What a Cop Taught Me About Storytelling

November 12th, 2026

I once told my business coach I wasn’t a speaker.

This was after I’d spent years on stage as a theater artist, created and performed solo shows, and guided other people to create solo performance.

But public speaking? That was a whole different world.

A world of Grown-Ups who had Important Things To Say.

Not my hippie artist world.

Then one of my solo-performance students asked me to help her prepare for a TEDx talk.

“Sure,” I said. “I’ll see what I can do.”

Turns out I could do quite a bit.

I started working with other speakers. Hired a business coach. Started building a business. Kinda by accident, but that’s what I did.

And one day my coach said, “Now, Johanna, you need to get out there and speak.”

I laughed.

“NO WAY! I can HELP people speak. But I’m not a speaker myself. I have nothing to say!”

You can probably guess what he said next.

Funny how we can be so good at seeing what’s possible for other people and completely blind to what’s possible for ourselves.

I tell this story because it helps people understand something about me and the work I do.

I know what it’s like to have something to say and be terrified to say it. Or to not even believe what you have to say matters.

I know what it’s like to think that speaking is for other people. People who are smarter, more accomplished, more qualified, more whatever.

And I know what becomes possible when you decide to speak anyway.

That’s one of the jobs a good story can do.

It helps your audiences understand who you are, what you believe, and why they might want to listen to you.

Whether you’re leading a team, pitching an idea, building a business, or stepping onto a stage, there are certain stories you’ll want to have in your back pocket.

I like to think of them as your storytelling treasure chest.

Here are four worth collecting:

1. YOUR WHY STORY

This is the story of why you do what you do.

What’s the idea at the heartbeat of your work? What do you believe so deeply that you want other people to believe it too?

And here’s the question I love asking my clients:

How do you know that’s true?

What happened that led you to that AHA?

Maybe it was a conversation that changed your mind. A mistake you made. Something that happened when you were eight years old. Or a moment when everything you thought you knew got turned upside down.

Your WHY story helps people understand what drives you.

And it doesn’t have to be directly connected to your business.

In my last newsletter, I told the story of a police officer who used his own experience with depression to connect with someone in crisis.

That story has stayed with me for years.

It showed me what can happen when someone takes the risk of sharing something deeply personal, at exactly the right moment.

And it’s one of the reasons I believe so fiercely in helping people tell their stories.

2. YOUR ORIGIN STORY

This is the story of how you came to do the work you do.

How did you get here? What actually happened that led you to step onto this path?

Maybe you had one big AHA moment and made an intentional decision to change course.

Or maybe you stumbled your way through a whole series of little discoveries until one day you looked around and realized you were doing something you never imagined you’d do.

My story about my student giving a TEDx talk is an origin story.

I didn’t set out to become a public speaking coach.

And I certainly didn’t set out to become a speaker.

But one unexpected invitation opened a door, and then another, and then another.

Your Origin story gives people a glimpse of the journey that brought you here.

And often, it helps the people you serve recognize something of themselves in you.

3. YOUR VALUE STORY

This is the story that shows people the value of the work you do.

What difference does your work make in someone’s life or business? And why does that difference matter?

I once worked with a woman who was preparing for a big pitch. I encouraged her to tell a story, but she resisted.

Eventually, she took the leap and included a story in her pitch.

She won $75,000.

Now THAT’S a pretty clear demonstration of the value of storytelling! I call that a $75,000 story.

Of course, the value of your work isn’t always measured in dollars.

Maybe you helped someone find the confidence to speak up in a meeting, and that led to a promotion.

Maybe you helped a team communicate more effectively, and now they’re spending less time putting out fires and more time doing the work they love.

Or maybe you helped someone make a change that gave them more freedom, more connection, or more joy in their life.

Your Value Story helps people see what’s possible when they say yes to your idea, and why that possibility matters.

And here’s the important part:

Don’t just tell us the result. Tell us the story.

What was happening before? What was at stake? What changed? And what did that change make possible?

Bring us along on the journey so we can understand the value of that moment of decision, and the transformation that happened as a result.

Because when people recognize themselves in someone else’s story, they can begin to imagine what’s possible for them, too.

4. YOUR TEACHING STORIES

Now here’s where your storytelling treasure chest can get REALLY big.

You might have one central Why Story and one Origin Story. You’ll probably collect a handful of Value Stories over time.

But Teaching Stories? You can have hundreds.

These are the stories you use to illustrate an idea, make a point, or help someone see something in a new way.

And they can come from ANYWHERE.

A conversation with your kid. A disastrous first date. A missed flight. Something that happened in third grade. That time you made a complete fool of yourself at a party.

The story itself might have absolutely nothing to do with the work you do.

For example, I tell a story about leaving my laptop at security. On the surface, it’s just a funny story about something that happened while I was traveling.

But I use that story to explore how the way we see ourselves affects the way we show up in the world.

That’s what a Teaching Story can do.

It takes an idea that might otherwise stay abstract and gives your audience something concrete to connect with.

The trick is knowing precisely WHY you’re telling a story, and crafting the story to serve that why.

So start paying attention to the moments in your everyday life that surprise you, challenge you, make you laugh, or teach you something.

And then comes the fun part. Figuring out which stories to tell, how to shape them, and how to bring them to life so your audience wants to come along for the ride.

That’s what we’ll be exploring here, along with all kinds of ways to become a more confident, compelling speaker.

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If you’re ready to fill your storytelling treasure chest and learn how to turn your everyday experiences into stories that connect, inspire, and make an impact, click this link to schedule a time to chat: https://johannawalker.com/chat. You’ve already got stories worth telling. Let’s bring them to life.