Expert Storytellers Make it Personal

You do speak from the heart. And as a result, you’re a wonderful storyteller. You’ve worked in advertising and marketing for a long time, you speak from the heart, you’re an expert storyteller. What is your advice for weaving a powerful story that demonstrates your passion, and inspires your team, and the customers of your organization around your vision?

I think you make it personal, right, you make it personal. And a lot of people have sometimes criticized me for being too vulnerable. Well, that’s not what Asian men are supposed to do, Eric, you’re not supposed to be vulnerable. You’re supposed to be strong, like a samurai, right? At least that’s what my grandpa told me.

Well, that’s the way they were raised.

No, it’s true. It’s a survival tactic, right?

Yeah.

But I do see myself many times, because I’m half Japanese too, so like, I have a Samurai tattoo that goes down my arm. And it’s for the reason where my grandpa always told me I was a Samurai. But that doesn’t mean a Samurai can’t cry. That doesn’t mean a Samurai doesn’t feel things. And so I do think the most powerful thing that I can do is literally tell the experience from my heart and my own lived experience with the products that I market and that I go to market with.

And I think the most expert storytellers make it personal. Like when I’m talking about my kids, I’m sure you can imagine that picture of my son standing in front of the TV, seeing me seeing me do my first interview. And that brings people in, right, because I grapple with the vulnerability in every single story. I grapple with the uncomfortable truths in every single story. And in turn, that creates provocation to make you realize, this is not a regular story, this is someone’s true story.

And whether it’s me talking about how LeBron’s next shoe was made, or me talking about the next new feature for a tech company, I’m going to make it personal every single time because I know you won’t care and I know I won’t care, unless I tell that personal story. I don’t want to sell you on some dream. I want to tell you why this is important to me. And if that’s important to you, too, then I did my job.