Last week on the blog & Alexa Flash Briefing, I shared the story of Neighbor's Table after having heard about their organization through my Pastor. He shared their mission in one of his sermons as he preached on the Commandment of "Love Thy Neighbor".

I was so taken with Sarah's story, I left church that day and googled her and her 'love mission'.

I quickly shot off an impromptu email, gushing about how much I admired her story, and requesting an interview. 

I knew I would be in the Dallas area the following weekend, would it be possible to stop by and chat with her.... at the table?

As luck would have it, Sarah was available and said YES to my interview request. 

I stopped by her house in downtown Dallas, and after a quick welcome and introduction, we stepped into her backyard to sit down for this Facebook Live interview. 

What unfolded was nothing short of magical and inspiring.

Sarah shared how her entire business is founded on the power of Storytelling, and to this...

Listen to our daily blog-casts on Amazon. Enable our "What's Your Story" daily flash briefing and listen using your Alexa device! 

If I handed you a glass full of dirty water, would you drink it??

My guess is most of you — actually, I hope all of you — would say, “No way, April” …
For the record, I wouldn’t either.

Hold this thought for a minute of dirty water, because it’s a really great visual for the storytelling concept I want to share with you.

I talk to women on a daily basis — women I’m interviewing, women inside my Community, my private clients… and as we talk about their story, at some point or another we have to address the dirty water — which represents the negative thoughts they are filling their mind.

Thoughts like — "my story isn’t good enough."

"No one will care, they don’t want to listen to me share my story."

"My story is boring/not important/not...

Listen to our daily blog-casts on Amazon. Enable our "What's Your Story" daily flash briefing and listen using your Alexa device! 

One of my goals with LIGHTbeamers, is to bring you great stories from time to time, as I discover other women in the world who are up to some pretty amazing things.

This weekend, I learned about Sarah Harmeyer of Dallas Texas. Sarah is what she likes to call “a people gatherer.”

She says her favorite thing in the world is to gather around a table and celebrate with others. So, Sarah asked her Dad to build her a farm table that would seat 20 people, and because there wasn’t room for this inside her house, she set the table up outside in her backyard.

She decided to invite her neighbors over for a potluck dinner, to fill her table and create an opportunity to get to know the people living all around her. 

She created a post on the community social media app, NextDoor, and invited anyone in the neighborhood who wanted to...

Listen to our daily blog-casts on Amazon. Enable our "What's Your Story" daily flash briefing and listen using your Alexa device! 

How can you become a better Storyteller, and dig out the stories that are all around you? 

I firmly believe the best storytellers of our time have earned their accolades as a result of years of practice. 

So how to you practice storytelling? I think one of the best ways is through journaling.

Journaling is a sacred practice for many people who just need an outlet for the creative ideas, jumbled thoughts, and excessive words running around in their heads.

But journaling isn’t just about a brain dump — it’s about creating awareness.

Awareness is really the secret key that unlocks the golden door to storytelling.

Unfortunately, far too many people are running around in today’s world so busy being busy, they have no idea what’s happening around them, and they are clueless to the amazing stories that are...

Find our daily blog-casts on Amazon. Enable this Flash Briefing on your Alexa device and listen! 

There are 2 different kinds of stories; There’s the real story of what you really want to get out into the world…. then there’s another story that’s holding you back.

This 2nd story is the one that plays in your head and plays dirty tricks on you. It tells you things in order to hold you back and keep you from sharing the first story….. the one that matters.

The story that’s playing in your head is background noise and sometimes it gets really, really loud.

Do you know what I’m talking about?

That story usually sounds something like this:

“What will others think?”

“My story isn’t good enough”

“Nobody will listen”

“My story is boring”

“It’s a jumbled up mess in my head, I wouldn’t even know where to begin”

“People will think...

Listen to our daily blog-casts on Amazon. Enable our "What's Your Story" daily flash briefing and listen using your Alexa device! 

I believe there are prompts all around us. I’ve talk about it often — how being aware of your surroundings can produce the most amazing stories for you to share.

But if you are not in the habit of paying that close attention…. here's an easier trick you can try.

Most people have a creative side to them… even if they don’t realize it. And there is a way that stories speak to you.

For example, you may not be a talented artist but you really enjoy going to art museums or collecting unique sculptures.

You may not know how to play any musical instruments, but you really have a passion for music and you can recite the lyrics to every 80’s band song, or every rock n roll legend’s entire index of music.

You may not be a great writer, but you are a voracious reader— and you love a good fiction...

Listen to our daily blog-casts on Amazon. Enable our "What's Your Story" daily flash briefing and listen using your Alexa device! 

There is a Key ingredient of storytelling we need to talk about. Emotion.

If you want to use your story to build your business, your brand, your influence, or have a greater impact … you’ve got to do one thing: Make people feel something!

Stories that make us feel something, make us take action with our money!!

Yet all too often, we leave this piece of the puzzle out …. and then wonder why our stories aren’t connecting with our audience. 

You have to use emotional language to spark a feeling….to get your audience to sit up in their chair and take notice.

We can add emotion into our stories in a variety of ways.

VIDEO — Video is one of the most powerful tools of visual storytelling because you can add in so many subliminal elements like music and graphics that aid in the story telling.

PICTURES...

Listen to our Blog-casts on Amazon through your Alexa Device. Subscribe to "What's Your Story" daily Flash Briefing. 

It's #TransformationalTuesday, and I am sharing a piece of inspirational wisdom…. because I think we all need it from time to time.

I can’t take credit for this one; this story was shared with me by a spiritual teacher, Maru Iabichela, who teaches all about the power of our own minds to create all that which we desire.

She shared a story of a group of farmers who were praying over their land that had suffered a tragic drought. The entire community was at risk because the land was no longer bearing crops — barren, desolate, and parched.

A group of spiritual leaders gathered to pray, when one of the farmers asked why were they not praying for rain.

To which they replied — "You don’t need to pray for rain, you need to pray for green pastures." 

When we are experiencing a drought in our own life, we often make the...

Listen to our blog-casts through Amazon on your Alexa device. Subscribe to our daily Flash Briefing called, "What's Your Story?" 

I listened to an awesome podcast yesterday that has me still thinking about all of the wisdom nuggets that were shared, and especially how they relate to business owners and how they show up for their audience.

The podcast was Jen Lehner’s The Front Row Podcast for Entrepreneurs
and she was interviewing Seth Godin all about his newest book called This Is Marketing.

Let me tell you why I loved it so much.

As business owners, or anyone who has a message they want to get out into the world — authors, healers, coaches, entrepreneurs, network marketers… the list goes one — I think we can all agree that trying to figure out the best way to share your message and engage with your audience is something that can keep you up at night.

Let’s face it — we’ve got all the Guru’s in our industry telling us to...

Listen to our blog-casts through Amazon on your Alexa device. Subscribe to our daily flash briefing, "What's Your Story".  

We are going back to the basics today and focusing on a writing prompt to help you identify and share a piece of your own story. #storytelling101

Storytelling is a powerful way to communicate with your audience and draw them into your world — it helps you share your own journey in a way that will resonate and be relatable. This is why storytelling is so valuable as a tool for communication, building your business, expanding your reach & impact.

So take the prompt I’m about to share with you and really dive into it — find the story you can use to share with your audience and create a connection with them.

Write about something that is messy in your life.

It's up to you if you want to take this the literal or figurative route.

The point is to use the idea of the story prompt — in this case something that is messy...