In this episode of the This Moved Me podcast, author and host Sally Koering Zimney walks listeners through Chapter 17 of her Speaking Story audiobook, focusing on how to clarify the core idea behind a story so it lands effectively. She emphasizes iteration as a continual, supportive process that lets storytellers keep refining their message. The discussion defines leadership storytelling as a tool to amplify and humanize ideas, stressing that a story must serve a specific purpose rather than exist solely for entertainment. Sally introduces the “so‑what” onion‑peeling technique for drilling down from a broad thesis to a precise, actionable point, illustrating it with a healthcare transformation example. She then provides concrete brainstorming and journaling exercises, including prompts about aha moments, personal legacies, and influential people, to help listeners uncover authentic stories. Practical tools are highlighted: a story‑log for categorizing stories by business pillars, and two messaging worksheets (Moving Message and Message Hierarchy) available on speakingstory.com. The episode also promotes free resources from the Movers Collective—the Movers Roadmap and Power Pitching Push series—to guide aspiring professional speakers toward a sustainable speaking career, and concludes with a call to the Unspeaker Simple Storytelling Audio Mini‑Course. Throughout, the tone is conversational and instructional, aiming to equip leaders with a repeatable process for finding, refining, and deploying stories that align with their core message.
Chapters
What's going on? Anyway, so let's try that again.
Have I talked about iteration with all of you yet?
Maybe you've heard it in the audiobook already, but iteration is truly one of the gifts of this work. And I say it's a gift because it can kind of be frustrating to always feel like, "Man, this work is never done," but that's what I like about it. Is that we don't ever have to feel like it's done. We're like, well, here's what it is now. And then as I go out, I'm going to keep learning and growing and moving. And as we talk about delivery and bringing this on its feet and integrating feedback and all of that stuff, iteration is the idea that will give you some solace for yourself and allow you to keep moving and really get yourself out there. The idea of iteration is especially important in this from a very process perspective. So we are on chapter 17 of the Speaking Story audiobook here on This Moved Me. My name is Sally Koering Zimney. I'm the author of Speaking Story and also the host here on This Moved Me, and I'm so delighted that you're here.
And we are walking through the book chapter by chapter.
We're in part 3, and every week we are dropping a new part, so if you are waiting for the next part, it should come out within a week. In part 3, we're really finding stories and trying to make them make sense within our message. Like, when do we use them, and how can I connect them to what it is that I'm talking about? Because you can be a great storyteller, but the kind of storytelling we're talking about is leadership storytelling, and so the story does something. The story is really about amplifying an idea. Illuminating idea, making an idea feel more human, making it make sense in different ways, and, and really turning on all of the incredible brain science of storytelling. You can have a great story, but if it doesn't do what you need it to do from an idea and message perspective, then we haven't quite gotten there. And iteration is the key here. It's really about the process of clarifying, keep clarifying, keep digging. So that when you find that idea, it will make everything click.
Oh, that sounds great, doesn't it? Let's do it. 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 episode of the Speaking Story audiobook is brought to you in part by the Movers Collective. If you are listening to a book about speaking stories, I have a feeling you already know that you have a message worth sharing. Maybe you've been on a stage or two. Maybe it's still just a dream kind of sitting in your chest waiting. Either way, I want you to know that there's a real path for from where you are right now to a speaking career that actually pays, one that fits your life, your message, and the change that you want to make in the world. That path starts with two free resources I want to give you. The first is the Movers Roadmap. This is a clear-eyed look at what it actually takes to build a career as a professional Speaker. The second is an audio series that I recorded live, uh, and this developed with my own clients, and it's called the Power Pitching Push. And in this series, I walk you through exactly how to pitch yourself as a speaker so that you can get some gigs. You will get a real taste of what it's like to work with me.
Both are free.
Go grab them. Sally-z.com/path. Sally-z.com/path. And when you're ready to go all in, The Movers Collective is where we can take you from talented to professional.
All right, now let's get into the show. Chapter 17: Clarifying the idea behind your story. Before we can create a story, we need to do one final clarification of your idea that will make it much easier for you to find the stories you need to tell. In the previous chapter, you asked yourself, what do I wanna be known for? And that is a powerful place to start, but it's likely not specific enough to find the most signature story for you to speak. You are here to do something. So what do you wanna do with your story? What change do you wanna create? At first blush, this might be simple, but for a lot of people, this idea is kind of like an onion that we haven't peeled down enough yet. So to peel down that idea, we have to think about finding what I call our thesis statement. In other words, what is the point of this story? What is it leading toward? And one of the best ways to do that is to keep asking yourself, "So what?" For example, let's say you want to be known for transforming the healthcare system. That's your big idea, but right now it's quite broad and generic. So we ask, "So what? Why do you need to do that?" Now let's say this is your answer: "Because healthcare isn't accessible enough to people." Then we ask, So what? Why is that important? Maybe this is your next answer. Well, minority populations are suffering more than other people. And so we ask again, so what? Peel that onion. Keep getting more and more specific. Okay. Um, urban residents don't have access to enough healthy food and it's affecting their capability to lead full lives. Wow. That's really different. From simply transforming healthcare. Now we are transforming a really specific slice of this very broad category. Now we are on to something. And now all of a sudden, there's a story baked into that intention, and it's probably going to be much easier to find your story once you drill down far enough with the so what test. Here's a pro tip. Please note that this process of creating your story is an evolving one.
It's iterative.
So you may start with a particular thesis statement idea and then find a story that helps clarify and lead you to a slightly different thesis statement. It can go back and forth like that for a bit. SPARKS Part 3: Finding Your Stories Summary. In Part 3, we explored the process of finding stories that are aligned with you, your audience, and the context of the world that your business is attending to. These signature stories are driven by pathos, not just logic, and require us to create space to be moved so that we can turn around and move our audience with our stories. We want to find and consistently collect and capture stories that share and illuminate our differentiating point of view. In other words, our take. So that our stories help us stand out from the crowd of experts that also speak in our industry.
Exercises.
Brainstorm your stories. Keep in mind the following things: One story can have many uses. The story doesn't have to be about you. Your story doesn't have to be directly about your topic, but it should relate to the topic. In other words, It can be metaphorical. Look for moments of change and pivot, as well as before and after moments. Remember, a story can be the smallest of moments. We do need some sense of what you might call drama, but drama exists in the everyday. We just don't often see it or find meaning in it. Your story doesn't have to be life-altering. Your perspective and insight are what bring the drama. Make your story about a specific moment. This is critical. Here's a pro tip as you're brainstorming: if you're wrestling with deciding which story to create, just pick something. No story is going to be perfect, and most stories can be made more effective over time. So here's some ideas. To get you started with brainstorming. What's moved you recently? What are some before and after moments? What are those moments where something happened and then things were different in some way? What's an aha moment that changed your perspective? When you're hanging out with friends, what's your favorite story to tell? What's a family story that gets told again and again when your family gets together? What's a moment when everything changed? What's a moment you don't like to share or that feels especially vulnerable? If you were to let risk be your compass, what story would you share? If you didn't worry about how others would react, what story would you share? Here are some journal questions for you: Number 1, write about a big aha moment from your life. What was it? What happened? Who was there? Describe the experience and what you learned from it. Number 2, sometimes defining what you stand against is a helpful way to define your passion points and point of view. Where do people need to be moving toward? What are you willing to stand for? Piss off other people about? Number 3: At your funeral, what do you hope to hear people say about the impact you've had? What is the legacy you are creating? Number 4: Write about 3 influential people in your life and one specific moment with each of them. What did they teach you? What was their legacy for you? How have they impacted you? Tools and resources. In part 3's tools and resources that you can find by visiting speakingstory.com, you can grab a story log. In this log, you can keep track of your stories, like a scuba diving story as shown in the far left column. Once you get in there, then categorize each of the stories as it applies to different pillars in your business. A pillar is a topic or idea that you often speak about. For example, if you talk a lot about authenticity, leadership, or conflict, name those as some of your pillars, listing one pillar each in columns 2, 3, and 4. That way, whenever you log a story, you can also determine how you may want to use it or what idea that story can illuminate or relate to. Then, when you're looking for a story on authenticity, for example, you'll have a few stories at the ready. You can also grab 2 messaging worksheets: the Moving Message worksheet and the Message Hierarchy worksheet. Both of these are blank versions of the models that we just talked about. Grab all these resources at speakingstory.com.
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, um, shall we say, moved you, let me suggest that you start with the Unspeaker Simple Storytelling Audio Mini Course. Sally-koering-zimney.com/unspeaker. All right, movers, this moved me.
