Two Sample Personal Stories

If you haven't already, read the outline of the complete story of my first year as a Primary teacher.

Now read one of the ways I tell this story. Notice I tell only portions of it, and only the portions I consider necessary to help the listener understand the story.

Story for a talk on faith:

Within a year after joining the church at age seventeen, I was called into the Primary program. My class had seventeen children and I had no experience. Needless to say, I was totally incapable of controlling my rambunctious preschoolers. One day, they decided to run in a large circle at the back of the room, and I was powerless to stop them. I watched them, fighting back tears, and found myself remembering the inservice meeting I had attended earlier in the week. We'd been told that when a classroom was filled with the spirit, the Savior Himself could be present. Bitterly, I said aloud, "Jesus would never come here."

Unexpectedly, the class stopped running and turned to look at me. A child asked if it was Jesus could really come to our class. I answered, "Someone told me He could if the classroom was reverent. But He couldn't come to a class like this one, where everyone is running around."

Silently, the children returned to their seats, except for one little boy. He went to the corner of the room and dragged an adult-sized chair to the end of the horsehoe of chairs. I asked him what it was for. He looked at me in surprise. "It's for Jesus. When He comes, He will need a chair."

That day I learned a lesson faith I've never forgotten...

Notes:

The first thing you should note is that if you find this story elsewhere--I've written on it before--it won't be written exactly the same way. I wasn't writing my stories down in those days and I don't remember the exact words or details. The story is truthful, but may not be totally factual. This means I may have the details wrong, but overall the story is true and the message is true.

Next, compare the story to the outline. Very little of the outline is included. I used only what was needed to:

--set the stage (age, new membership, inexperience, challenging first class.)

--tell the portion of the story related to a talk on faith (what started the experience, how I reacted, how the children responded, what I told them, and what they did.)

--tie it to the tallk

The final sentence returns them to the message of the talk or lesson and allows me to transition back to the subject at hand by explaining in more detail what this taught me about faith. Following that, I'd move on to a related topic, such as how we can develop the faith of a child.

Okay, now let's try a different take on that class.

See another sample personal story.