Storyteller Interview: Drew Dudley
Keynote and TED Speaker: “Everyday Leadership,” Bestselling Author
I shared a few months ago what a fan I am of Drew Dudley's. His TED Talk about a lollipop moment has 6.3M views for good reason! He uses a story to make you feel good about people while teaching you his philosophy on leadership.
Drew is someone that people may think is a natural storyteller. But you'll see from his storytelling interview, it's something he's worked on for decades...starting as a child. Drew is evidence that you can draw inspiration from anything and use stories to make concepts stickier.
Enjoy the bonus material from my interview with Drew Dudley for "The Perfect Story."
Your TED Talk went viral for the hilarious story about you introducing a future husband and wife with a lollipop. How does it feel to be known as “The Lollipop Guy?”
The story that went viral was an accident. Leadership exists in these interpersonal moments of impact. There is a difference between random and conscious acts of kindness. But I don’t remember that moment described in the story! I'm thrilled that six minutes have created the catalyst for impact, making changes and people telling others they matter.
How do you approach storytelling?
Storytelling is a tool to capture and keep people’s attention. I once was interviewing James Maskalyk, a physician who spent six months in Sudan’s Civil War with the Doctors Without Borders organization. He was working long days in 110-degree heat. He kept a daily blog. I asked him why he did it. He said, “Story is the basic unit of human understanding.”
When you tell stories on stage some people assume you are a motivational speaker without intellectual depth. It is a wonderful opportunity to share ideas, defy expectations, and prove to them you are going to say something that matters.
Most ideas we hear aren’t new. I take them and wrap them in Velcro, so they are stickier. An individual moment of kindness or compassion that can change someone’s life isn’t a new idea.
My stories are always catalysts for something else. When I want to tell a story, I find the core lessons within it. I can also look at a fear or challenge people have and provide a potential solution. I tell the story of how the solution came about.
How did you develop your storytelling talent?
As a kid, I loved to read. I was the audiobook on long car rides, reading to my parents. I learned tricks to spin a narrative and add tension to a moment. These were stories from other people, and I had to figure out how to tell them effectively.
In college, I would take verbatim notes. Then I would type them out and create an hour-long recap of the class with slides based on what I thought would be on the midterm or final. I’d deliver these presentations to an empty audience, just for myself. When it came time for the example, my brain had many different ways to access the information.
Long before I ever spoke on stage, people were coming to my dorm room and listening to me talk. I lean into those things when preparing a story or presentation. I realized that I could make things like the Krebs Cycle engaging.
Nothing makes you better than doing something over and over again. That is how I came to tell stories. I had to be open to changing how I did things and also trust that I recognized what makes me good. People with good intentions will suggest you change the way you do things. Keep an open mind as it is usually offered with the genuine desire to be better. But your story is your story, and you decide what to include and make it better.
How do you know when a story is good?
I don’t know when a story is good. It can be an excellently constructed story. But that doesn’t mean the way you tell it will be rewarding or excellent. One of the hardest things to get your head around is there is a massive portion of the storytelling experience that you have no control over.
There are times when I am amazing at telling a story on a technical level. The pacing is great, the tension is perfect, and it just isn’t landing. There are other times that the story is a mess. I tell it in the wrong order and the audience is loving it.
I look for the moment when the audience stops listening for a second. Their eyes look off to the side. They stop listening because they are reflecting on something the story brought into their mind. When people break eye contact and aren’t listening, you’ve got something good there.
Your story is supposed to be about the audience. You aren’t a storyteller if your purpose isn’t to serve the audience. If you aren’t there to do that, then you are an attention grabber. The audience should feel as though they are the main character or protagonist of the story in their head.
When you have the right story for the right audience, you don’t feel rushed. It puts you in a state of flow. You are relaxed, present, and in the moment. They are willing to listen and want to go with you. They aren’t pushing you and you aren’t pulling them.
Sometimes the audience just doesn’t come along. This is where half of what impacts a story is out of your control. The time of day. How tired or hungry the audience is. You can bring everything you have, and your story may fall flat because of things out of your control.
Everyone should tell their story. Many people don’t know who needs to hear it. Many feel their story is boring or unimportant. If someone hasn’t told a story before, they may watch seasoned storytellers and think they aren’t good enough. Get over the idea that you need to be a skilled narrator. Share your story in the way you want to. It doesn’t have to be amazing. It just has to be yours. Vulnerability is the faith our stories matter to someone.
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