night was not happy. Something in his phone had Billy very, very mad.
“If we go over there, I feel like we’re going to have a bad Billy Crystal story,” I cautioned. Best to leave it alone. Ironically, a better encounter came from someone Crystal often impersonated early in his career.
I was at the airport on my way back from a conference in San Antonio when Muhammad Ali walked up to my gate. He was older, slower, and quieter but still every bit the champ. Pouncing The Greatest seemed like the wrong move from the jump. However, my gate-mates were not as inhibited. He stood for countless photos, smiling and nodding. Finally, the guy next to me asked if I’d take his picture with the champ. “Only if you take mine too!” I blurted out.
When it was my turn, I stood beside him and smiled for the camera. As I stepped back toward my seat, a hand grabbed my shoulder. It was Ali, moving me—and that’s exactly how you phrase it when Muhammad Ali has hands on you! He positioned me squarely across from him, pressed my hands into fists, and brought one of my fists to his face. The crowd erupted with laughter as the picture below was taken.
My goal for the New Year is to be more like Muhammad Ali and less like Billy Crystal. Now, I don’t know what was in Billy’s phone but it wasn’t good. And if it was anything related to airline travel, I’d be scowling too. But I have an amazing Muhammad Ali story. He never said a word. He couldn’t by then. But we connected briefly. Someone of his stature could have been the first one on the plane. He chose to be one of the last. He chose connection. I want to be out of my phone and out in the world open to connection more in 2025. This story—or set of stories—provides me with a helpful reminder of what that looks like.
P.S. The punchline of my Ali story? I was thumbing through a magazine a couple months after my chance encounter and found a pic of Ali and Matt Damon—same pose.
Story Strategies at Work
[Strategies from this story that you can you apply in your work]
- “Close Encounters of the Celebrity Kind” is an action story. Of the five types of story leaders need to tell, this one is critical in inspiring new behavior or changing existing behavior. Even your own behavior. The stories we tell ourselves can be very powerful.
- Stories spark action more than facts and stats. The science backs this up. A great example of this is the Rokia study from Carnegie Mellon.
- Contrast is key. Stories are all about getting from point A to point B. Action stories specially are dependent on the contrast between your point A and point B. My story has a point A (Crystal) and a point B (Ali). I’ve emphasized the contrast for the story and action I want to inspire. For the record, I like Billy Crystal and his work. Maybe he was just having a bad day. We all do. I’m sure Muhammad Ali did too.
- Details make the difference. Ground your story with details—specific names and places like the historic Driskill hotel in downtown Austin, Billy’s glasses perched on his forehead, or Ali grabbing me. These details help to paint the picture for your audience. They also increase the likelihood that they’ll remember your story. And when they remember it, they’re more likely to act.
What actions are you trying to spark? How can you use story to help you get there in your next meeting, presentation, or marketing communication?