If you were lucky, or had given it some thought, you had an answer (read excuse). Maybe you had even prepared the answer in your head as the moment of truth approached. And then you were ready to tell your story. It's a little different today, but you're sort of in the same boat! You need to explain yourself.

I'm talking about you, as a storyteller. When people ask you what you do and you are bold enough to identify yourself as a storyteller...then what? They always ask, "What is that? I didn't even know that existed. Exactly what do you do?" Just like that little kid, you need to be prepared to explain yourself. Only this time, it's a little different...but you still need to be prepared!

What do you tell people? In a few words or sentences...or even one sentence; are you prepared to delineate what it is that you do? For many years, it was considered the "elevator speech". Have a speech ready to tell if you were in an elevator and only had the time from the ground floor to the top, to tell your story. Storyteller and Coach Sean Buvala, like many others, believes the elevator speech is dead. He recently wrote a great piece about "Four Sentence Storytelling" as a way to explain what you do. Here's the link to the article.

Very much like storytelling, you want to give them something specific, but also want to make them want to hear more:

I use stories to entertain people.

I use stories to teach different concepts in life.

I use stories to help children and adults explore their imagination.

Or maybe it's a combination of two or three things - here's mine:

I use stories to entertain people and to teach individuals and organizations how to communicate through stories.

Usually, you will get a secondary question: "How do you do that?" Be prepared to explain further.

The Boy Who Cried Wolf is a story about a boy who is bored and wants company, but he miscommunicates by yelling and lying that the wolf is there. And of course, after too many times, no one believes him. And then no one believes him when there is real danger. So, the story is not just about lying, but also about the consequences of how, when and what we communicate.

The message here is (much like crafting a story) be prepared! Don't just go over it in your head. Craft the message, practice it out loud - with a friend or colleague. Have your story (message about what you do) ready.,

And be ready to explain yourself!