The saying is that “Everyone has a story.”

That may be true, but the problem is that most people aren’t very good at TELLING it.

That’s why you have to EDIT them.

It’s Beginning > Middle > End.

What it should NOT be (but we hear way too often) is “Meandering” – Beginning > Middle that’s too long > Ending that’s predictable, or something being repeated that was said earlier in the story.

TAKE OUT what’s nonessential.  When you eliminate unnecessary details and nebulous “side roads,” and you don’t try too hard to either make it “meaningful” or to somehow get to some punch line that just comes across as silly or insincere, you’ve left more room for Emotions.  And that – the Emotional Core at the center of a story – is what impacts the listener.