 Hey there. Welcome. I'm doing this live to teach you some ways that you can nurture some spontaneity when you are telling stories. And whether those tell those stories are being told one to one, like at an interview or a networking event, or if you're telling those stories on a stage or to your boss. Maybe it's part of a talk or presentation, but how we can nurture spontaneity. And so my first question is like, well, how are you? And my second question is, can you, do you know anybody who has a spontaneous way of presenting themselves that you go, Oh, I wish I could do that. What does it look like when you see somebody embracing spontaneity when they are giving a talk, or when they are sharing a story? Who do you think has it might be a first first ways like we can define like, what does this even look like? So when you think about somebody, and another way to think about spontaneous is something that feels like they're at ease. It feels natural. Usually it has a, like a positive vibe to it, right? Yeah, I'm good too. Nice to see you. So what has a, can you think of somebody who when they're telling a story has an ease to them that you go, Oh, yeah, I wish I had that when I shared a story. Can you think of that? Because it's hard to want to like, build a skill. It's hard to want to build a skill if we don't already have an appreciation for it, right? Or do you prefer, do you prefer a robotic person who has no spontaneity? Do you like that, that style of storytelling? Maybe you do. But who do you know that tells a story that feels comfortable, has some ease? What does it look like? So I imagine lots of people watch the recording, so I won't wait that long. But if a comment comes in, I will like think into that. So basically, we, in storytelling, we want to know a couple things. So we absolutely want to know when we're telling your story, like, what our story is about. So we want to know the arc, right? And we, so one of the foundations of a good story, if we're going to be great storytellers. So an arc is basically that something changes in the story. So even if you're telling an example from work, you want the beginning of the story to have a different, to be at a different state than that, then how it ends. So we want to see some, some kind of story arc. So you're bringing us somewhere. Another foundation of our great story is we have some details. So even if the person had never been to that place before, the listener could imagine what it was like. And that's why we love stories. We love being able to be transported to other places or understanding another person's view. And we learned that by the details that you give. So if you're telling a story that has a change, and if you're telling a story that has some details, and details are something that if I'm listening, I could imagine. So you're giving visuals where I can see what you're talking about. So you're talking about you know, you walked into the office and maybe you describe the desk. Or you talk about what a person looked like. Or you might describe the wallpaper. Or you might describe something that I can smell. You might describe a taste. You might describe a feeling. You might describe a sound. So you're giving some kind of detail within your story that helps me to be transported. So we need that for good stories. We need an arc. We need some kind of change. And we need some details. And we have some sort of structure. Once we have that, I don't know if this has ever happened to you, but you can have those pieces. And I work with people who have those pieces, right? Oh yeah, Amy is saying, yeah, it looks like they trust themselves and they're in touch with their conviction. Yes, that's what it, that's absolutely what it can look like. So, yeah, beautiful. Thank you, Amy. So when we're, so I know people who will tell stories and they'll read the books and the books will say, you know, this is how you structure a story. These add the details. Make sure you help with the senses. It has all the parts of a good story. And yet when they say it, they say, it falls flat. It didn't resonate. They didn't trust me. It didn't build trust. It didn't move anybody. Nobody hired me. Nobody bought my thing. Nobody donated money, right? Because the magic, especially in live storytelling, is spontaneity. It's where you, it can also be called, can also be called flow. You're in the moment of it. And what happens is people are so scared of being in the moment. It's vulnerable. Absolutely. They're so scared of being in the moment that instead of embracing it, they kind of put on a, put on a front and try to control everything that they do. And in storytelling, if you try to control every little thing, it has less power. So we can play with spontaneity in the safety of our own houses and the safety of our own spaces, even before we go out and try and embrace it when we're with people. And so I'm going to show you an exercise in which we can start to play with that. And will you master it today? No. But you can start, you can start to play with it. And you can have the foundation of knowing how to embrace it and carry it, carry it forward into your stories and into your life. So we're going to use a technique that in mindfulness is called auto move. And auto move is very different from any other mindfulness technique out there in that. Oh, I'm just going to read a comment. I'll come in here. I used to rely a lot on my ability, my ability to create my stories, but I was told once I should plan for spontaneity, meaning to make a plan for anything I do. What are your thoughts about that? Beautiful. You'll love this. Yeah. Farheen, beautiful. The story that gets you engrossed in it and turns you to a different reality. Yes. Right. And we often, we often get that by, by how someone is doing this in Abraham, I think you're going to enjoy this because it's true. It can, if we tell a story that is so safe, if we tell a story that is so planned, we even know where people are going to laugh and we don't, and we don't create space for spontaneity, it doesn't land. And that doesn't mean that you don't have it, you don't have how you're going to deliver it, memorize. If we think about stand-up comedians, stand-up comedians are master sectors. They know their material, they know their timing, they know where people are going to laugh. And yet when they deliver a joke, it still doesn't feel like they've rehearsed it or if they've mastered it or their control. It feels natural, like they've just thought of the idea. And that's what we want to bring. We want to bring that touch of spontaneity. So I'm going to show you, show you how. Okay, auto move. So auto move is this technique where we pay attention and, and nurture spontaneity in our movements. Often in a mindfulness training, it'll be done through, you know, something called auto walk or a walking meditation. So where you walk from like one part of the room, across the room, and you pay attention to just not to the steps or your feet, but you, you notice like, where is that? You know, I'm noticing that my, my hip is moving. Where's, where's that something that's coming from? Where is that coming from? And you tune into that particular part of spontaneity. Now, and, and you can absolutely do it with a walking meditation. The other side of that is you can stand in one spot and go, how does my body want to move? And spend, you know, 10 minutes watching how your body moves. Another way that I think works really well for exploring spontaneity, but at the same time, building those muscles of rehearsing with a focus of spontaneity in the background is the technique that I'm going to show you right now. Okay. And so what I would love you to do is, and we, you can do this standing up or you can do this seated. And your movements are going to look different than mine. But what I would invite you to do is just get into a place where you're, you're feeling neutral, alert, yet settled. Let's take a moment to whatever that looks like in your body. So come in here. We're going to need our concentration for the next part. So getting settled, whatever that looks like for you. So what I would like you to do is for the next 30 seconds, I'll explain it and then we'll start the time. Make a movement on however you really want to make a movement. And it might be, you know, just something with your face. It might be something with your hands. It might be your whole body, but spend 30 seconds moving however you want. And it can be as big or small as you like. And we want to pay attention to exactly what you are physically doing. Okay. So we're not trying to tune into spontaneity right now. We are tuning into the exact moments and the exact pieces of what we were doing, the exact experience. All right. And let's go and stop. Okay. So what I would love you to do is do that again. This time, don't make up a new movement. Do exactly the same movement that you just did. Now, if you didn't do anything physical, if you were just thinking about something, then you want to recreate that whole experience of what you just did for the last, you know, 20 or 30 seconds. And again, we're not paying attention to spontaneity. Just try to recreate moment by moment what you just did. Beautiful. Let's do it again. Not wearing about spontaneity. Do the exact same movements that you just did. So it'll be our third time doing the same movements. Now, this time, we're going to do the same movements again, the same thinking, whatever your action is. Yours will look different than mine. But this time, pay attention to what has changed, like see if you can notice what has changed from the original and see if you can pinpoint those exact places of where your movement or your thinking or your action is different from the original. All right. And go. And again, now just letting the movement or the action happen naturally, almost like your body knows how to do it. And you don't need to force it to do it. And you're just paying attention as you do it to the places where the unexpected, or there's an energy, or there's some bounce, or there's some spontaneity into it. And when you feel that spontaneity, just focus on it for as long as it's there. See where it happens, right? So do the action, but your focus isn't on doing the action perfect. Your action is on kind of automating what you did and paying attention to if any spontaneity, anything unknown, anything that you didn't plan to do is expressed. Let's go. Let's go. Let's do that for another, like do it for another five rounds. If you want to, you can do it at the same speed, or you can choose to make it faster or slower, more exaggerated, less exaggerated. See if there's any spontaneity in this rehearsed action, right? And see if you can notice when it happens. And when it happens, just focus on that feeling for as long as it's there. We're trying to tune in to the spontaneity using this repetitive action. Let's go five rounds of your repetitive action at your own speed. I'm closing my eyes because I feel like that's going to help me tune into it better. You do what works for you. So eventually what starts to happen is, and I don't know if you can share with me if you're doing this, but what can start to happen is the more you do the action without focusing on making the action perfect and just trusting your body to do it, it can automatically do the movement. What starts to happen is that spontaneity starts to show up in all these little ways, in all these little spaces, and it has a bounciness to it that starts to be expressed through our movement, right? So we start to notice it more and more as we do it. And what happens is that as we do this exercise, and it can feel absolutely very silly to do, but as we do it, for me it's silly, but it's very serious work. What I'm tuning into is I'm tuning into the spontaneity, this playfulness, this inner trust, this bounce that I can trust to express itself when I want to, right? And if I allow myself in the comfort and safety of my own house to play with this, then I know I can start to bring this into conversations where maybe I might use a hand gesture or leave a pause in a story or laugh in a more full way that the people around me are like, she's really here. She's really present. She's got to glow to her. She's got an energy and a bounce to her that, you know, she's a joy to watch. She's a joy to talk to. And the same thing people will say about you, right? So we're just playing. Let's do three more rounds, paying attention just to the spontaneity. It almost starts to feel like when we first began, keep doing the movement while I talk. When we first began, we were doing the movement. And now it's like the movement is doing us. But the essence and the core of, you know, the story that we're telling with our bodies remains. And it remains when you tell a story too. You know the details. You know the arc. The part for you to do is tune into the spontaneity of it. It's almost like, for me, like I'm not even doing the movement, you know, just pure flow. So I'd invite you to play with this. And you can slowly bring it into different moments. So you can slowly, so you can start with these made up movements, you can pay attention to the spontaneity, you know, in everyday movements, like when you wash the dishes, or as you're walking, just go, Oh, what is, what is the like somethingness of this experience? What is that thing I'm not controlling and seeing if you can tune into that? And no judgment, you're trying to understand it, but just locate it and see how it works with you. And appreciate it. So that when you are sharing a story, and when you are giving a presentation or a talk or meeting someone, that you can trust the words, and you can locate where that spontaneity might live and allow it to show up in conversations. And then your work is to notice, how does that change how I feel when I'm sharing stories? And how does it change how the other people feel when I'm embracing my spontaneity? Because that's ultimately what we care about in storytelling, right? Am I fully embracing the story and telling it in the best way I can? And the people who are receiving the story, are they receiving it in a really clear, fresh way that resonates with them long before, they're long after the story has ended, right? And spontaneity can add that in. And if we're always scared of it, it's hard for people to connect with us. It's hard for them to listen to our stories in the beginning, never mind trying to understand them, right? So I hope that this exercise gave you a taste of spontaneity and that you continue to play with this in the stories that you tell yourself and other people and that it serves you well. Yeah, let me know how it goes for you. Okay, thanks for joining me. Bye.