Tell Me About Yourself

1. Stories are the Currency of Connection

Stories illustrate who we are, remind us what we’re capable of, highlight our uniqueness.

Social and Cultural Currency. Stories are more than just entertainment; they are the foundation of our social and cultural interactions. They educate, inspire, and motivate us by reframing life's most significant moments. Storytelling serves as a central exchange point for entertainment, education, cultural preservation, and the instillation of values.

Building and Maintaining Community. Stories help build and maintain communities by illustrating who we are, reminding us of our capabilities, and highlighting our uniqueness. Sociologist Peter L. Berger reminds us that all of human life is rooted in this cultural currency. They are our declaration and purchase of our seat at the table, our place in the moment, and ultimately, in history.

The Power of Narrative. Narratives help us uncover and create new truths. They are a testament to the freedom we have to affirm. Without stories, we would struggle to make sense of our experiences, beliefs, desires, dreams, values, and bodies of work. Accurate, artful, and soul-stirring accounts are essential for understanding ourselves and the world around us.

2. Self-Definition: Beyond the Resume

Self-definition is, simply, the articulation of how your motivations and values shape the choices and moves you make in life.

More Than Just a Resume. Self-definition goes beyond a list of accomplishments and experiences. It's about understanding who you are beneath the surface and how that informs your choices and actions. It's the articulation of how your motivations and values shape the decisions you make in life.

Merging Conscious Desires. The most powerful thing you can do is merge your conscious desires with the professional image you create. This allows you to engage authentically as your whole self. Prioritize what is unique and individual to you as a human being.

Taking Control of Your Story. Take control of your narrative by clearly communicating who you are. This requires a system for preparing for different conversations and scenarios. By focusing on self-definition, you can make deeper connections with the people you interact with.

3. Honing Your Voice: Authenticity is Key

In this matrix of interconnectedness, it is increasingly necessary for each of us to not just tell a story, but understand and articulate a unique and necessary voice.

Understanding Your Unique Voice. In today's interconnected world, it's crucial to understand and articulate your unique voice. This involves gauging where you are as a storyteller and identifying the type of communicator you want to become. It's about bringing an authentic approach to your personal introductions and stories.

Identifying Your Style. Consider the central figures involved in your life story and how you are best illuminated as a student, colleague, employee, boss, or volunteer. What characteristic or intensity is exclusive to you? External responses are important, but more important is what you notice, attend to, and relish in yourself.

Creating Your Communication Profile. Define the best way for you to embody your unique qualities while engaging with others. This will serve as your ideal communication profile, reminding you of how you want to communicate with others. Frequently referencing this profile will help you tailor your responses to most authentically discuss you as the central figure to any introduction.

4. The Six-Step Storyboarding Process: A Blueprint for Introductions

Here’s where style meets function.

Marrying Style and Function. The six-step storyboarding process helps you marry your situation-specific self-knowledge with the content development skills you need to create powerful introductions for any number of situations. Use sticky notes to keep track of your ideas and transfer them to your storyboard. Think of your introduction as the perfect appetizer.

Mastering the Perfect Intro. The key to mastering the perfect intro is learning how to dissect and analyze each new scenario so that you know which intro will yield the most fruitful results. This involves picking a scenario, identifying your audience, clarifying your response time and intent, reframing the question, deciding what you will share, and building your story.

Four Core Categories of Information. There are four core categories of information we draw from when we tell our stories: background and interests, values and beliefs, passions and aspirations, and skills and achievements. Use these categories to generate potential content for your personal introductions. The best responses take the setting, receiver, and the overall intention into consideration.

5. Know Your Audience and Intention

Every conversation has an objective.

Understanding Your Aim. Every conversation has an objective. When you're sharing your story and making introductions, it's important to identify what that aim is in order to better formulate your response. Are you intending to inform, persuade, inspire, or entertain the person or people to whom you're speaking?

Having an End Goal. Having an end goal is directly tied to identifying your aim. Once you're clear on the intention of your introduction, you should explore what the ideal result of the conversation would be if you were successful in achieving it. What do you want them to remember, how do you want them to feel, and what do you want them to do next?

Driving the Conversation. Knowing your aim and end goal prepares you to drive the conversation more meaningfully by asking the right questions along the way to not only share more about yourself but learn more about who you're engaging with as well. It's not about what you can get from the initial connection; it's about how you can grow it.

6. The Power of Three: Structuring Your Narrative

The “rule of three” is common in writing and equally applicable in oral communication.

Memorable and Engaging. The "rule of three" suggests that concepts, ideas, and thoughts presented in threes are inherently more enjoyable, interesting, and easy to remember. As you're introducing yourself, remember that the goal is to jump-start the conversation, not inundate people with information.

Core Talking Points. If you're feeling overwhelmed by all the different layers of your story, pause to think about what's most important for you to share and start from there. For example, if you're an entrepreneur, your core three talking points could be your passion, hurdles you've navigated, and what you're focused on now.

Conference Calls. During conference calls with large groups of people, the facilitator's core three talking points might include who they are, a reference to the meeting agenda, and clear instructions. As a participant, your core three talking points might include who you are, why you're looking forward to being involved, and how people should reach out to you.

7. Practice: The Cornerstone of Confident Communication

Repetition is the mother of skill.

Deliberate Practice. The best way to improve at anything is through repeated, deliberate practice. This is no less true when it comes to introducing yourself, pitching a project, or defining your scope of work. There are a number of different approaches to practice, and I encourage you to get creative and find a routine that works best for you.

Recording Yourself. As uncomfortable as it can be to watch yourself on video or listen to the sound of your voice, no one knows your best better than you, and discomfort is where the real growth happens. Practice for style and delivery, not memorization of content. Critique the audio and footage based on your communication profile.

Seeking Feedback. Call on friends and colleagues whose opinions you value and who know you well to simulate conversations with you, ask questions, and share their honest feedback to help you get better. Use your LinkedIn profile, CV, or online portfolio as a tool for practice. Repetition is the mother of skill.

8. Sharing Your Story: Empowering Others

Sharing our stories empowers us to find the tribes we’re meant to work with, move with purpose and agency through our lives, and catalyze change in ways that we could never accomplish alone.

Finding Your Tribe. Sharing our stories empowers us to find the tribes we're meant to work with, move with purpose and agency through our lives, and catalyze change in ways that we could never accomplish alone. It's about shifting the focus from those who typically control the microphone to highlight the stories and ideas of the voices at the margins.

Creating Space for Solutions. Consider how that shift might create space for more platforms and avenues to realize, iterate, and expand the reach of viable solutions. Space where youth, women, people of color, LGBTQ communities, and all marginalized voices have a seat at the table or at the very least, feel encouraged and capable enough to pull up a chair or build a table of their own.

Transforming Communication. This book was designed to help you feel courageous in transforming the way you discuss yourself and your work. Ultimately, it should help you define or redefine the mark you want to leave on the world. My hope is that in participating in this process and engaging in it with others, you're reminded of all that we have in common at the most human level, and how deeply connected and aligned we are beneath the surface.

9. Thought For Food: Innovating for Global Impact

I’m consistently drawn to collaborating with companies that are ambitious in tackling both local and global challenges.

Addressing Food Security. Thought For Food (TFF) is a global movement focused on inspiring and mobilizing students from colleges and universities around the world to develop solutions for gaining access to adequate, safe, and nutritious food. They support their community through an online platform and events, offering year-round programming that includes in-person workshops, online discussions, panels, and Q&A sessions.

Empowering Students. TFF curates tools and opportunities to help these students catalyze new ideas, launch startups, and strategically contribute to critical projects at major food security–focused organizations. Every year, TFF issues a challenge to the students in their network to form teams to participate in a global business plan competition.

The TMAY Method in Action. The author worked with TFF to fine-tune their stories for introductions and conversations throughout the summit. At the pitch competition, dinner, and wrap-up party that followed the session, the author watched as they made new friendships, discussed collaborative opportunities, and confidently and authentically navigated the room as they engaged in conversation.

10. CODE2040: Closing the Racial Wealth Gap

Oratory Glory has been an integral partner for CODE2040’s TAP Program, facilitating learning spaces for our students where they are empowered to own and tell their stories in ways that elevate their experiences and make them the foremost expert of their own narratives.

Creating Pathways to Success. Code2040 is a San Francisco–based nonprofit that aims to close the racial wealth gap in the United States by creating pathways to educational, professional, and entrepreneurial success in the innovation economy for Black and Latinx technologists. They chip away at this goal through custom engagements, initiatives, and partnerships with tech companies committed to diversity and inclusion.

Tailored Programs. Code2040 offers three ongoing programs tailored for top talent: their flagship Fellows Program, the Technical Applicant Prep (TAP) Program, and the yearlong Residency Program, powered by Google for Entrepreneurs. The author worked most closely with their TAP and Fellows Programs to facilitate tailored workshops and coaching for students.

Empowering Narratives. The author provided students with one-on-one coaching and training around the TMAY method to support them as they prepared for networking opportunities, internships, apprenticeships, and job interviews. The TAP Program also hosts Tech Trek, an all-expense-paid alternative spring break where 50 computer science majors come together in the Bay Area for a weeklong adventure of company tours and professional development workshops to network and build community to launch and sustain their careers.

Last updated: April 11, 2025