Many of us are lucky enough to have always known ourselves. Knowing what you want and going out to get it can be a privilege. On the other hand, many others can be lucky in a different way. They get that sweet experience of a slow and gradual discovery where they find out more about themselves as they go along.

I have been working in the field of public relations for about 18 years now. Purely by chance, because working in PR was the least thing I ever imagined myself doing. But it happened and I never regretted it because if I had to describe this experience in a few words, I would say it has been an opportunity to discover how everyone has a story to tell. More than that, I keep seeing it as a privilege to get to know of these stories and to learn how best to tell them to their respective audiences.

Granted, not everyone’s story has the likes of a bestseller. Yes, I have been lucky enough to stumble upon a few people along the way who did accomplish great things. They are the bestseller type of achievements. I have met people who climbed Everest, others went through their own personal traumas, redeemed themselves and came back to tell their story. And one recent story involved a person who was unjustly sent to prison, won his freedom back and did, in fact, write a book about it, which turned out to be a bestseller.

Telling these stories gave me a kick. But these were easy stories to tell because when there’s a great story, many more people are willing to stop and listen. Besides the audience, these people include the gate-keepers to whom one needs to give the story first for them to relay it to the rest. And here I am referring to editors, journalists and publishers.

One common mistake we tend to make is to think that every story has to be interesting or appealing to everyone. That’s impossible. As they say, ‘there’s a market for everything

However, the challenging part of my journey happens every time I come across those stories which at face value would not really seem to possess the potential to engage people. Sometimes, these are the stories most worth telling.

One common mistake we tend to make is to think that every story has to be interesting or appealing to everyone. That’s impossible. As they say, “there’s a market for everything”. What appeals to you does not necessarily appeal to the person sitting next to you at work. And what would normally entice your best friend could possibly be the one thing that puts you off.

Therefore, if a subject is already interesting to its intended target audience, there’s no harm in going that extra mile to make it a bit more appealing to those who would otherwise shrug it off. That bracket potential is what makes it all more worth telling.

Being in touch with my clients on a daily basis exposes me to many stories. They are companies, organisations and individuals who have had their fair share of challenges, struggles and achievements. They have learnt a lot and their learned experience is what makes them perform better. I tend to channel their experience into the notion that if what they have learnt has made them better at who they are and what they do, then that same experience can be communicated in order to help others be better. The example of those who have succeeded inspires me and therefore, I look at my job as an opportunity to let that experience inspire others.

All this may sound a tad too idealistic. Maybe but I do consider myself a bit of an idealist too. Yet, my experience has also taught me to be humble and accept the fact that there is plenty of room to practise achieving that balance between knowing you have a great story to tell and accepting that your gatekeeper might not be as interested as much as you in this story. This keeps me asking the same questions over and over again. “How can this story inspire and call for action? How can we give this story a more engaging human angle? What content would make readers feel more enriched?”

Sometimes, it takes a healthy dose of humility to accept that some stories could have been told better. It takes even more humility to acknowledge that we should have believed in some stories a bit more. And this is what I always encourage the people I work with to do. I ask them to believe in their own story a bit more. Because if they don’t believe in it enough, why should they expect others to do so?

It is all about the will and the stamina to want to go further. A story could be a milestone achievement, an acquisition or a tangible action that leads to better conditions, better customer relations, stronger commercial results and ultimately, more personal and societal value. Whatever the achievement, there is the combined human effort that begs to be acknowledged. Whoever you are and whatever the success or the milestone you have reached, there is a story ready to be told.

James Vella Clark is PR and media relations manager at Corporate Identities.