Here we are. You at your screen. Me at mine. And we’ve all got our professional playlist ready to go, don’t we? It’s full of our greatest hits: the polished elevator pitch, the perfectly articulated value prop, the data points that prove we’re killing it. We spend all day trying to sell the story before we even tell the story. Because it’s not personal, it’s just busyness. Right?
But your audience, your team, your clients… they’re human beings first, customers second. And they don’t just want your highlight reel. They’re tired of the same top 40 hits. They want the B-sides. The deep cuts. The raw, unmastered demo track that reveals who you actually are. That’s where connection happens. It’s a secret I’ve learned as a Grammy Nominated Spoken Word Artist, and it’s the same secret used by the world’s best leaders. You have to stop speaking to business cards and start sharing your human B-side.
Here’s how you can flip the record.
1. Tell Your “Stupid Umbrella” Story
You don’t need to bare your soul to be authentic. You just need to be human. I once told an audience I didn’t even know my umbrella used to be stupid. Or that my cat’s food bowl was dumb before I “smartened” it up. It’s a small, self-deprecating moment that says, “I’m not a polished robot; I’m a person navigating this same ridiculous world of smart-everything.” What’s your stupid umbrella story? Sharing a small, relatable imperfection is more powerful than broadcasting a flawless success. It’s the glitch in the algorithm that makes people lean in.
2. Ask “Who Are You?” (For Real This Time)
I was once on a figurative date with the healthcare industry and it was going terribly. When she asked who I was, I rattled off my list of ailments: “Hi, my name is Diabetes.” But she stopped me. “No, who are you?” And in that moment, the script flipped. She wasn’t talking to a chart; she was talking to a person. The most inspiring leaders do this. They look past the title, the region, the sales quota, and they ask the question that unearths the human: What’s the story behind your hustle? What keeps you up at night? They learn to read people less like charts and more like poems.
3. Find the Shared Goosebump
AI can understand the physiology of goosebumps. It can even create artificial skin that emulates them. But it will never know what it feels like to have your skin brailed with the language of wonderment. That’s our domain. That’s the point of connection behind every connection point. The shared chill of a perfect song. The collective groan at a Monday morning alarm. The silent, trembling smile at a family milestone. The top communicators—the ones who make you feel like they’re talking only to you in a room of 5,000—don’t just share data. They hunt for the universal experiences that give us all goosebumps.
4. Wear Your Scars Like a Badge
If every attempt you make ends with a win, you need to risk deeper. I tell leaders to hand out Neosporin at staff meetings and tell their teams, “Don’t come back without lacerations.” Okay, maybe not literally. But the point is, your best teacher is your last mistake. When you share a story of how you failed forward—how you messed up, learned something, and got stronger—you give everyone else permission to be human, too. You create a culture where Armani gauze is a fashion statement. This is the essence of what a true Motivational Poet does; they show you the beauty in the breaks, the poetry in the process.
5. Trade the Data Dump for a Bedtime Story
My niece knows the story of Cinderella by heart, but she still wants me to tell it to her. Why? Because she doesn’t just want the ending—”women love shoes, good night.”—she wants the journey. She wants the experience. Too often in business, we skip right to the data. But your audience will simply ask your competitors to tell them a better story. As a Spoken Word Poet, I know that story is the vehicle; the data is just the destination. When you wrap your metrics in a compelling narrative, the point becomes unmissable because the feeling is unforgettable. This is how a leading innovator makes their case, not with a spreadsheet, but with a story that echoes.
Your vision is only as powerful as your voice. But that voice isn’t just about what you say; it’s about what you share. Being a Vanguard Artist of connection in your field doesn’t require a flawless performance. It requires the audacity to share your B-sides. To be the human behind the title. That’s not just good Spoken Word; it’s the best business.
