In my family, learning how to tell a story is a rite of passage. My Dad and my Aunt Rosie are fantastic. Typically dinner is a conversation between the two of them and everyone listening and laughing. It’s great. I wanted to share a story my Dad told me about always being prepared.
So the story comes from when my Dad was in 7th grade. His best friend, and still to this day – was presenting to the class on the importance of being prepared. He was sitting in front of the class and gave his speech. He brilliantly ran through all the ways of being prepared, the importance of being prudent and working diligently to complete given tasks. His teacher was impressed with his presentation and encouraged him to pursue a career that involved public speaking and writing. To the surprise of the teacher and class, at the end of the speech, he stood up and walked out of the room – with no pants on.
The thought of a 7th grade kid doing this has always struck me as genius. I really hope he got an A+ on the assignment. Now, was he just trying to be a punk kid? Or, was he trying to show how you can never be prepared for what life throws at you and you need to roll with the punches. I suspect it was a combination of both.
I’ll let you think about how this story relates to Gov 2.0, social media programs, etc – as much as you prepare, something inevitably will arise. Another take-away is that while using social media, you can’t be afraid to walk out of the room with no pants on. Think about that! It’s just a great story. I’ve meet him before and just recently helped him put together a video for his daughters wedding. Whenever I think about him and my Dad as kids sitting in the class and all the other antics they had together, I just laugh. Who would have thought someday I would write a blog post about a presentation he did in 7th grade.
I love this story, please use the story, embellish it and make it your own. I’m working on my story telling skills online and at the dinner table – feel like I’ve got a lot to live up too, but a task I am willing to take. I just better make sure I am prepared.
Great post, Patrick…storytelling is a valuable tool
I literally had nightmares about forgetting to wear clothes to school back in the day. That might be TMI but this story reminded me of that.
Hilarious! And a pretty good analogy to boot!
Thanks for the feedback everyone! Stephen, that is pretty funny. Never had nightmares about forgetting to get dressed, but I use to have nightmares that I was trapped in Super Mario Brothers 3. Sounds fun at first, but I was always trapped in a castle or the last level – not somewhere a kid should be alone.
Great story…nothing like rolling with the punches.
Thanks Candace!
I remember having to conduct an award ceremony once. That day I wore sneakers and and not shoes. I ran around the office looking for some to wear with my blue business suit. Finally, my girlfriend offered me her size 11 white banana boats! Fortunately I’d left a pair of flats in a dark corner under my desk. Today I keep three pairs of shoes in my office, just in case…
I love this. Thank you for sharing. I would just say, tell every story as though you are telling it at the dinner table.