In the game of Poker, knowing a player’s ‘tell’ is a critical element in winning.
A person’s tell potentially gives away what they have in their hand, and poker players work long and hard at ensuring they have a Poker Face, that gives nothing away.
The player’s tell, gives away the real story about what is going on, whether they have a good hand, whether they are bluffing, or whether they have a terrible hand.
Unless they have investigated it, people don’t realise how much they give away their tell in their body language, and what the say and do unconsciously.
When we talk of an incident or person’s actions that were ‘really telling’ we are talking about what ‘the real oil’ was as opposed to the ’manufactured’ version of the truth that was being offered.
In sport, there is the term ‘telegraphing’ where a player unintentionally informs an opponent of their intensions.
In our era of growing transparency and access to information, the days of trying to cover up your tell, and offer a thin veneer of the truth no longer cuts it.
Great communicators speak from their ‘tell’, or ‘telegraph’ a story from a place of authenticity. They convey what is really going on; nothing is hidden.
To know one self is to communicate without hesitation from one’s tell; there is then nothing left to hide and the recipient of the story has no need to doubt.
The best comedians, the best actors, the best musicians, communicate from the place where their ‘tell’ exists.
Traditional stories have always been about transformations, where the bad times as well as the good times are part of the journey.
Stories that tell it all, make a point and take a journey through challenges and breakthroughs will be the ones people listen to.