I’ve been thinking a lot about personal narrative recently (see previous post), especially with regard to personal branding and career.

The story starting point I recommend in my book Tell Me About Yourself is almost more an assessment than a communication tool. I call it the Quintessential You story; it’s a narrative that truly reveals your character and what makes you unique. The story might disclose what makes you tick, what drives you, what you value, what your goals are, how behave in a crisis or a time of change.

You may not use this story in developing your personal brand or in your actual job search, but you’ll use it as a starting point to help you get to know yourself better and draw from it to develop additional stories that illustrate your brand, your skills, and your accomplishments.

My all-time favorite Quintessential You story came from one of my former students, Kellie, who told of working in a hospital and developing a relationship with an Alzheimer’s patient. You can read the story here. The traits we learn about Kellie from this story certainly are building blocks to her personal brand, her “about me” story.

In developing your foundational story, ask yourself, what story can I tell that best captures the quintessential me?

To read the chapter in my book that deals with the Quintessential You story and see examples and prompts, go here in my blog-within-a-blog that serializes the book, then scroll down to the post titled The Starting Point: A Story That Captures Your Essence, then start scrolling back up the page to read subsequent posts.

Robin Roffer shares some similar ideas in a post entitled How To Become The Superhero Of Your Own Story. Some nuggets:

• Building a captivating story about yourself involves sharing the epic moments in your life that reveal your true character.
• When you reveal yourself through story, you honor your accomplishments and set the stage for your next triumph.
• If your story inspires you, it is sure to inspire others.

Roffer also shares a nice list of possible personal story structures from Brendon Burchard (no link to his work provided).