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Welcome to the Storiespire podcast.

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I'm Mary R. Snyder. I am your host

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and storytelling strategist. I'm

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here with expert advice, actionable

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tips, and frameworks to create

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the stories that will inspire

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hearts and minds because

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stories change the world. Let's

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get into it. Hey, before

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we get started, I want to

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remind you of something. Have

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you said yes to my email,

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my newsletter, the Story Spire News?

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It is a weekly newsletter with

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a link to one of the episodes,

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the episode of the week, along with

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a storytelling tip, maybe

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something fun, a resource I found,

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or an inspirational story just to brighten

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up your email box. And you can

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do that simply by going to storyspire.

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com and clicking on

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Join Mary. I'd love for you to join

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me there. Stories.

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Someone recently asked me, why

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stories? And I thought, what better

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way to start this new podcast

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than talking about the power of stories?

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So let's get into it. Stories.

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We grow up with stories. It's

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what makes things stick, it's

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what makes us care, and it's what

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makes us remember. We

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learn through stories. We learn great

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things and we learn some cautionary tales

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and we're going to talk about both of

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those today. Think about

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this. Listen, my children,

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and you shall hear of the Midnight

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Ride of Paul Revere. On

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the 18th of April in 75,

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hardly a man now alive who remembers

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this famous day and year.

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It's the Midnight Ride of Paul Revere, written

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by Longfellow, and it's a very

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long poem, but you likely

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read it, and you learned

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that That Paul Revere warned

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the people the British were

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coming. He warned them, he told

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them what to do, and he told them

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to beware. It's how

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the colonists

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fought against the incoming British,

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but we learned our history through a poem,

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through a story. Written

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by Longfellow. we learned stories

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about the tortoise and the hare.

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When I say that, what do you immediately

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think? Slow and

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steady wins the race. Don't

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be overly confident like that darn

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rabbit was. Because he thought,

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you know what, I am super fast Mr.

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Turtle, Mr. Tortoise, and

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I'm just gonna take a nap because

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you are so slow. And

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he did. And

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the tortoise didn't. The tortoise just

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plotted along, and

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he kept going, and he won

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the race. So what we

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learned in that story is

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that just keep

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going. Going, even when the other

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guy looks like he's super fast or

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super confident and then there were

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those scary tales, you know, the ones

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you said around a campfire

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about the couple that was parking,

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remember that, the couple that was parking

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in a secluded spot and

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they kept hearing a noise and

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then there was a scratching and

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she got really scared and they drove

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off really fast The

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guy was so upset,

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he was like, we'll just go and

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they make it home and she gets out of the car

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and there is a hook hanging

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on to the door

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handle. This is back in the day when

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you had handles, like you didn't just pull

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them up, you had to actually put your

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hand in and press the button. Connect

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your story to their

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heart, whether you

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are telling a story of what you've overcome

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and how you know this overcoming

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is available to everyone, or

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you're telling a story of

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the work you're doing, maybe

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it's work in South Africa

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or whatever. At a local soup kitchen

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and you're telling a story of

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how a small donation made

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a huge difference, how 5

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can feed someone who's going

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hungry today. Maybe you're telling

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a story of something you've

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walked through. Maybe

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it's a story of a difficult time

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and your heart is to encourage

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the next person on that journey. Your

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story will stick with them. There was

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a newspaper,

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the Chicago Tribune, and I

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don't live in Chicago. I

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don't, I've been to Chicago a handful

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of times, but this has stuck

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with me so much, and it is over

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30 years ago this happened.

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In 1992, over

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57 children under

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the age of 15 were murdered

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in Chicago. They

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were caught in the crossfire of

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some violence, they were killed in a gang,

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or they were murdered by the very

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people who were supposed

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to love them. And some

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journalist at the Chicago Tribune said,

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This isn't okay. And

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the whole newspaper said, this

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is not okay. We take

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a stand against killing

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our children. And

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for 360 days

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in 1993, They

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said, we will feature

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a child on the front

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page and we will tell that

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child's story. And

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they did that 360

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times. Now not everyone left

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it. They

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didn't want to read about murdered children.

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It's not what you want to read in your newspaper every

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single day of

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the entire year. Did it affect their

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numbers? I don't know. I don't

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have those statistics. But

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what I did. Is

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it told stories, and

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those stories stuck, and

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those stories brought those children to life,

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and those stories reminded people that

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children are dying in our city,

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and we're not okay with it. 360

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days, and

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then in 1994, they

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started the saving our children

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investigation, and

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they investigated and talked about the

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people who were making a difference. And

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those stories stuck. I

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don't know the whole outcome of what happened

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with the killing our children and the saving our children.

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I just know that

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a young mama in a little town

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in Alabama heard about that 31

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years ago. And it stuck

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in my heart that

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they cared enough that

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they would make their children the

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main story every day. That's

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the power of stories. Your

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story and how you tell it, that

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could stick with someone for 31

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years, or maybe like

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the story written by Longfellow, hundreds

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of years. Stories

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matter. They change our trajectory

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of what we do. Scary

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stories remind us to be safe.

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Remember the one about the person that woke up without

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a kidney? You haven't

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heard that one? The story goes, and

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everyone knows someone who knows someone

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who knows someone that this happened to. This

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person was out. They met

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someone at a local

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adult beverage establishment and

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maybe it had a little bit too much to drink and

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decided to go back to a hotel

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with this person. Cautionary tale.

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They wake up. They

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are in a bathtub filled

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with ice and

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there's a note. And a phone

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because this story predates cell phones.

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There's a phone beside them and a note

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and it says call 911. Do

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not get out of the tub. The

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person calls 911, people

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show up, EMTs, first

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responders, and they realize

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there has been a surgical procedure done on

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this person and they have taken the person's

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kidney. Now, I

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searched far and wide to

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find out if this had any truth

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to it and couldn't find any. But

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the cautionary tale is

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that it is never

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wise to go home with someone you've never

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met to a hotel room. Don't

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do that. Cautionary tales.

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Tales that encourage

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and inspire stories

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that make us want to go

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farther, dream bigger, believe

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more. The Olympic stories, they

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were beautiful. The stories of

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Simone Biles overcoming

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all that she overcame in the 2020

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Olympics to come back in 24

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and win, win,

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and win. Story

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after story. They

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move the hearts of people. How

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do you tell the story? that

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makes people want to lean in and

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listen. That's the whole point

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of this podcast. It is

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helping you tell the stories

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that make people want to care. Stories

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that they will remember 31 years from

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now. Stories that move their heart to

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action. Stories that make them

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believe they can run

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faster, jump higher, achieve

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more, and be more than

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they ever dreamed or imagined.

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That's the power of stories.

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Our world is full of stories.

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The Bible is full of stories.

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We tell our children's stories

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at night. Once

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upon a time, there was.

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You fill in the blank. So my

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question to you is what

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is your story and

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how are you telling it? Are

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you encouraging people with it? Are

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you inspiring people with it? Are

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you pushing people

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beyond to believe

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that they can do

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more than they ever thought

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or imagined? Until

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next week, keep telling those stories,

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keep believing, and I

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look forward to seeing you back here

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next week. Have a good one. Bye

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for now.