An AI Story vs. YOUR Story — Why One Always Wins…

A shout-out to my friend Bill Mueller — a storytelling standout who wrote a great email yesterday about showing up as human.


In recent emails, Bill has shared ways to “tell a story in an email without telling a story.”


Yesterday, he wrote about why that matters:


“(These tips) all exist to make your reader feel like a person wrote this… as in: someone with a specific past, a specific living room, a specific bad habit, a specific reason for caring…


“A sound. A smell. A name. A detail that serves no marketing purpose whatsoever. A sentence that ends too soon. Each one is small proof that you exist…


“Write something only you could have written.”

Can I get an “AMEN?”


Way to go, Bill. You nailed it.


In yesterday’s email, I called out prospective podcast guests who fill my inbox with AI-generated garbage.


They claim to have listened to my podcast and been “captivated” by the latest episode. It’s all a bunch of AI-generated BS.


It doesn’t draw me in. It repels me.


These are (presumably) human beings, asking to sit with me, a conversation — human-to-human. And, yet, when they introduce themselves, they show up in the most un-human, robotic way.


Sure, they save time with their AI-generated messages. But they sacrifice the most important thing: Showing up as human.


Last night, Melissa and I attended a presentation by Cristina Mittermeier, a celebrated wildlife photographer who worked for National Geographic for many years before shifting her focus to wildlife conservation.


Someone asked her if she was concerned AI would replace human photographers.


She said AI has challenged humans to get better.


Yes, AI can generate great images. But ultimately, human photographers will continue to matter because “humans crave human creations,” she said.


That’s what Bill was saying.


Bill and I aren’t asking you to go without AI.


I use AI all the time to save lots of time. It’s engrained in my work systems and processes.


But, like Bill, I work hard to show up as myself — a flesh-and-blood human — even if that takes a little longer than asking some robot to stand in for me.


Bill’s tips remind us: “Show Up as Human” should be a top-level business goal.


Be strategic about it. Develop tactics and habits to do it regularly. Learn how to do it naturally. Recognize the difference between robotic and human copy.


Understand that there’s a difference between an AI-generated story and a story only you can tell.


Speaking of my podcast…


If you’re a good fit for my audience, I’d love to have you as a guest on The Story Power Marketing Show.


If you’re looking to stand out as an expert to hire, appearing on other people’s stages (including podcasts) is a great way to get noticed and make valuable connections.


Go to https://guest.storypowermarketing.show. You’ll find a video where I describe the show, details about the kind of guests we like, and a form to apply to be a guest.


An opportunity for those who host podcasts or want to:


That page I mentioned — https://guest.storypowermarketing.show — is the first step in a powerful, automated system I designed to screen prospective guests, manage communications with them, and generally streamline my podcast hosting process.


This system has saved me hundreds of hours since I launched it.


If you’re a podcast host (or aspiring host) interested in learning how to screen and book guests — without it becoming a time-sucking hassle — I’d be happy to show you the system I built.

Just reply to this email and let me know you want to see it.