I sure do. People often ask me, "How do you make your living?" I usually say I'm in the business of publishing digital media, be it through podcasts, audiobooks, website building and the like.

 

But really I'm in the business of telling stories. Those mediums of podcasts and audiobooks are the means by which that story is told.

 

We've all been told stories as long as we can remember; they are how we've learned to get along in the world. Whether through stories learned in Sunday School, or with the Saturday morning cartoons (remember those?), stories are how we learn and retain information.

 

We often think that unless we have a story that is of "biblical proportions", well, it's just not worth telling. But it's those mundane moments that sometimes make the best stories, because we all live mundane lives to some degree. Even Jesus Christ taught the most profound truths, be it moral or predicting the end times, by retelling seemingly mundane interactions between mundane people, most of whom we'll never know even their names. So you could say that the mundane stories are actually "biblical" in their proportions - if they have have something to share that makes our lives better.

 

What I'm about to say might come across as shocking, but I've learned that people are suckers. I've often shared the story of how my wife Sana and I met - the one that involves a courier pigeon getting caught in crosswinds in China and green tea - thinking that people are going to look at me like I've got two heads.

 

But as I tell the story, I'm amazed at how people are sucked into it, and a few of them actually believe it! The story itself is ridiculous, but when told with sincerity, I'm amazed at how many people actually buy it.

 

After I tell the story, I'll ask them, "Do you believe me?" And they'll say something like, "I have no reason not to believe you."

 

(BTW, for maximum effectiveness in telling a BS story, it's critical to shoot an accusatory look at the first sign of skepticism from your audience, as if to say, "What, do you think I'm making this up?")

 

But I digress.

 

All this shows a powerful maxim for life, and that is...

 

If you believe the story, that makes it true.

 

How have politicians stayed in power, via elections, brute force, etc. for millennia? By controlling the story. The other candidate might be the best qualified, but unless they're adequate at selling a story, they don't have a chance to win the election, or to keep their thug opponents at bay.

 

If you believe you're not good at telling stories, guess what? You're right. If you really believe you'll never master that difficult lick on the piano, again, you're speaking truth into existence. Not a pleasant truth, but truth doesn't know whether it's good or bad. It just is.

 

I've been in the business of telling stories for years. I have a podcast dedicated to my instrument the trumpet, which tells The Story of the Trumpet, In the Words of Those Who Play It. And I've helped many entrepreneurs, wantrepreneurs, and everything in-between share their stories using these tools at our disposal.

 

If you have a story of biblical proportions that you want help getting out to a wider audience than your dog or husband or wife that isn't listening to you anyway, then maybe we're a good fit to work together. Click this link to check out what our business JNS Media offers. https://jns.media