Sharing your personal story on our platform can help to inspire and connect with others, but it's important to consider the potential risks. Technology has given us multiple opportunities to share our stories, but our control over those stories has diminished as our digital footprints grow. Once you share your story, either in person or online, you may face several risks. For example, you might receive unexpected negative feedback, or sharing might impact on your privacy or that of others. Sometimes, we simply are not ready to tell a particular story - we say "it's not soup yet." You might consider omitting or anonymizing sensitive details, or shelving that story for another, better time. The good thing about ULUstories is that you choose what to share, when, where, how and to whom

It depends on how and whom you share it with. Any data created within the app is privacy protected. Only you can make the story accessible, either by sharing it orally or via a Word doc or audio/video. You can control access depending on how and with whom you share the story.

It is removed per GDPR and similar regulations.

Each serves a particular purpose in building and sharing a story Story Title: A string of words at the beginning of a story that names it, and serves as a label to identify the work. Its function is to grab attention, evoke curiosity, and give a hint about the content of the story. It should be memorable and interesting so that it can stand out and attract readers. For example, "White Teeth" by Zadie Smith and "Atonement" by Ian McEwan. Story Topic: The specific subject or scenario around which the story, providing a specific context. For example, the topic of "Catch-22" by Jospeh Heller is the absurdity and paradoxical nature of war, as experienced by a U.S. Army Air Forces B-25 bombardier and his squadron mates during World War II. Story Theme: The central idea or underlying message that acts as a foundation for the narrative and often explores universal concepts about human experience or society. For example, the struggle between good and evil is the theme of Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings."

Here’s three examples. Title: The Hunger Games (book and movie) Topic: A dystopian society where a totalitarian government forces children to compete in a deadly survival competition as a means of control. Theme/s: may include the consequences of absolute power, the disparity between social classes, the impact of media on society, and the resilience of the human spirit in the face of oppression. ---------------------------------- Title: The Three Little Pigs (children’s story) Topic: Three pigs, each building a house of different materials to protect themselves from the Big Bad Wolf. Theme: The importance of hard work and preparation, illustrating that taking the time to do something well can protect against future adversities. ---------------------------------- Title: Black Panther (movie) Topic: leadership in the fictional nation of Wakanda Theme/s: may be identity, heritage, and responsibilities of a powerful nation to the larger world

No. We deliberately provide them in this format so you can start anywhere. Answers to any of them help lead you to possible answers for the others. For example, storytellers often know upfront who the audience is, and the purpose of telling the story, or its message, but may not have thought through the mindset, topic, or theme.

Yes! We like the acronym MAPMAT2: Message Audience Purpose Mindset Audience again! Theme + Topic

Mindset in a story refers to a central value, belief, or attitude you hold at the beginning of the narrative. Your mindset shapes the dramatic arc of your ULUstory, informing how you interpret events, tackle challenges, and make decisions. Mindset can manifest 3 ways: your values dictate your ethical compass your beliefs define your grasp of truth your attitudes color your initial perspective and responses This mindset is an integral part of the story, which will be challenged or tested as events unfold. As the story progresses, you, the storyteller, may begin to question this initial mindset due to new experiences, conflicts, or revelations. By the end of the story, typically your mindset either shifts or is reaffirmed. You may emerge with a changed perspective, as a result of a choice you make in responding to a dilemma. Or, your initial mindset is strengthened by the consequences of your choice. Either way, the impact on your mindset drives the transformational power of the story, It is the key element of the dramatic arc: challenge, choice, consequence.

A classic example of this mindset change in a story is Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol." Initial Mindset: Ebenezer Scrooge starts off as a miserly, cold-hearted man. He firmly believes that money, not people, is the most important thing in life. He despises Christmas and views it as a time of year when people spend money foolishly. Challenges to the Mindset: Scrooge's mindset is challenged by the visitations of four ghosts: his former business partner Jacob Marley and the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet to Come. Each ghost shows Scrooge scenes that force him to reflect on his life and the consequences of his actions (or inactions): Change in Mindset: Through these supernatural experiences, Scrooge is led to a profound realization about the importance of compassion, generosity, and community. He awakens on Christmas morning with a transformed mindset. Resolution: Embracing the spirit of Christmas, Scrooge becomes a man known for his good nature and charity. His change in mindset is the core of the story's message about the redemptive power of kindness.

The Lion King provides a wonderful example. Initial mindset: after fleeing the wrath of his Uncle Scar and his guilt over his father's death, Simba has adopted a "happy-go-lucky "hakuna matata" mindset with his two friends. Challenge to his mindset: Nala his childhood friend, arrives to tell him of the disaster having befallen the pride, and urges him to return to fight Scar. Simba must decide whether to stay a live a carefree life or return to the kingdom, face his fear, and save the animals. Change in mindset: He chooses to return to the kingdom, as his beloved mighty father would have done. Resolution: By the end of the story, Simba has become the lion his father wanted him to be. He is now king, has married Nala, the kingdom recovers and Nala gives birth to a cub. They hold her up at Pride Rock and the circle of life is complete.

Integrity balances self-interest with honesty. Some seek personal gain with discretion, while others maintain unwavering truthfulness. Compassion: prioritizes personal well-being versus others' needs. Some practice self-care first; others place higher importance on helping others. Courage: weighs caution against embracing risk. Some value safety, while others see worth in taking calculated risks. Responsibility: ranges from valuing personal freedom to embracing accountability. Some cherish independence; others fully own their community impact. Resilience: responses to adversity vary from seeking stability to actively pursuing change and facing challenges independently. Curiosity: some are satisfied with known knowledge; others constantly seek new information and experiences for personal growth. Respect: balances self-assertion with valuing others. Some advocate for their own views; others prioritize equality and recognition of others. Humility: some assert self-confidence; others emphasize teamwork and may downplay personal success for group achievements. Adventurousness: preferences range from seeking familiarity to exploring the unknown for the value of discovery and diversity. Independence: some prefer autonomy in tasks and decisions; others value collaborative efforts and shared decision-making. Pragmatism: balances idealism with practicality. Some pursue visionary goals while others focus on realistic and achievable outcomes. Tradition: some adhere to established customs for continuity; others push for modernization and adaptability Optimism: some anticipate positive outcomes; others adopt a more cautious outlook, preparing for various possibilities. Competitiveness: drives range from excelling over others to focusing on self-improvement without external comparison. Orderliness: preferences for a structured environment contrast with a comfort for spontaneity and adaptability. Empowerment: focus ranges from self-development to mentoring others, emphasizing personal growth or facilitating it in others.

If you are participating in an ULUstory Experience, likely the group participating will have commonalities - perhaps you’re the IT team, or you’re a group of mentees, or members of a particular resource group at work. Often, we choose the topic of a story based upon what message we want to get across to the listeners. Let’s say you are a team member and want to convey how you learned to overcome mistakes. We can all think back on mistakes we have made, and how we responded. For example, it might be the story of how you were chosen to present an award to a well-known sports celebrity, and walking up the stairs, you tripped and fell. But despite ripping your shirt, and losing a shoe, you got up, and bravely kept walking to deliver the award. And the celebrity raises your arm, and says, “THIS person is the champ, not me!” So the topic might be “Falling Up.”

In our opening workshop, you will walk through creating 2 very short stories. Then you’ll have access to the ULUstory app,,which will walk you through a simple set of prompts to answer questions. When you are ready, the app will create a full word document or recording of your answers, so you can see or hear the story as a comprehensive whole. You can always go back in and edit.

Anybody you choose to share it with.

Yes but only if you choose to do so. Nobody else can go into your “story suitcase” and read or listen to your stories.

U-stories are generally best served “live.” That is, told by their creator rather than read on paper (or electronic device).

Many! At ULUstory, we provide a wide set of resources, from digital modules to sample written stories, to stories you can listen to from diverse podcasts.

You can share your story, or different versions of it, in a wide range of different contexts at work. Here’s a few: when talking with your ally group, mentoring or being mentored, onboarding, being interviewed for an internal promotion, delivering a presentation, resolving conflict with a coworker, in nurturing clients, in sales.

No, definitely not. They don’t even have to have a “definite” ending. The most important thing in telling a U-story is explaining the choice you were presented with, how you made that choice, what consequences resulted, and how this changed you (or didn’t!). Some of the best stories are about bad choices.

Anecdotes are a set of facts which may be amusing, interesting or illustrative, but they have no deeper meaning. A “U-story,” on the other hand lets us know that things started one way and ended a different way. Stories create space for changes. The structure of a U-story makes it memorable, provides a depth of meaning, and moves the listener to a new perspective.

U-stories are designed to create the “dramatic arc” that neuroscience recognizes as critical to generating cortisol, oxytocin and dopamine in the brains of the storyteller and the listener. Cortisol literally “makes us pay attention.” Oxytocin, known as the “moral molecule” or the “love hormone,” creates a sense of trust and familiarity between the speaker and listener. Dopamine drives our desire to take action related to the story told. As you get better and better at crafting your stories, you will become increasingly creative...Just as musicians learn and practice scales - essentially patterns - repeatedly to develop and improve both their technique and their creativity, storytellers too learn underlying patterns which then allow you to improvise, craft and tell evermore subtle and engaging stories for any occasion.

We tell, and listen to, stories for many reasons. To communicate a moral or ethical code (like parables in religious writings) to share cultural norms to create a sense of community to inspire to make ideas “sticky” and memorable to make friends to find meaning in seemingly random situations to “connect the dots” of our lives to craft our life narratives which so deeply affect how we see ourselves and how we think others see us to explore or establish or explain or claim a particular identity to communicate a life lesson to share vulnerabilities and strengths to persuade to establish commonalities amongst seeming differences

A story’s topic relates to the story's “what.” It's driven by facts and specifics, such as the time your apartment was flooded by Hurricane Sandy in 2012. In contrast, the story’s theme deals with the big picture and overall meaning that reveal why the story matters, for example “family always comes first.” A story’s topic could be when your dog, Chunky, got into a fight with another dog - the story’s theme might be friendship and loyalty.

The plot is the main sequence of events that make up the story. In short stories like the ones ULUstory helps you create, the plot is usually centered around one experience or significant moment, when you had to make a choice.

ULUstory provides a minimum of 30 minutes coaching to every user (that’s you!). Our coaches listen to your story, give you feedback and suggestions, and help you discover your innate storytelling skills!

There are many different ways, and we provide resources on this as well as “delivery coaching.” We think three ways are particularly helpful. First, practice telling your story over and over - to your mirror, to your pet, to friends. This allows your body to effectively “memorize” the story so that when you tell your story in public, your body is comfortable already with the process. Second, you can reduce physical anxiety lots of ways, including eating a banana, drinking chamomile tea, going for a very brisk walk, using large muscle groups, and deep slow breathing. Finally, don’t worry about making a mistake. We all make mistakes, and the audience is cheering for us. 95% of the mistakes you make, the audience won’t even realize. And the others? Acknowledge them, and move on. Audiences actually find mistakes to be authentic. In fact some trial lawyers deliberately make a mistake in front of the jury, like dropping papers on the floor, to get their sympathy.

U-stories are generally best served “live.” That is, told aloud by the storyteller rather than read aloud or read on paper or electronic device by the listeners. And, when telling a story live, it is always best to tell the story “extemporaneously,” so it sounds impromptu or unrehearsed, as if you are speaking to a friend. Of course, you should prepare carefully, but tell your story without notes. Why? When reading your story aloud from your notes or manuscript, your voice will tend to sound flatter, with less variation in tone, pitch and speed. In addition, your eyes will be focused on the paper, rather than making eye contact with your listeners. And you will have fewer facial expressions. All of these - vocalics, expression, eye contact - make you and your story more engaging.

Sometimes we need a story to be longer or shorter. With ULUstory format, it is very easy to simply sign into your account, and add additional facts and information into one or more of the prompt boxes.

Most people speak at an average speed of four to five syllables per second. Most words are two to three syllables long, giving you the answer that the average person speaks approximately 100 – 130 words per minute. You can download your story as a Word document and check how many words it contains, then go to this site which will convert the number of words into an estimate of how many minutes it would take to read it aloud. http://www.speechinminutes.com/

Yes it is. Our listening brains tune out words heard many times: amazing, fun, awful, big. But listening brains actually “light up” and react to newer or more descriptive words. Instead of saying a food tasted “terrible”, say it tasted “bitter” or “slimy” or “cloyingly sweet.” When our brains light up, we pay more attention to the speaker and we also better remember what we are hearing.

One very effective way to make telling a story more engaging is to vary your “vocalics.” That is, HOW you use your voice. You might speak faster or slower at particular times, or change the pitch of your voice. You can drop your voice to be very quiet, or you can increase loudness.

Yes.

Of course. A story about a mistake you made, for example, could be used for an inspirational speech, as an informational speech, telling a mentee, sharing with teammates, or even in an interview when you want to demonstrate that you learn from your mistakes.