Being a tour guide, meeting people all the time, I’m often asked questions…
This has been a busy summer. Lots of tours, lots of guests that I have had the privilege to show around my city and West Sweden. And every time I meet guests, we talk (duh!) And every time, invariably, as we get to know each other, at some point questions will be asked about why I’ve become a tour guide. So here’s the answer: storytelling.
From Training Executive to Author and Tour Guide? How?
This might feel like a huge stretch, but actually, is not. I like to think of storytelling as the clip that holds it all together. When I first started out as a trainer, telling stories was a way to help me pass on knowledge to my students. Mind you, it is more complex, and I’m simplifying for the sake of this post. Storytelling has always played a major role in training and education.
The same is obviously true for writing books. Books are basically stories, and I won’t lie that I often view my books as lessons to humanity, stories about humankind. From there, the step to touring isn’t long. I love to tell stories about my city, not just about its interesting history. I use stories to explain the sights, anecdotes that can be funny, thought-provoking, etc.
Whether it’s the story about how Gothenburg was founded, the story of how it became the rich city with all the donations from the “founding fathers”, to the story of the challenges we face going forward.
Storytelling and then some…
Besides, visiting a city, traveling is all about learning. When you book a tour it obviously means you are curious to learn about the place you’re visiting, the people living there, the culture, the food, its history, etc. And storytelling is really the oldest form of learning. It goes back to the very beginnings of humankind. I once explained that in a video for my consulting business, which is yet another way for me to use storytelling to help clients.
Do you have a question for me? Let me know. I’m sure I can weave a little story around it…