Hannah Brencher: The Letter Writer Who Built a Movement | Ch. 24

They call me a superuser for a reason. Oh, thank you.

Oh my gosh.

What's up, party people? We're at part 5 already. What? How did this happen? You know how it happened? It happened with determination and focus and years of patience with myself for being— taking so long. To get this to you, but here we are. Welcome back to those of you who are following along with us over on the podcast, This Moved Me, This Moved Me, oh, and on YouTube. But let me just say a quick thing about This Moved Me. Gosh, I started This Moved Me as a podcast, like before podcasts were a thing really, before I even really listened to podcasts. I was like, yes, I'm gonna make a podcast. And I had so much fun. It was a really important part of growing my business. I learned a ton. It is still, actually, I, you know, I haven't looked in a little bit, but at one point it was in the top 2% of podcasts in the world. I think that's because I have over 350 episodes. So I did it consistently for a long time. A long time. And then I put it to bed for a little bit because I was like, "And I'm done." I started playing more in video, and I was tired, and I was so busy with my coaching clients and busy speaking that it just became something that needed to pause. And that's fine. But when I was thinking about how to bring this audiobook to life, how to bring this book called Speaking Story that I published a few years ago with Wise Ink, my publishing partner, for the physical book. And I was like, how do I, how can I get this into people's hands and not let there be any barrier to entry? I just want people to have this idea because I just feel so passionately that A, anybody can do it. And B, it's important. It can be the thing that sparks an idea for somebody else, that ignites a movement, that gets people on board with you, etc., etc. So, I just decided that the timing was right to do this, which is why you're listening to this for free. On either your podcast feed or on YouTube. Either way, I'm so glad that you're here. And if you're just finding us, welcome. So glad that you're here. What we're about to dive into here in part 5, so we've been publishing this a part at a time. Every part kind of has a little different focus, and part 5 is where we get to analyze a few examples of people telling their stories and speaking a story. This part is short, it's not long. It does require just a wee bit of homework for you. So what you're gonna hear as I talk through this is you're gonna hear me talk about the, in a few cases, they're TED Talks, in some cases it's just like a home video of my husband actually speaking at a little event that he was speaking at. There's one from a conference that I was at and got permission to use. So there's some really, I hope a wide variety, really different styles. That was really important to me because I wanted you to see that there's a lot of different ways to do this. And I wanted you to see how it looks to put the framework to work, the Moment, Meaning, Move framework that we talked about in the last part to life. Like, what does it look like? What are all the different ways that you can do this? And so some of them, you're gonna be like, is that really Moment, Meaning, Move? And then you can hear me talk about how they used Moment, Meaning, Move.

Okay?

Oh my gosh. And so here's, here's the deal. This part won't have a lot of meaning for you unless you first watch the videos, unless you first find them. Some of these are just public links, but you can get all of those links if you go grab the toolkit, the Story Kit, and you can do that at speakingstory.com. So do that now. I'm kind of prefacing this part with that because that's how you can get all the links to these. Part 5, where are we? Oh my gosh. Yeah, we start chapter 24. So part 5 starts with chapter 24 with a really amazing woman named Hannah Brentscher. I don't know Hannah. She and I aren't friends yet, but I sure would like to be. Hi Hannah, if you hear this. Sally Koering Zimney. I don't know if, if I don't know how Google works, but if we end up finding each other, just know I remember watching your TED Talk and it's really old at this point, but I still think it's a, it's a beautiful example where she just follows the moment, meaning move idea really, really beautifully. And To everybody who's in this part, I cannot help myself. This is, if you were here from the very beginning, I say I'm one of those, like, it's a, what do I call it? A always be ABAing, always be analyzing, that it is just a part of who I am. And so every once in a while I'll be like, okay, now if I was coaching, fill in the blank, one of these amazing speakers, PS, They're all more famous than I am. So this is me just using it as an example to say to you, if we were really staying true to the framework, which they haven't had access to and aren't invested in, then it might look a little bit more like this. So I even talk about how they did it is beautiful, and you could even approach it like this. So just know that as you listen to this, I might be like, "Well, if Hannah and I were chatting about it, I'd say you could also do this or try this." It's part of the fun. You get to hear me coach just a tiny bit. And I say that "coach" with a big ol' asterisk because they haven't asked me to coach them, so I'm not actually coaching them, and we are not in conversation, and coaching only happens in collaboration and conversation. So this is just my like little two cents out of, with so much love and respect for each of these amazing people and what they have created. So Hannah Brentscher is our first one. And as you hear me talk through this, I literally say the moment part is here, the meaning part is here, and the move part is here. And if you go download the story kit that goes with it, I put time marks in it. It'll be like the moment part is here, the meaning part is here, the move part is here so that you can really look at for yourself and start to analyze, what does this look like in real life? It's one thing in theory, it's another thing put to work like this. So Hannah's our first. Hannah Prunsher. I cannot wait for you to meet her. She's a delight. She's amazing. And she has continued to do really, really cool work. So thank you, Hannah, for bringing your voice. To life and for being such a shining example of moment, meaning, and move. 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. All right, team, quick question before we dive in, and I want you to answer it honestly. Do you have a message that you know is worth sharing, but you're not quite sure what to do with it next? If you said yes, even, "Oh yes," I want you to hear something first. Here's Jenn Whitmer. She is a keynote speaker, award-winning author, and someone who was sitting right where you might be right now.

I remember my my clicker just hovering over the join button about 6 years ago with Sally Koering Zimney, and I am forever grateful that I clicked yes. I'm Jenn Whitmer, keynote speaker, award-winning author, and all-around joy bringer. And since I tapped that little button, my business has continued to grow and expand and been on stages that I had never even considered dreaming about. And that's all because of the insights that I have gained from being a part of Sally's community, the skills, the cheerleaders, the referrals. If you are scared and you are hovering over that button, I'm telling you, now is the time. Now is the time.

That's what's on the other side of your yes. And the first step isn't a big commitment, it's a free one. At sally-zimney.com/path, you can grab 2 free resources. The Movers Roadmap, a short clarifying exercise that shows you exactly where you are in your speaking business right now, where the real gaps are, and what to actually do next. And I want to make sure you get your hands on our Power Pitching Push. This is a live audio series where I walk you through exactly how to pitch yourself as a speaker. No fluff. Real next steps. It really hands you the roadmap to get more gigs. And if you're just like, I'm not sure exactly what to do or what my path is, you can get this all at sally-zimney.com/path. You can grab the Movers Roadmap there, the Power Coaching Push. You can learn more about the pathway that Jen took to get where she is right now. And when you're ready to go all in, Movers Collective is where we are gonna take you from talented to the Spotlight. Amazing!

All right, now let's get into the chapter.

Chapter 24: Hannah Brentscher. This is Hannah's origin story behind her organization and her idea. I chose to include it here because Hannah is more emotively grounded than many TEDx and TED speakers. She's an incredible writer and poet, and she has a very understated approach that is still quite impactful. She's also easy to relate to in many ways. She doesn't have the most perfect speech, and she isn't super out there in terms of her delivery, but she has connected the moment and the meaning so, so well, which sets up the need and the move behind her business precisely. If you'd like to watch Hannah's TED Talk, you can find it using the QR code in the book or heading to speakingstory.com and finding it in the Spark section in the Speaking Story Toolkit. The moment. Let's talk about the moment for a moment. After watching Hannah's TED Talk, did you notice the line that brought it to life? She said, "I was one of the only kids in college who had a reason to go to the PO box at the end of the day, and that was mainly because my mother has never believed in email and Facebook and texting." or cell phones in general, and so while other kids were BBMing their parents, I was literally waiting by the mailbox to get a letter from home to see how the weekend had gone. The reason this line brought Hannah's story to life is that it ignited my visual imagination so I could see it in my head. Even when I think back to this talk, this is the moment I remember: Hannah standing at her PO box waiting for a letter. Now, if I were coaching Hannah, I might suggest that she be even more specific in her storytelling. I might say, "Tell me about one time you were at the PO box, start this whole thing off by saying something like this. Please note that I'm just making this up because I don't know Hannah at all. Hannah, if you're listening to this, let's be friends. One Thursday after my glass class, I was waiting at the PO box to get a letter from my mom. I was one of the only kids in college who had a reason to go to the PO box at the end of the day, and that was mainly because, etc., etc., etc. It's very similar But bringing the story to one specific moment creates a scene in my mind. Then it starts the narrative development, including the emotional context that primes the imagination for connection. The meaning. Hannah's moment is pretty minimal. I mean, most of her story focuses on the meaning. She got sucker punched by depression and moved to New York City, then turned her specific struggle into a universal struggle. Her specific experience becomes about the following: the single mother in Sacramento, the girl who was bullied in Kansas, the whole of the internet asking a 22-year-old who barely knew her own coffee order to give them a reason to wait by the mailbox. Hannah gives a handful of examples that take her specific audience—in other words, the moment—and turn it into an audience experience, the meaning.

The move.

Hannah's move is really clear. She fuels an organization that is fueled by letters. All right, everybody, that's a wrap on this chapter of Speaking Story. You can find the full audiobook ad-free on Audible, or just subscribe and the next chapter comes right to you. To you. And hey, if Jen's story up at the top hit a bit of a nerve, if you've got your own clicker hovering, the Movers Roadmap is free. It takes about 20 minutes to go through, and it will tell you more about where you are and what you need than most paid programs will. So go grab it along with the Power Pitching Push at sally-zimney.com/path.

Sally-zimney.com/path.

All right, movers. This moved me. What is moving you? See you next time.