There is a point at which you start telling your story in a manner that is truly compelling and enticing. Photo: File.
Back from his mini-sabbatical, Bruce Kasanoff is shocked at the way AI seems to be taking over how we communicate, and believes we can do better without artificial support.
What has happened to LinkedIn? Since I have been away, the entire site is suddenly cluttered with artificial intelligence-generated, utterly generic comment prompts.
To share my pure gut-level reaction: I hate it.
We can think for ourselves. We can form opinions and have intelligent conversations without a software program telling us what to say.
This occurred to me again recently while I was watching the movie Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, where Robert Downey Jr plays a petty criminal who accidentally ends up in Hollywood.
Early in the film, a pretty young woman walks up to him with apparent interest, and he responds with a forgettable reply – the kind that might have been suggested by AI.
Without blinking, or any attempt to soften the blow, she says: “I’m going to see who else is here.”
That’s what happens when you lack a heartfelt way to tell your story, and it doesn’t only happen when the other person is shallow and self-interested.
It even happens when the other person is looking for someone like you, but you lack the capacity to reveal who you really are.
Or, perhaps more accurately, to know who you really are.
The solution to both problems is the same: Ask yourself one question over and over again: “What matters most to me?”
I’ve asked many of my clients this question hundreds of times. After a few dozen, certain patterns start to emerge.
At first, their answers may tend to be politically correct (my family, significant other, work, etc.). You say what you think you should say.
Then, you say the opposite of what you don’t want. If you’re worried about money, you say you want to be rich. If you are worried that your partner doesn’t really love you, you say you want true love.
However, after doing this again and again and again, one day the truth starts to come out. It can be very surprising.
This is the point at which you can start telling your story in a manner that is truly compelling and enticing.
I was about 50 years old before it occurred to me that I am a creative, rather than a business person.
What? I’m a Wharton MBA. I have helped raise more than $20 million from investors. I’ve launched a few companies and product lines.
Yawn.
I’m a creative. That insight allowed me to start telling my story well. Your insight will do the same for you.
There is no shortcut. Ask yourself this question dozens and dozens of times: “What matters most to me?”
When, at long last, you have a deep knowing that your answers are coming from your heart and soul, rather than your brain … then you can tell your story in a manner that attracts the people and results you crave.
Bruce Kasanoff is the founder of The Journey, a newsletter for positive, uplifting and accomplished professionals. He is also an executive coach and social media ghostwriter for entrepreneurs. He can be contacted at kasanoff.com.
This article first appeared at kasanoff.com.
