In this short training segment of the Be Moved podcast, host Sally Koering Zimney guides speakers through three reflective journaling prompts designed to uncover their signature stories. She begins by acknowledging that many people feel their daily lives lack story-worthy moments, then encourages listeners to set aside 15‑30 minutes of quiet time for focused journaling. The first prompt asks what they stand for and against, and why, urging them to identify passionate convictions and the people who shaped those beliefs. The second prompt explores what they want to be known for and the underlying motivations and influences. The third prompt invites them to recall three influential individuals—positive or negative—and a specific, defining moment with each, probing the significance of those experiences. Throughout, Sally emphasizes the importance of asking “why,” being specific, and not judging ideas that surface, as these details help craft distinctive, authentic stories that foster empathy and connection with audiences. She concludes with practical advice on journaling duration, non‑judgmental exploration, and allowing metaphorical or tangential stories to enrich a speaker’s narrative toolkit.
Chapters
Hey movers, it's Sally Koering Zimney with Be Moved. Let's go create some talks that will move this world. We're gonna talk with amazing speakers, share tips, tricks, resources, resources, and we are going to be moved so that our audience can be moved. This moved me. What is moving you?
So what I want to offer you today in our short training are 3 different questions that are helpful as you are starting to think for yourself. Like, what could my stories be? I don't even know. Maybe you're showing up today and you're like, I don't have any stories. My life is boring. Um, that sort of— I just go, I work all day and then run my kids through activities and then I'm exhausted and I go to bed, but first I watch Netflix. Like, that doesn't feel If you're anything like me, it doesn't feel very story-worthy. I think you're underselling the drama of the day-to-day. You're underselling those moments that can shift things, can shift perspective. But it's hard to find those. It's hard to find those sometimes. So let's dig in. 3 journal questions for you so you can do thinking for yourself. So what I'd like— I'm going to offer you these 3 questions, and what I'd like you to do is to set aside just 15 minutes one morning this week, or an evening, or whenever, after, whatever you would like to do it. But I'd like you to make some space, some time, the quiet, the crazy, and the busy, and make some space, some room for you to think back and explore. It's really hard to think of stories in the urgency of the moment. Like, you know, I need a story about this. I find myself, I do this all the time, all the time. I'm like, okay, I'm talking about this. What's the story I could tell? And man, it is hard. Pull them up out of nowhere. I don't want you to do that. I don't want you to pull it up out of nowhere. I want you to do a little journaling here, and it's going to bring up some themes and some ideas which will be helpful for you if you're looking for your signature stories. So the first question I have for you, the first journal prompt, is what do you stand for? And again, what are you for and what are you against? Okay? Sometimes those defining moments can reveal to us some significant ahas. And every story was born at a significant aha moment. So what are those What are those things that you're like really passionate about? And what are those things that you are, again, it's okay to draw some lines. Speakers need to do that. It can be scary, but that's a really important question to be asking yourself. And then what's underneath that, kind of part 2 of this question is, Why do you think, care about that? Who were people in your life who affected your thinking around that? So, what do you stand for and against? And why? Who are the people in your life who have made that, these ideas, pull in that way for you? Okay, the second writing prompt I have for you is journal for a minute about what you want to be known for. Ooh, that's a big one. That is a big one. What do you want to be known for? The thought leaders of the day are known for something. Okay, we talked about what you stand for, what you stand against, but what do you want to be known for? And that could be less about an idea, it could be more about the way that you think. That's great, Jill. And then the second part of this question, very similar to the first, which is why. Why do you believe that? Why do you think that? Who were the people in your life who influenced you to think that way? And now I'd really like you to think about— your final journaling prompt is to think about 3 influential people in your life, or 3 people in your life that influenced you Could be negatively or positively. Probably most likely it's positively, but there could be a negative influence that just really sent you in a specific direction. But what, what is it about those folks? And I want you to, with each of those people you think about, with each of those 3 people, I want you to Think about one specific moment that you had with each of them that you think of. What— why was that moment significant for you? So I think what you'll notice with all of these questions is I'm asking a lot of why questions. Like, as you are digging deep and thinking about all this stuff, you do need to know why. What's underneath it? Why does this— matter, and not just generally, but to you. Why does this matter to you? And the more specific, and the more specifically you can articulate that, the clearer your story is going to be, and the, the more distinctive your approach is going to be in this. And what I mean by that is There's a lot of people talking about your topic, guaranteed. Okay, there's a lot of speaker coaches out there, and there's a lot of people talking about storytelling. What makes my approach distinctive? Live Story. Okay, and the same is true for all of you, whether or not you lead with it all the time, but you're grounding yourself in that story, and it is the pathway to empathy and connection with your audience. Those two things— being really clear about your specific story, your specific expertise, your specific articulation— met with the specificity of what your audience needs. All right, my friends, I hope this was helpful. The short, sweet one today. Those are some big questions. They're deep and they're big, and you're gonna need a little time to think it through. Look at the prompt, put it on pause, write it down, and give yourself a good half hour. 15 minutes minimum, but a good half hour ideally. Just thinking and writing about it. Don't judge what comes up. Just allow yourself to explore. What does come up? Who do you think of? Did a moment surprise you? Did a story come up from your life that you're like, "Oh my god, about that." That is fabulous. Okay, even if— here's what I want you to do. I want you to make sure you don't shut down anything that comes to you. Don't go, "Well, that doesn't have anything to do with my topic," per se. Don't do that. Let it all come in because oftentimes, the best stories hold up our topic even if they're not topically related because the story, the way we use a story, it doesn't have to be about the exact thing. Metaphorical in some instances. So don't judge it, allow it to come in, allow it to— whatever bubbles up, don't question it, write it down, capture it, and see where you come out.
