I was speaking to a client last week about making use of our life’s experiences in the work we do, and he challenged me:

“Tell me something that happened in the last 24 hours that might be useful in business.”

I had just arrived home from a four-day speaking event at the Million Dollar Round Table conference on South Beach. I delivered the conference’s opening keynote, speaking to approximately 6,000 people in the Miami Convention Center, and then performed some storytelling improv between other speakers for the next two days.

I also gave a less formal talk and Q&A session with about 400 people and enjoyed some dinners and meet-and-greets with attendees. 

Busy time.

On the flight home, I sat beside a couple — a man and a woman — who spent the first hour of their flight watching a movie together on an iPhone without headphones.

I was listening to a book on my headphones, so the blare of their movie only penetrated my consciousness a couple of times, but still, I wondered, “What the hell were they thinking?            

Little did I know that things were about to get a lot worse and very awkward for me...

An hour or so into the flight, the sound of the iPhone has disappeared, so I turned to see if they had decided to don headphones and behave like civilized people, but instead, I saw that the iPhone was turned off and they were making out.

Really making out. Hands and all.

I turned, closed my eyes, and returned to my book.

But again, I wondered, “What the hell were they thinking?”

“That,” I told my client, “could be a story I use in business.”

“How?” he asked.

Honestly, I could’ve given him at least three ways right off the top of my head, but the one I gave him was this:

I’d tell the story about the couple making out on the plane beside me. I fill it with stakes, surprise and humor.

That’s the easy part. The story practically tells itself if you know what you’re doing.

Then I’d say to my customer or client or prospective investor:

It wasn’t the best plane ride I’ve ever experienced. That couple made things pretty awkward for me. Public displays of affection are one thing, but this couple couldn’t keep their hands off each other,.

But at the same time, I had to respect their passion. It’s the kind of passion I bring to work every day, which is to say, undeniable, insatiable, and unstoppable. I love what I do. I can’t wait to get back to what I do. When I am working, it’s all I can think about, because I love what I do.

Apparently, this couple felt the same about each other.

I didn’t appreciate their time and place, but I had to respect their passion.

That is how you turn a personal story into a business story.

This is why we must be constantly, relentlessly searching for personal stories.

How do you do this?

Lots of ways, but one of the best is Homework for Life, and now you can begin keeping track of your Homework for Life in my new Homework for Life app, available NOW in Apple’s app store!