You know when people are asked about their experience with something and instead of telling what they felt or experienced, they start talking with a depersonalized “you:” You feel like… You start thinking that… It makes you want to… But what they really mean is “I”?
I felt…
I started thinking that…
It made me want to…
Your story is powerful. My story is powerful. And when we separate ourselves from our story, it loses impact. When I separate my lived experience and my real emotions from the listener, I lose an opportunity to connect, to convey from one person to another the real impact on me, a person just like you.
Instead of generalizing a personal, lived experience, tell your story. It’s more interesting anyway.