In this audiobook episode, host and author Sally Koering Zimney presents Chapter 5 of her book Speaking Story, offering a concise yet pivotal definition of what a story truly is for speakers. After a brief welcome and a reminder of the previous chapter’s focus on what stories aren’t, she explains that a story is not merely a sequence with a beginning, middle, and end, nor just a chronological recounting of events. Instead, she defines a story as “a moment that is brought to life and whose meaning is illuminated by the words and delivery of a speaker.” She breaks this definition into three components: (1) a specific moment in time, (2) the act of bringing that moment to life for the audience, and (3) the speaker’s responsibility to create and illuminate meaning through their words, delivery, and presence. The episode emphasizes that this kind of story is used not only to engage but also to persuade. Interwoven with the instructional content are promotional mentions of free resources from the Movers Collective—including the Movers Roadmap, the Power Pitching Push audio series, and the Unspeaker Simple Storytelling Audio Mini‑Course—intended to help listeners develop a professional speaking career. The episode concludes with a call to action to explore the full, ad‑free audiobook and to continue the journey of moving audiences with stories.
Chapters
And the— sorry, somebody's at the door. Okey dokey, welcome back to the audiobook version of Speaking of Story. We are rolling through episode by episode, chapter by chapter here on your podcast feed and also over on YouTube for free with a little added context. With me, your host and author of the book Speaking Story. Delighted to be here with you, and I'm so, so grateful that you're here. And one of the things that you get extra special by being here and walking along this free experience with me is that we get to add a little bit of context to each chapter. So here we are, chapter 5. Okay, so this last Episode, we were talking about what stories aren't, and this time we are talking about what they actually are. It's a really short chapter, but I think it's one of the most useful ones in the whole book because once you have this definition, you're going to start to identify them, see them more, and really recognize when it is a story and when it isn't. Because if we want to leverage the brain science we were talking about a few episodes ago, go, then we have to tell stories in a specific way. My hope is that you're gonna start to see stories everywhere: in your life, in your work, in the most ordinary things that happen in life. It can be ordinary. It does not have to be the dramatic, life-changing Olympic story or life or death story. Tragic. No, no, it doesn't have to be that. Awesome. Let's go. 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 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 wanna make in the world. That path starts with two free resources I wanna 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 5: So, what is a story? An often repeated definition of "story" is "anything with a beginning, middle, and end." I like this definition, but it's important to note that stories don't have to be chronological, so let's release our definition from that expectation. How about "a recounting of a past event or string of events"? In other words, this happened, then this happened, then this happened. Yes, at its core, this feels on point, but we can probably agree that's pretty simplistic and missing a lot. This is the definition of story that we're gonna use for this book: a moment that is brought to life and whose meaning is illuminated by the words and delivery of a speaker. So let's break that down. A moment. This refers to one specific moment in time. Brought to life. In other words, we, as audience members, experience the story in some way with you, the speaker. Whose meaning is illuminated. Your job isn't just to bring a moment to life, it's also to create meaning from that moment for whoever is listening, aka your audience. To help them see this moment through a particular lens, and to shape their understanding. More on this later. For now, know that creating meaning is a speaker's privilege and responsibility. By the words and delivery of a speaker, the mode of communication we are using to bring this to life is your words, your delivery, and you. This is the key. Remember, this is a particular kind of story, the kind we tap into when we want to not just engage and entertain, but also persuade. 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/unspeaker. All right, movers. This moved me. What is moving you? See you next time.
