Pete, the sound engineer for my recent Audible book, pulled me aside after recording and said, “I wish I could tell stories like you, but nothing interesting happens to me.”

I told him, “Everyone has interesting things happen to – or around them – that can be turned into stories.”

He smiled and said, “Like what?”

I asked, “What do you do when you aren’t working?” ** This is the first question I ask when helping clients identify stories because it identifies what they do that lights them up.

He said, “I love to surf!”

BINGO! This had potential because surfing has a mystique people find interesting.

I asked, “Have you had any recent encounters that ‘stuck’ with you?”

He thought a moment and then his whole face brightened.

He told me that one day he went to a local spot that required a climb down to the ocean. He was getting his board ready when a buddy pulled into the parking lot and asked, “Have you checked it yet?”

Pete laughed and said, “That’s the difference between the two of us. You look for excuses NOT to surf. I look for excuses TO surf.”

BOOM. There it was. A real-life story with a powerful, juxtaposed punchline that could be turned into a metaphorical question that people can relate to.