Narrate An Effective Story, Walk Away With Glory

A picture says a thousand words. And similarly a well told story graphically imprints the concept into the mind of the reader.

The ability to remember and tell a gripping story will go a long way in making one a better speaker, motivator and a better leader. And Indians are great story tellers. Ramayana, Mahabharata and Jataka tales are great stories with unforgettable lessons and leanings.

Faith: An atheist(a person who disbelieves the existence of God) had gone through his life without a trace of trouble. He never had any need for external intervention. On a chilly winter day, he had gone mountaineering. He had miscalculated and was no way near the summit. It was getting bitterly cold. He took the decision to climb down. It started becomingvery dark and very cold. Out of despair he said “oh God, I don’t know if you exist. But if youdo,please help me, HELP ME!” To his relief he heard a voice “I heard you son; I will help you, leave the rope’. The Atheist was stunned “how can I? I would die if I leave the rope”. The voice responded “trust me; I would help you, leave the rope” The atheist was not convinced. The voice tried counseling and finally gave up. The atheist grimly held on to the rope for the entire night. He was found the next day by searchers frozen to death JUST FIVE FEET FROM THE GROUND.

Moral: Always believe in a higher authority and trust is the factor that will make us succeed. Trust will move mountains.

Worker, Artisan and Artiste:Three people were laying bricks. When queried as to what they were doing the first man snapped and said “can’t you see? I am laying bricks” and continued setting the bricks haphazardly. This man is a worker, one who works only with his hands. Workers rarely succeed in life and always end up cursing their luck. One makes one’s own luck. Only a bad musician blames his tools. 90% of us are workers.

When asked the same question the second man scratched his head and said “well I am part of a team that is building a straight wall” This man is an Artisan, one who works with his hands and head. Workers are smart but limit their gamut of operations to immediate work. Artisans like potters, carpenters and masons learn the trade over generations and become experts in narrow areas of expertise. 9% of us are artisans.

The third man wiped the sweat from his brow and his face broke into a huge grin “I am part of the team that is building a great university. Bright students from all over the country will come here. The university will impart quality education and turn these bright young people into entrepreneurs. These entrepreneurs will set up industries and drive this country on the path of progress”. While this man was speaking there was pride in his voice and a quiet confidence. He was convinced that he is a part of the bigger scheme of things. This man is an artiste, one works with his hand, head and heart. Only 1% of us are artistes.

Moral: Bring out the artiste in us. There is a bigger purpose in life.

25 x 4: way of learning. There is a Sanskrit proverb that says only 25% of knowledge comes from the teacher. 25% comes from the library work. Another 25% comes from group work or friendly useful discussions with classmates and friends. The last 25% comes from the real time practical knowledge that comes from working in the field.

Moral: Education is not rote learning and teacher is the not the only source or a fountain of knowledge. A studenthasto be an all-rounder and has to have a 3600 degree holistic approach to have real learning and knowledge. Education is what you remember about a subject after you have forgotten what has been taught in the classroom

Practice what you preach: Once there was a godly saint whose word had the power. He was known for saying things that came true. His name and fame had spread far and wide. One day he had visitors, a young mother and her pretty five year olddaughter. The mother said “Swamiji, can you counsel my daughter. She is crazy about payasam (a sort of sweet pudding). She eats only payasam and nothing else. Can you tell her not to eat payasam?”Swamiji was taken back. Gathering his wits together he said “My dear child, eating too much of payasam is not good. Don’teat payasam’. The youngster sagely nodded an affirmative.

The next week the mother was back. Surprisingly the child was still eating payasam. The Swamiji’swords were not working. Swamyji repeated his words and the young girl again nodded her head. Thus went on for four weeks. The mother was getting more and more frustrated. She started doubting the Swamiji. She wanted to try for one last time. She found the Swamyjiin his bed. His voice as week and in a quivering voice he beseeched“Child too much of payasam is not good. Stop eating it’.

The next week the mother was back. She was overjoyed. A miracle has happened. The child had stopped eating payasam. She offered payasam to the Swamiji and said “you are great. You have done the impossible. My daughter stopped eating payasam. But why it that it has to wait for four weeks. Why is that you could not stop her in the first instance?”

Swamiji recoiled at the sight of the payasam. He said “Take it away. Anything but payasam. I am also very fond of payasam. So for the first four weeks, I was telling your daughter to stop eating payasam while I was still eating it on the sly. So my words did not have the power or the conviction. So last week I ate so much payasam that it make me physically sick and finally I gave up payasam altogether. So once I myself gave up payasam the power and the conviction was back. Can you please take this payasam away?”

Moral: Practice what you preach. Do not do to others what you will not do for yourself.

GAME, SET and MATCH - Marketing Professor:A marketing professor was conducting a test. This was a tough test and students trooped in with long faces. Their worst fears had come true. The examination was tough. The grim faced professor was pacing the hall. He suddenly spotted a laggard (a student who come late) "Hello my friend" he said "why are you late?"

"Well sir" the student replied haltingly "I started out early but my car had a flat (a punctured tyre). By the time I fixed the flat the exam had already started". The professor did not like the answer but allowed the student to come in but he was not allowed to write the examination.

To the professor's surprise three more students trooped in after 5 minutes. On enquiry they said that they were traveling in the same car and that was the reason for their delay. The professor said "I am very sorry that you have missed the examination. You can take the make up tomorrow".

The four students were jubilant. They had just done the impossible. They pulled wool (fooled) over the toughest professor’s eyes. Gloating about their victory they went home and prepared well for the next day’s examination.

The following day the four students were met by the smiling professor who handed over the question paper. The question paper had only two questions.

Question 1 (for 5 marks)“What are 4 Ps in marketing”and Question 2 (for 95 marks) was “Which tyre got punctured yesterday (tick the right answer) a) Front tyre- right side b) Front tyre - left side c) Rear tyre - right side d) Rear tyre - left side.

Moral: Don’t always play the fool. One could get away with it for most of the time. Remember the Murphy’s Law “what can go wrong will go wrong”. It did not matter when a student came late every time to the class. He convinced the teachers to allow him inside. For the most critical final interview the student was late and the company refused to interview him. Don’t challenge “Authority”. Authority has a fine tuned way of getting back at you.

Taking advice – the story of a thirsty traveler in the desert: A man was lost in the desert. He was desperately hungry and more than hungry he was thirsty. He desperate wanted to drink water. He kept walking in the desert. He walked and walked. Suddenly he saw a strange sight. He saw a man selling ties that too at Rs 500/- each! “Take one of them sir” advised the seller “you might need them in the future”

The thirsty man refused the offer. His mind was only looking for water and buying ties was the last thing in his mind. The next two hours the same thing repeated two more times. Only the rate of the ties went up from Rs 500/- to Rs 2,000/- to Rs 5000/-. Every time the seller advised the thirsty man to buy the ties, at least one and warned him that not buying could be very detrimental.

Finally at the end of the day the thirsty man saw a sight that was balm for the sore eyes. There was a hotel beckoning him! He ran towards it. As he neared the entrance he saw a sign and fainted dead. The sign at the bar said “water free for any thirsty traveler. Entry only for travelers with a tie”

Moral: Any professional should take advice of his friends and seniors as how to be better. Because by the time the advice is really needed – it might be too late

Brains for sale :The local museum had put up a sale. They were selling brains. There were three brains put up for sale. The first brain’s price was Rs 5,000/-. The second was at Rs 50,000/- and the third was for Rs 5,00,000/-. They all looked similar. A puzzled onlooker asked “What is the difference. All the brains look similar” The museum’s attender explained “thefirst brain is that of AlbertEinstein, the second is of a college professor and the third one is of a student”.

The onlooker was flabbergasted “AlbertEinstein’s brain for Rs 5,000 and a college student’s brain for Rs 5,00,000/-. You must be joking!” The attender said “Yes sir, you heard it right. Albert Einstein’s brain has been used right from his childhood. He kept on taxing it and using it till he died. So there is nothing the buyer can gain from buying Einstein’s brain. On the other side the student’s brain is factory fresh. EVEN THE SEAL IS NOT BROKEN. It is not used at all. The buyer can simply buy it and use it as long as he wants” Moral of the story: Brain is the only organ that requires constant stimulations and use and atropes (waste away or become useless, especially as a result of the degeneration of cells, or become vestigial) ifit is not usedregularly. Use the brains and see the transformation.

By:Dr M Anil Ramesh