In this solo‑host podcast excerpt, Sally Koering Zimney walks listeners through Chapter 12 of her book Speaking Story, titled “How Can We Cultivate These Stories in Our Life?”. She explains that finding and using stories is a habit that requires three complementary mental modes: (1) Executive mode – deliberately feeding the brain with diverse, interesting inputs; (2) Mind‑wandering mode – allowing space for unconscious synthesis that produces aha moments; and (3) Capture mode – recording those moments before they fade, using a simple “Story Log” (a Google Sheet) or any central note‑taking system. Zimney illustrates the concepts with personal anecdotes, including advice from her mentor Scott Voss (“if you can’t find a ‘this moved me’ moment, you’re not paying attention”) and references her husband Andy Zimney’s work on creative productivity. She also promotes her Unspeaker Simple Storytelling audio course and the Be Moved Institute as practical resources for leaders who want to develop a story‑system. The episode blends instructional, conversational, and promotional tones, urging listeners to notice, process, and capture story‑worthy moments in everyday life.
Chapters
It sounds dumb. Oh my gosh. Welcome back to This Moved Me, where right now on This Moved Me, we are walking through the book Speaking Story, which was written by me, Sally Koering Zimney Zimney. And yes, if you want to listen to the ad-free version, you can go grab that over on Audible. But if you are enjoying this kind of insider peek. I'm so glad that you're here. Gives me a chance to add a little bit more context for you, and you can get the whole book free here on the podcast feed that you might be listening to right now, or over on YouTube. Either way, I'm delighted that you are here with us, and we are in part 3, in chapter 12. And chapter 12 is titled, "How Can We Cultivate These Stories in Our Life?" Like, we've just identified a handful of stories, and now we're wondering like, okay, you're talking about these stories, but I still feel this dearth of stories, like this vacuum of stories. I'll never forget, I was in a podcast conversation, and I think I talk about this story in the book, with a mentor of mine and friend of mine who I've known forever, one of my longtime, forever ago speech coaches. Early on in this podcasting journey, you could go back, it's like in the first 10 episodes, a conversation with Scott Voss, who is somebody who I feel like lives a "this moved me" kind of life. Like he, you know, I don't see him really anymore, but in the time that I knew him, he just was like driven and moved through the world with the eyes of a storyteller, and he would experience life and take it in through the eyes of like what was moving him. And he would share that with his students and the people he was coaching so beautifully. Like, he asked himself all the time, what's moving me? And if you've been listening to the show for a long time, if you're kind of one of my OGs and you've been here forever, you know that when I would interview somebody, the last final segment would be a "this moved me" moment? Like, what's moving you these days? And I remember in that conversation with Scott, he said, "Man, if you can't come up with a 'this moved me' moment, you just simply haven't been paying attention." And that struck me because I had to come up with a lot of those day in and day out as I was recording 250 episodes. I'd be like, whoa, what is moving me? And of course, the busier we get, the harder it is to find what is moving us. And if we wanna find a story, that's what we have to pay attention to. Like, what is moving us? And there are times when I'm just like, nothing. Nothing's moving me. I don't know. My life is boring. Blah, blah, blah. And if we wanna be a good storyteller, we have to operate a little bit differently. So in this chapter, I want to share with you about how the best storytellers I know aren't living necessarily a more quote-unquote "interesting life" than the rest of us. Some of them are. Some of them are cultivating it really intentionally. They're like, "Listen, if I wanna tell great stories, I need to live a story-worthy life." But for most of us, it doesn't require that. For most of us, All we need to do is learn how to notice our lives differently. So in this chapter, I get a little tactical with you and really specific about not only how can we notice the stories happening around us, but then how do we not forget when we have a moment that strikes us? Because, woof, that's my Like 80% of my problem is I will get moved a million times a day. You know, I'm like a roller coaster walking through life. Open up Instagram, I'm like crying. And then the, you know, one more swipe and I'm laughing my head off. And all of those moments moved me. And if I can step back for a second and pay attention and think about why, why did those move me? Actually, there's a story there. The problem is to take that and then make sure I don't forget that and that it's captured and I can find it when I need it. There are moments where we're like, "I need a story on fill in the blank," and if you don't have it at the ready, it's going to be really, really hard. So one of the things I share with you at the end of each part, we haven't really talked about this, but At the end of each part, there's the Spark section. Yeah. Oh my gosh. In Part 2, I, it doesn't have it in Part 1, but Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, we have a Spark section. And the Spark section is really where all those resources live. So you'll hear me tell you about it in this, but one of the tools that I give you in the Part 3 Spark, is a tool called a Story Log. Super creative name. It's simply a Google Sheet, and it's set up to help you collect and capture your stories. So little thing, but hang in there for that as you listen to this. Okay, let's do this. So glad that you're here. Here we go. Hey everybody, and welcome to This Moved Me, a podcast about creating talks that move the world. With me, your host, Sally Koering Zimney. This complimentary listening of this speaking story audiobook is brought to you in part by the Be Moved Institute, or as I lovingly refer to it, Be Me. Leadership almost always comes with a microphone, movers, whether that's a meeting, a presentation, a tough conversation, a keynote conference opportunity that you have. I mean, even if you would never call yourself a speaker or a storyteller, you are one. You just might not have the tools that you need yet, or the support that you need yet. And that's why I created the Unspeaker Simple Storytelling Audio Course. It's like having me right alongside you on your walk or in the car on your commute, and it guides you through simple, powerful exercises to find the leadership stories that are already inside you and that will move your people. It's $49, but it's truly priceless, and I'm really excited to give you the opportunity to come join me over there. All you have to do is head to Sally Koering Zimney sallykoeringz.com/unspeaker to get started. And while you're there, join the waitlist for the Be Moved Institute, an incredible 2-day experience where we are giving corporate leaders the tools to present with power and clarity and authenticity and support. Now let's get into the chapter. Chapter 12: How can we cultivate these stories in our life? If you want to leverage the power of story to influence and persuade, finding stories to speak needs to become a daily habit. We can't find the stories, no matter what kind, if we don't create these habits in our lives. Leaders who use stories consistently have a story system in place and it's built on these 3 ideas. Number 1, feed your brain. In other words, executive mode. My husband, Andy Zimney, speaks nationally about productivity, creativity, and how we can get unstuck in the creative process and get more done. During these talks, he speaks about the different modes of our creative genius. The first mode is executive mode. This is when we're focused on a topic, working on something, thinking about something, and putting intentional effort into it. When our brains are in executive mode, they're taking in information. We need to feed our brains with interesting information and experiences like great shows, podcasts, travel, live music, interesting people, inspiring conferences, thought-provoking books. There's so much to take in and to feed our brains with. The truth is, as a species right now, we are spending more and more time in executive mode and less and less time in the essential, second mode, which is to create space to process, sometimes called mind wandering mode. Mind wandering mode is when we are not doing executive mode. Our mind is wandering and free. In the shower, taking a quiet walk, meditating, driving, even sleeping. Have you ever had an aha moment? If so, when did it strike? Most likely, it struck when you were in mind wandering mode. When our brains are in this mode, they are synthesizing, processing, putting the pieces together, and making connections from all of that information. If we don't have enough mind wandering in our life, we miss out on the aha moments. We need both modes to create perspective to share in our stories. But most of us need to focus on and create more space in our lives to slow down and process all the information we're taking in through executive mode. And none of this can really be leveraged for impact unless we are in the third mode, which is to capture and collect those aha moments. I can tell you this: it is hard to think of a story in the moment or under an urgent time constraint or deadline. Our lives are full of stories that we just aren't thinking about or that we simply don't remember. We are struck by beautiful or funny moments that may be powerful in illuminating a moment for our audience. But if we can't remember them, or if we forget they ever happened, then we lose out on the opportunity to really impact our audience. So we need a place to put our stories and a way to organize them. Here's a pro tip: create one place, for example, a document, your notes app, or a voice memo, to put your ideas and stories. Then, whenever you remember a moment from your life, dump it there so it doesn't slip away. That way, when those stories come to you, you can capture them in that place because you don't want to let those stories slip away. They are precious, and each of them might be the story your audience needs to hear at some point. Those stories hold the inspiration, insight, and connection we are looking for and working toward. That's the end of this chapter of Speaking Story. If you want to keep listening ad-free, you can find the full audiobook on Audible or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts or on YouTube. And if this chapter stirred something in you, if it, shall we say, moved you, let me suggest that you start with the Unspeaker Simple Storytelling Audio Mini Course at sally-zimney.com. Www.moving.com/unspeaker. All right, Movers. This moved me. What is moving you? See you next time.
