Personal stories—Listen, Ask, Share!
Personal stories allow individual members to share their opportunities, challenges, and upcoming decisions. Then the whole group benefits from everyone’s insights and experiences. We hope your Triangle becomes a place where everyone can discuss important issues that they’re experiencing at work and home.
Remember your Triangle’s commitment to good communication during personal stories. As a refresher, here are our suggested guidelines:
1. Listen
Listen beyond the words to hear the feelings. It is important to listen in order to understand rather than to listen to respond as we often do in our daily lives.
LISTENING ACTION
- What are key considerations of the presenter?
- How is he/she feeling about the situation?
2. Accept
Accept triangle members and topical discussions without judgement.
ACCEPTANCE ACTION: Remember to accept the Triangle member’s story without judgement.
3. Ask
Ask thought-provoking questions to help the presenter to see his/her situation from a different angle. But avoid embedding advice in the form of a question, i.e., “Have you ever considered...”
ASKING ACTION
- Is there a question you’d like to ask to help better understand the presenter’s situation?
- Something might help him/her to consider things from a different angle.
4. Share
Share experiences, not opinions or advice. Use “I” statements and speak only for yourself. Be specific and brief, avoiding “You should...”
SHARING ACTION: What experiences have you had that might be helpful to the presenter?
Share your story
As presenter, you’ll share a five to seven minute personal story with your Triangle group, and then field questions from other members before listening to their insights and stories. To get started, we suggest you take some time to work through the following questions. In addition, you can reach out to your Triangle leader for help focusing your thoughts and putting together your story.
1. Topic
- What is the topic of your personal story?
- Is it related to one of the Performance Triad tenets of sleep, activity, or nutrition?
- Is it more closely related to one of the domains of physical, cognitive, or emotional capabilities?
2. Background
What is the background information? This is the who, what, where, when, and why question.
3. Purpose
- Why did you choose this topic?
- What question do you want to answer?
- What is the challenge or opportunity you want to address?
4. Feelings
How do you feel about the situation you’re presenting? Overwhelmed, anxious, or excited?
5. Options
- What are your options?
- What are the difficulties in your situation that make these hard or easy changes to make?
- Do you have a preference?
- Are there elements in the situation that are out of your control?
6. Outcomes
- What are the outcomes of your different options?
- What will happen if nothing changes?
