Penelope Trunk makes an interesting point in How to Answer the Question: “What Do You Do?” on BNET — that “most people have coherent stories, but they don’t see it. Their resumes are a mess and their elevator pitch is a bore.”

Trunk therefore recommends hiring a professional “to help you make a story that makes sense for where you want to go.”

That’s good advice, especially when so many professionals are now offering exactly this kind of storied approach. It’s Michael Margolis’s speciality now with his New About Me, especially for entrepreneurs and creative types. My colleague Karen Siwak does it in the resume realm. Lots of folks are also now specializing in LinkedIn profiles. I’ve been known to take on clients now and then to help them tell their stories in these settings.

Trunk also links back to a piece she wrote a couple of years ago, Be memorable by telling good stories about yourself in which she cites three plots from the book Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die:

1. The Challenge Plot
2. The Creativity Plot
3. The Connection Plot.

I’d like to think most folks can learn to tell their stories well, and that’s what my upcoming workbook will guide them through. But hiring a professional is a smart option if you lack the patience, drive, or confidence to do it yourself.