On August 6, 2025, I had the pleasure of presenting an introduction to StoryPathing to the Kiwanis Club of North Shore Milwaukee, Inc.
My aim was to demonstrate that the way in which we commonly introduce ourselves in a professional environment (e.g., interview, networking event, 1:1 meeting) is inadequate and to offer an alternative approach that invites engagement and develops trust.
I offered two introductions of myself. First, I used the kind of documentary information found on a driver's license or a résumé. This is the way we find most people introducing themselves. The information contained in these is true and accurate, but it is information about me, and not really 'me' in my own person and my own voice; not to mention it's bland and nondescript.
The leverage we have with an in-person self-presentation is to shape and inform an audience's perception while establishing a rapport through the use of story. Why forfeit this opportunity with a default response full of data points?
I then shared a concise version of my own story that plotted my path to the present. In a span of about two minutes, I briefly narrated three experiences stretching from the distant past to the now. The 'plot' of this short narrative was how I came to work with clients on their personal narrative in professional situations, but I did so in terms of the motivations, skills, purpose, and agency reflected in these episodes.
And so, the 'how' of this narrative answers the 'what' in terms of a 'why'. This approach, I told my audience, is a method called StoryPathing. I had selected a few powerful experiences in my life, arranged them in a sequence to create a personal narrative; then, I learned how to deliver that narrative through practice.
As I ended my presentation, audience members commented that a personal introduction in the form of a story path was more interesting and engaging than the typical self-introduction, and while sharing information, it offered a compelling rationale for what I currently do in a way that was readily understandable
As I concluded my presentation highlighting the benefits, rewards, and value of StoryPathing, I shared the tools I use in working with clients: the StoryPathing method itself, created and developed by Dr. Dennis Rebelo and explained in his book Story Like You Mean It, and the partnership of Dr. Rebelo and the Narrative Research Group.
See that handout that I shared at my presentation here: Kiwanis (Website Post)
