WELCOME

Hello! When y’all receive this newsletter, it will still be January, capping off the longest January in recorded history. I have never felt any meme so much as I have all the ones about how this month has gone on for years. While I believe Taylor can do little wrong, she probably should have written the line about her mornings being stuck in an endless January because nothing could be longer.

Anyway, today’s topic is near and dear to my heart because I’m going to talk about the importance of storytelling. Storytelling is what catapulted me into a whole new stratosphere as an agent, so today I’ll share what’s worked for me, because I know it will work for you, too. So pull up a seat and let me tell you a story.

STORY TIME WITH GLENNDA

It’s not a secret that I almost didn’t make it out of high school. I perpetually struggled, especially in English. I feel like my teacher must have hated me because every essay I wrote would come back covered in red slashes, almost like she enjoyed telling me I didn’t make the grade. She’d fail me every time I turned in a paper, saying, “Glennda, your written word isn’t supposed to sound like how you speak.”

And I never did understand why. My paper was from me; shouldn’t it have sounded like me?

I mean, I was young and didn’t know to question authority, so I just assumed I was wrong. I felt so much shame every time I’d pour my heart into a paper, only to get it back covered in red lines. I felt like, why did I even try?

I would not learn for years that your “writer’s voice” is actually so important. The more it feels like that author is whispering in your ear, confiding their secrets, the better that book generally is. Now when I’m reading, I don’t like books where I can’t hear that writer’s authentic voice.

Storytelling has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. I grew up with a grandfather who had a story for every dang thing. And I tell you what, he was riveting. OMS, I would hang on his every word. That man was a master raconteur. (Yes, I admit I just looked it up to make sure I used that word right.) Every conversation was a story and no one could look away—that’s how compelling he was. When he’d share a story, he would paint a picture and I would feel like I was right there with him. There was no detail that was too small for him to exclude. His stories were little universes where I was allowed to hang out as long as I wanted. He was an artist with his words and I loved being his patron. Every time I would hear him speak, it gave me so much joy because what kid doesn’t love hearing a story, especially from the best storyteller in the world?

My mom was exactly the same way. Everything was a story with her. In fact, when we started getting ATMs in Atlanta, I can still recall the first corner where we saw one. We called her Tilly (because she held the bank’s till) and they way my mom described it, Tilly wore a red dress with a blue bow in her blonde hair. Tilly was the bank’s newest employee, and nothing tickled her more than handing out fresh, crisp $20 bills. To this day, I don’t call it the ATM—I call it the Tilly.

I have always been attracted to stories because I had some learning difficulties when I was growing up. When my teacher told my mother that I couldn’t understand things, I told her I understood perfectly well when those things were explained to me. I needed to hear information in a story form for it to make sense. I’m no different now. If you want me to grasp a complex issue, give me a case study instead of data points and I will remember that information from now until Gabriel blows his horn.

Only recently did I learn that it’s not just me who learns better in story form. There’s actual brain chemistry involved when you get your info via a story. When someone tells you a story, your brain releases all sorts of happy chemicals, from oxytocin to dopamine to cortisol, just natural drugs whose job it is to make you feel better. A plain ol’ PowerPoint just cannot compete with a good story and the science backs me up here.

I guess that’s one of the reasons I love Taylor Swift so much. Every single one of her songs is a story. She’s so good at capturing a moment in time, starting with the angst and trauma, how it made her feel, and by the time she gets to that bridge, she’s on her way to coming out victorious. What’s so funny to me is how so many young, young girls can identify with songs like The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived, but oh my stars and stripes, I promise you, as someone on the other side of 50 with a divorce or two under her belt, no one can feel this one more deeply than we can. (P.S. There’s no better form of therapy than singing the 10-minute version of All Too Well with 65K other fans.)

Every day, we have to convey an awful lot of information in our line of business. We are all trying to differentiate ourselves and cut through that noise. The best way for us to do that is to do it in story form. This is exactly why I have been so successful with my video content—it’s just me telling stories, real and authentic.

When you tell that story from your vantage point, you capture that magic. The greatest compliment I get is when I meet people in real life who’ve seen my videos or read my newsletter and they say, “Glennda, you are exactly who you say you are.” I guess authenticity is a rare commodity, so if you want to stand out from the pack, you’ve got to tell your stories and you’ve got to use your voice. (Regardless of what your mean English teacher might have said.)

A story is lightning in a bottle and it’s something every one of you are capable of creating and sharing. So tell your story, and prepare for your audience to hang on your every word.

Of course, here’s one of my favorite stories:

glenndabaker

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GLENNDAISM

Today’s Words of Wisdom

GLENNDA BAKER & ASSOCIATES

First Time Buyers, This Is for You

Do you realize it is still possible to purchase a 4 bedroom, 2.5 bathroom home—built in the last ten years—for $350,000?

Believe it!

Check out this new listing! I love selling homes like this, which I will do every day and twice on Sunday. I legitimately cannot picture a better first home for young buyers, where there’s not only plenty of room to spread out, but a blank canvass to try out all the TikTok designs you’ve been putting on your Pinterest board forever. So stop dreaming and pinning… and start packing!