Why do I sound like a textbook?

March 2nd 2026 Brigham Blackham

Does your life story feel like you're reading a 400-Page dusty Textbook? If so, this post is for you.

Take your life in your minds-eye, picture how you’ve lived an incredible life, extremely competent in almost everything you do, even pickleball.

You’ve overcome mountains...Survived dry seasons... and even witnessed miracles.

But when you sit down to write it, or open your mouth to talk about it something almost unexplainable happens.

Your passion disappears, you get lost in the details. It essentially feels like your heart is about to explode,

Suddenly, your hard won lessons start to sound like a dusty staunch memoir that is strangely akin to a refrigerator repair manual.

Ever heard that, ‘memoirs are where authors go to die?”

If your audience's faces are ‘crashing onto the floor’ in boredom; or if they’re so distracted they’re picking off shoulder dust like they are having a thanksgiving turkey-coma instead of paying attention to you, this is what I call a ‘textbook’ problem. (Pun intended)

To turn a message into a masterpiece, you have to move from raw data to emotional undercurrents. You have to make it become Storyworthy.

What Does "Storyworthy" Actually Mean?

In the world of professional speaking, storytelling and publishing, "Storyworthy" isn't just about what happened to see what ’bleeds’ & leads. It is defined by the moment of transformation.

A sequence of events is a report. A story is a journey that moves someone else to change their life fundamentally. Going from somewhere to somoewhere bigger, better or more exciting.

To make your writing Storyworthy, you must stop simply"reporting" and start "translating." You need to take the ideas and message you have and run it through your audience to make it meaningful to them. You must embrace the most painful parts of the human experience and tap into universal feelings that make your story relatable. Remeber translation is all about identifying, what this mean for the reader or the listener. What is in it for them? What this article will do for you is give you a real example of somone who went form rags to riches, and build resilience along the way.

In January of 2026, I had a podcast guest, Hannah David, who had written a book highlighting her expertise but she told me "it felt like an engineering textbook." I did two interviews with her to be able to extract this story. in less than two hours she discovered the power her story had to add vibrancy, intrigue and interest to her book so it doesn't need to be boring anymore. (Full Levelin' Up Episode)

"Brigham, You've been a confidence Booster"- Hannah David

Stop Shrinking your dreams to match your paycheck

Hannah David’s life was once a map of limitations drawn in "chalks and pennies." She wanted more impact, influence and income but as a village school teacher in Southern India making $9 per month, she lived under the immense weight of cultural expectations, including an arranged marriage that felt like a prison. She felt confined like a falcon stuffed in a parrot cage, unable to fly away.

Yet, beneath the surface was a vibrant, free spirit. Hannah had a desperate desire for an education that her village couldn't help but notice. They loved her for that spark, and in a beautiful display of community, even her poorest friends scrounged together what they could to help fund her dream.

But Hannah’s dream was larger than she could afford.

Have you ever felt like you shrank your dreams to the size of your paycheck?

She walked into college with a "mathematical impossibility": only enough money to cover a single semester. To most, that's where the dream ends, at the end of the money. But when Hannah ran out of resources, she got resourceful.

Hannah’s situation was like a raging storm of doubts and fears, but she had a faith that ran deep with parental undercurrents of persistence.

To bridge the gap between her reality and her degree, Hannah climbed the local bank’s 20 stone steps more than 20 times. Only to be repeatedly rejected and cast out like a common street urchin begging for her next meal.

She was pleading for a loan the world said she would never qualify for. On what she thought was her final attempt, the bank manager snapped, shouting, "Never come back!"

While most would have crumbled, Hannah carried the legacy of her father, Jasper. He was a man who had once written over 200 letters to the government to reclaim a wrongfully denied pension. His resolve awarded him the pension that was rightfully his and that example penetrated her to the core. She was taught a vital lesson that it pays to be persistent.

On the last day she could secure the student loan before being kicked out of school, She climbed those twenty steps one last time. A prayer in her heart and a determination to succeed.

When to her astonishment, the bank manager who had once kicked her out shouting never to return, welcomed her with open arms. He discovered that they would lose the opportunity to extend the student loans if they didn’t give one today. Lucky for Hannah, All of the other students had already given up and by her persistence she secured the loan which paid for her computer science degree and helped her finish her masters degree.

That one moment of persistence to seek education proved to be a turning point for her, and helped her come to the United States.

Hannah was able to climb out of poverty.

She in the coming years she was able to immigrate to America, continually expand her education and with resilience born from her grief in early life eventually become a highly successful Real estate investor.

You may chalk this up to be a coincidence, but have you ever noticed that your luck increases with persistence?

Penniless persistence to profit is the transformation that came from the struggle.

You too can turn your experiences into stories like this.

Stop Reporting. Start Storytelling.

If you are struggling to be understood, it is a "You Problem." You are responsible for the challenge you are creating by boring your audience.

Data-driven writing is forgettable.

Feeling-driven writing is an asset. If your book, training or keynotes all feel like an engineering manual, it’s a far cry from the legacy you want to leave.

Join the Story Hook Method™ Masterclass

Don't let your life’s miracles get buried in a stuffy manuscript. My Masterclass is designed to help you:

• Recover Core Stories that define your life, business and offer.

• Refine your narrative.

• Release your story to help you build impact, influence and income

Stop making your audience “crash on the floor”. Make them stand up and take action.

Apply the Story Hook Method™ to see your impact, influence and income soar!

Don't know where to start?

Start here: brighamb.com/3