MMP #088 - Stories Worth Telling

You don’t need a wild life to tell great stories. You need a better system for noticing what already happened, collecting the proof, and connecting the dots to the work you do today. That’s what we’re digging into here, especially if you’re a health or fitness coach trying to land dream clients from Instagram without sounding salesy. 

We walk through a simple “timeline” approach to uncover story arcs you can pull from right now, even if you feel like your days are repetitive. You’ll learn the three buckets that make storytelling effortless over time: career stories (jobs, certifications, pivots), personal stories (hobbies, wins, hard seasons), and client case studies. I also share how to set boundaries so you can be real without turning your content into a public diary. 

Then we get tactical about making your stories stronger and easier to publish. We talk about what details to capture in client testimonials so they feel specific and magnetic, how to gather social proof screenshots, and how to organize B-roll clips and photos into a simple media library. You’ll also hear how storytelling keeps your content fresh, helps prevent burnout, and lets you stay in your niche while still talking about the full, human version of you. 

If this helps, subscribe, share it with a coach friend, and leave a quick review so more fitness entrepreneurs can find it. What story arc are you going to write down first?

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Transcript

Welcome And Why Stories Matter

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to the Make Moves Podcast. I'm your host, Clayton Moves, and this is the podcast for all health and fitness experts to land dream clients from Instagram and learn marketing and sales that doesn't feel salesy. All right, let's dive in. Welcome to the Make Moves Podcast. This is your host, Clayton, and this episode is called How to Find Stories Worth Telling. So it's 2026. You know that you need to do storytelling, but you're like, Clayton, what kind of stories do it tell? I'm super boring. I got you. So storytelling is how human beings make meaning of this life. We listen to other people's stories and run it through our own filter of life experiences. We connect through storytelling. We don't feel alone through storytelling. We feel heard and seen through others' experiences, and we can relate to others and find inspiration through others overcoming obstacles. The hero's journey. We hear something and we immediately unconsciously run it through our database of stories and see if we can attach meaning. If we find another person who we admire or look up to, a powerful story can deepen that connection even more. And that connection makes sales a no-brainer. There's no selling, there's no convincing. It's just connection and clarity. So in this episode, we're going to cover the following how to create a timeline of your own life and extract powerful stories to tell in social media that build no like and trust, which is the precursor to turning a stranger on the internet into a paying client. We'll also cover mapping out your story arcs. These are data points in your life. There are three main types of stories that you can tell: your own career stories, your personal stories, and your client stories. So we're going to get deep into that. And then once you identify your brain dump of story arcs, we want to identify the main things that you want to be known for. We're also going to talk about weaving in hobbies, vibes, and things you want people to associate with you. And we'll also talk about how to organize your media. So your B-roll clips and your photos to help enhance storytelling. And we will talk about how to leverage the coolest thing about storytelling. And this helps you to avoid burnout on social media and posting content. So let's dive into it. I'm super stoked for you here. Okay. So when you look at how do you figure out what kind of stories to tell, right? If you're just like, well, I just kind of live a mundane life. But there are things that happen to you in your life that are maybe powerful or transitional or aha light bulb moments or traumatic or sad or really exciting. So there's lots of things. But it's easy to get caught up in the day-to-day and like, well, I'm not really living this jet setter life or living in Bali or traveling all over the world. Like, yeah, me neither, bro. Like I've got two kids and I basically play Groundhog's Day and live at home. But there are things that I do that are simple that I could like these stories that I can tell that will help connect to other people who are going through a similar phase of that journey. So when you look at mapping out your story arcs, I want you to think of like a to-do list or like a brain dump. Um, and I want you to think back to all the things that you've done that led you to the present moment and where you're at and what you're doing now. So at the end of this episode, I'm also going to plug some free resources that you can DM me on Instagram and Snag, and these will help you to implement the things that we talk about in this episode. So I want this to be really, really hands-on for you. So there are three types of stories that you can tell. First one is career story arcs, second one is personal story arcs, and then your last one is case studies of clients stories. So your career story arcs, this is your education, the degrees you got, the certifications you got, um, the internships, the jobs, the role changes, like anything related to your career. That is your we just want to kind of brain dump all those data points. And the cool thing is like when I went through this, um I I I forgot about things that I did. And like, oh yeah, I also did that. And oh, I also did this, and I did this as well. And so when you when you go through it, like please don't like censor yourself with this and be like, well, you know, I I teach like mobility training, or I'm, you know, I teach nutrition or weight loss. Like, this doesn't apply to that. Please don't worry about that right now. Like, I I will get to that point later, but like literally just map out every single little, you know, thing that you did. Like, so for example, in my career, story arc, you know, I did an internship at this place called Children's Institute, where I worked with kids with special needs and you know, had brain injuries and all sorts of things. Um, I also in grad school taught um first aid and CPR um to undergrads, and I taught lifeguarding and rescuing, and like, you know, had I taught kids how to like rescue people from the bottom of the pool and put them on body boards and stuff. So again, I could tell an interesting story about that and tie it to the work I'm doing now. But we're we're getting ahead of ourselves here, Clayton. So go ahead and map out, brain dump your career story arcs. Next thing, and this isn't the most important thing, in my opinion, is your personal story arcs. So these are things that happen to you, your hobbies, your love life, your failures, your triumphs, traumas, um, when you felt like you were you got it and you're in a flow state, big aha light bulb moment unlocks. Um, and here's a key point I want you to take away from this. Some of these stories you might never tell on social media, right? And that's okay, right? You are the captain of your ship. You don't need to tell the whole world everything, right? But you get to control the narrative. So maybe you tell an element of the story, but then you keep some of it private. Um, you know, and when you go through this brain-dump exercise, it can really help you reflect on growth and how far you've come and the things that you were able to accomplish even in the midst of you know immense struggle or challenges. So uh again, too, nothing is off limits here. Please just like this is for you, right? This is not like if you're working for me, I don't, I don't if you're working with me and my clients, I don't I don't have them send me their personal story arcs. It's purely an exercise for yourself. Um, and again, too, there might be certain points on that story arc that you might tell some time down the line, but again, you don't have to, right? Storytelling isn't about like being so vulnerable all the time. It it's it's more about just like being real and authentic and sharing these these actual things so people can connect to them. So next thing is your client case studies. So, what I want you to do is make a list of every client you've ever had, right? If you're like, well, that that might be kind of hard. Do it. Shall the buff, just do it. Like get an Excel sheet if you're a freak in the sheets, or grab a notion doc or a pen and paper if you're old school. And I want you to just like list out every client you've ever had, right? Next thing I want you to do is put a star next to the clients that had a big powerful outcome or some sort of interesting component. Maybe it wasn't like the biggest, you know, success that you you've ever gotten a client, but maybe there was some cool like personal change or profound, like smaller change, but something you found that was really interesting. Um, or maybe they had an interesting background, or they ended up doing cool stuff after you um, you know, helped them achieve um solving the problem, right? So once you put a star next to the clients that got those types of outcomes, um, I want you to start adding in some details. This will make it more of a powerful story that you can tell. So things like in the name, the occupation or sport they did, um, injuries or issues they had, um, their starting weight or their baseline capacity, um, how long you work with them, the specific method or you know, um methodology or or thing that you did that helped get them the outcome, um, any powerful outcomes, any big milestones they hit. Um, what are they able to do now that they weren't able to do prior to working with you? Um, and then also pictures and videos of them doing cool shit, right? So like crossing the marathon finish line, um, you know, doing their first tough mudder, so they're all covered in mud and they got their metal and they're holding their beer, right? Um maybe they planted a full garden now after not being able to garden for a couple of years. So maybe a picture of their garden, like, look what I did this this uh spring. Um standing on top of a summit of something, playing with the grandkids on the floor, um, pulling a super heavy deadlift, um, transformation photos, right? So it doesn't have to be the typical like shirtless, you know, front, side, rear, you know, kind of like transformation progress photos of like body composition, but maybe it could just be a little bit more lifestyle. Um, and then for client stories um that you end up posting on social media um in the storytelling capacity, you can name them or you can keep it partially anonymous, or you can keep it fully anonymous with like blurring their faces or putting an emoji over their face or um crossing out their names. But the details can still be in there, and that is what acts like Velcro for your future clients. It becomes magnetic for them because they see themselves certain elements in your clients' stories, they see certain elements of them in themselves. And that is what makes for a powerful storytelling and for a powerful testimonial. Hey friend, this episode of the Make Moves Podcast is sponsored by me, Clayton Law. And if you are sick of trying to put all the pieces of the puzzle together with how to land dream clients from Instagram, I'm here to help you. There are two options that you can choose from. Option one, join MakeMoves Nation. It's an online community with full access to all my trainings and courses. You work at your own pace, attend monthly community calls, submit questions to the community, share wins, get inspired, and gain momentum and clarity. You can stay as long as you'd like, and feel free to pause the membership and rejoin whenever it's less than a dollar a day, with the membership access being$30 a month. The link to join is in the show notes. Option two, you can do one-on-one coaching with Clayton. So this is for you if you're ready to quit messing around and you're ready to do the work. Weekly Zoom calls with me, Monday through Friday support, voice memo, and text, custom Loom video tutorials, custom GPS action steps for what you need to do and when. And it's a way to fast track your way to success to generate leads every day and clients every week. And if you're ready to explore one-on-one coaching and discuss your goals and have me lay out a game plan for you, you have two options that you can do. Click the link in the show notes where you can schedule a free Zoom call chat with Clayton, or option two, DM me the words make moves on Instagram, and we can text and voice memo back and forth, answer any questions you have that you might have before I send the payment link your way. Now, back to the show. So um, once you brain dump your story arcs, um, I want you to identify the things that you want to be known for, right? So, like in my story arcs, there's lots of things I did, but like I don't I don't really feel that passionate or excited to talk about them, so so don't, right? You want to find the things that like if you found five to seven things that you're like, I could talk about this shit all day. You know, I love telling stories about this, I love telling people about this, you know, like that is where you can find your sweet spot. So identify the things you want to be known for. And again, this can be this can be fluid, this can fluctuate over the months and years, right? That's the beautiful thing about storytelling. Um, and then you also want to identify big moments, um, transitions, light bulb moments, uh, maybe the time you got a new certification that was super powerful for you, um, when you hired a new mentor, um, the the time you realize you had a big realization and pivots that you made, a time when you were scared, a time when shit hit the fan, um, a phase that you were proud of, a moment in time where you feel like you found your calling. Um, so those are those are just a couple examples of like you know key moments that can help you identify these things. Um also you want to try and um identify hobbies, vibes, and things you want people to associate with you, right? So um for me, um, you know, just real quick, and we'll get more into this when we're organizing um your your b-roll clips and your photos, but um, when I want people to associate with me and think of me as like I want them to know that, like, hey, he's a father of two, he's dad life, he's got an awesome wife that's his best friend, spends a ton of time in nature, is you know, biking all the time, climbing, trail running, um, hiking, uh, plays bass guitar, you know, into music, um, reads a ton into like um uh spirituality, Taos and you know, all that kind of stuff. So those are things that we can weave into not only your social media strategy, but also your storytelling. Um so next thing that is gonna be really helpful for you is to how to organize your media. So these are your B-roll clips that you'll use for B-roll storytelling videos, um, and also photos. So let me give you an example of the albums I have. Um, and what you're gonna do is if you have an iPhone, you're gonna create a folder. So a folder is something that you can like if you go to your photos and then hit new, that little plus at the top, you can select album or folder. You want to select folder. Um I always like putting emojis at the beginning because it just helps my um my eyes recognize something quicker. So um on that folder I have for all my content creation, I have a little brain and then I have content creation. That's the folder. And then under that um I have um albums, and all of these albums have um emojis at the front that associate. So, for example, um first album I have is home renovation. We did a four and a half year long home renovation to a home that was built in 1900, and we turned it into our dream home here. Um, so uh on that I have like uh a little home and then like uh the hammer and wrench, you know, emoji there. Um and then uh for like when I worked desk rx, that was my first business. I have a little shirt and tie because it was like helping you know people who work desk jobs and in corporate setting incorporate mobility training. So you get the idea. I'm not gonna list all the emojis, but I wanted to list the albums that I created that helps me with my storytelling. So it's home renovation, um, desk rx, which is my first LLC, um, world travel and national parks, time and nature, um, music. Um, this encompasses like when I was uh played bass in a band for three years and traveled around playing uh shows. Um this is also just like me playing guitar and bass and piano and drums with my wife and kiddos. Um exercise is an album, so this is uh kind of a catch-all for any rock climbing videos, trail running, hiking, biking. Um, FRC and Kinstretch. So um a lot of you probably know if you've been following me for a while, that I taught FRC and Kinstretch for a while, grew an online mobility membership to over 400 people worldwide. And um I love FRC and Kin Stretch, and you know, it's it was a big part of helping me fix my back pain. So I have tons and tons of videos, time lapses, photos of you know, teaching classes and my own mobility practice. So I have an album for that. Um dad life, so any kind of cool photos, videos um of me being a dad, um, you know, like cool stuff like carrying both kids or doing pull-ups with a kid on my back, like that kind of stuff. But you know, just like these little moments. Um, health coaching. So I was a health coach for 13 years. The thing was I didn't have the forward thinking capacity of like, you know, I'm I'm building a brand, I'm, you know, like I even though I started my first LLC while I was still working as a health coach in corporate world, I I didn't think of like documenting the process. But um, if you don't have many photos from a big key point in your life, don't worry, right? Like for my swimming, like I I was a very highly competitive swimmer. I don't have really any photos or videos of that, but I do have one photo of me um at States when I, you know, had a shaved head and shaved you know every part of my body and you know was diving off the blocks they put in the newspaper, right? So that's like the one photo I have of that. So if I talk about like my experience as a swimmer, I'm I'm popping up that picture, right? Um so don't worry if you don't have you know media from a uh a key point in your life. Um you can always like figure out creative ways to to show that. Um but for um the health coaching, I do have a handful of like photos and videos of me in a shirt and tie or like you know with a little headset and where I was talking to people on the phone. So again, just find what you can and and use what you have. Um so uh me working now is another album. Um so I just call it working. But basically I realized in my content that I wasn't showing me doing the thing. I wasn't um, you know, like a lot of what I do is I I sit on my desk and I have, you know, Zoom calls with my clients and I write programs and I, you know, create do Loom videos and offer feedback. And so I just needed to capture more photos and videos of me on Zoom calls with clients just to show Instagram, like, hey, this is what Clayton does and this is what it's like to work with them. Um lifestyle, so this is just like, you know, kind of like pictures and videos of us in our quirky home and you know, kind of capturing our vibe. And then my work I did with the foot collective for two and a half years. So I was a director of USA, like shipping shoes and you know, beams and you know, um uh foot kits and stuff like that, um, and selling shoes as well. So um I worked with them for a while. So again, just having an album of you know photos and videos capturing that. So that's my example, but I want to also give you an example from one of my clients. So um, my one client had just started his venture as a running coach, um, and he's been a runner for almost 50 years, and he has an incredible past that helps bolster his unique background. So um the stories that he can tell are stories that no one else can tell, and that's really his and your superpower. So there's no one newer than you. And that's one of my favorite Dr. Seuss quotes, right? Because yes, there's hundreds of thousands of running coaches, yes, there's hundreds of thousands of marketing sales bros out there, but like no one's gonna teach and explain things the way I do, and no one's going to have the life experience that I run all of my stories and education through, right? So there's there's someone out there for for everyone, there's a coach out there for everyone. And when you can identify and harvest your key stories and and make that a part of your brand, um you know, it's something that no one else or or AI can recreate. Um so getting back to my uh client, he here's some other key things. He's been a runner for over 50 years. He was a runner in high school and collegiate D1 runner. Um he's done over, I'm I'm not sure on these numbers. He has these numbers, but I'm I'm I'm like I might be off by you know plus or minus five. Um he's also done over 40 marathons. Um he ran in Boston uh multiple times. He did a um, I think he's done three or four multi-day ultra marathons in the Sahara Desert. It's crazy conditions. Um and he was also the editors of he was an editor for Runner's World magazine for 15 years. He co-authored a book that has sold hundreds of thousands of copies. Um and he worked as a 1-800 crisis line counselor, um, still does. Um so helping people who are struggling with addiction or who are um you know wrestling with you know existing. So he's he's there and helps um kind of talk people down there and help them, you know, get connected to resources. And he has a deep calling to help people find the joy of running and what it can do for your mind and body, not just like improve your um, you know, your appearance or you know, losing weight or improving um blood pressure or diabetes and stuff like that, but like really just like connecting to something that can be a lifelong joy. Um, so a lot of his stuff isn't documented because he didn't really think to do it, right? So kind of like I don't have many pictures of videos of me working as a health coach. Um so this is what he's doing here. He is going through all his old photos on his and his wife's phone, and he's going through printed photos and photo albums and shoeboxes and finding Polaroids, and um, he's taking pictures of these pictures. I know it's a little meta, but he's taking pictures of these pictures that he can then leverage for storytelling on social media. Um, and he's laying out um uh all of his big magazines that he's proud of, that he wrote big articles on. Um, and he's taking pictures of each magazine cover and the article with his name on it, and pictures that were inside the article. Um he's taking a picture of all the magazines that are spread out on the floor, kind of like a big messy collage. Um, he's taking pictures of his running bibs or medals that he still has, um, and pictures of his travel. He's traveled all over the world, and so that's gonna be a big key um part of his brand. Um, and pictures of his lifestyle, you know, dad life, you know, he's into good food and cooking. Um he's got a mint green Vespa, which I'm super jealous of. Um if you know anything about like me, you know, I just have kind of mint green everything, Crocs base, water bottle, phone case, fitted toys. I just everything is mint green that I have. Um and uh all of this stuff that he is capturing and gathering will help to nourish the words of his storytelling, but also create tons of authority in people's minds, right? So next thing we're gonna cover here is how to leverage the coolest thing about storytelling, and this will help you avoid burnout on social media. So, what storytelling allows you to do when you do it like I'm teaching you to do it, it allows you to not just teach the same damn boring thing on Instagram. Like, I don't know about you, but I get super tired AF talking about nothing but mobility or talking nothing about content creation or hooks. Like I'm a multifaceted, multi-interested Gemini with ADHD and a million hobbies. Like it I'm basically like a golden retriever and just see like squirrel! That's that that's my brain, right? So if I get put into like a like a in a box where I can only talk about like two topics, like I just get really bored and really restless. Um, so this really pairs nicely with like, you know, you talk about like having a niche, like I help health and fitness experts. Land clients from Instagram. Like that is who I help. That's how I help them. But there's a lot of things I teach. I teach ads, storytelling, content, automations, lead magnets, you know, there are tons of things there that I can talk about, like pillars and things that I can help teach. But then I'm also allowed to talk about these other things. Um, so it keeps the content creation sustainable and refreshing and exciting. Like if I can tell a story about how I used to be a bass player in a band and how I was so afraid of you know getting on stage because I didn't feel like I was good enough, but I did it scared anyways. And then I did this outcome and this outcome. Like I can talk about how the lessons I learned there helped me lean fully into entrepreneurship and take that risk and go part-time. And then when I got laid off from my health coaching job, to find the courage and the boldness to take my business full-time and scale to multiple six figures. Like that, that that's a story I can tell, right? Um, but it it it's something that you will you will learn through practice and and time. But um it it allows you to talk about the things that you're most passionate about in your life and your hobbies and your big moments. So the key is to be able to know what is your one big takeaway. Um, so if you know what that is, you can tie a thread from a story to a big takeaway and tie that into the work that you do and connect it to the human being who is reading the story or watching the video on the other side of the phone and create an emotional buy-in and connection from them to learn how to do what you did, right? And that can plug into a freebie lead magnet you have or a CTA for discussing one-on-one coaching. So I always think about when I think about this, like, and again, I think people will wrestle with like, well, how am I gonna tell this personal story? I I teach people how to get jacked and lose weight. And it's like, yeah, but like that's where the magic is, right? And so I always think about the if you've watched Always Sunny, that that Charlie Day scene where they're in the the mail room and he's like chain smoking, he's like, ah, it's all connected, and he's like at the board and he's got tons of red string and he's just like looking crazy, chain smoking, like the classic Charlie Day. Um, that's what I think of when you're when you're doing these uh story arcs and and tying into what you do. Um, so it's like also it's is it's kind of like having permission to talk about whatever the hell you want to, right? But to have it all connect together. And if it falls within the umbrella of your predefined what you want to be known for, then it fits, it belongs. So, in summary here, here is what you need to do now. You need to brain dump your story arcs. There's three of them career story arcs, personal story arcs, and client case studies. You need to identify main points in your story arcs that you want to be known for. You also want to identify successful clients and add nourishing details to who they are. You need to gather social proof screenshots from those clients. So these could be screenshots you already have, um, like feedback, text messages, messages in true coach, trainer as coach or ex, whatever you use. Um, or you can reach out to them now, even if you're not working with them and ask like what their experience was, what were some of their big benchmarks, etc. You also want to ask these clients for photos, videos, progress photos, videos of them lifting something heavy, doing something impressive, um, or just a day in the life. Um, and then you want to create an iPhone folder, call it content creation. You also want to create albums inside that folder of what you want to be known for. Go through all past photos and videos and start adding to those libraries. Um, it doesn't have to be complete, but also when when you find photos, um, you know, like photo memory pops up, and then you're like, oh, this belongs in this folder, then go ahead and add it, and maybe you can even go back to that time in that those memories, like go back to 2017, and then you're like, hey, I know I have a lot of these types of videos or photos, and then you can kind of add them as you go or as you think of them, or when you are telling a story and you need specific photos or videos. Um, you also want to start filming more B-roll and gathering more photos or screenshots from those videos and add them to the folder that you need more of that stuff. Like, so for example, I need more of Clayton working in the home office kind of content. And once you start doing storytelling content, um there's two there's two main types of stories I like to tell. And I've got trainings and resources for both of them, I'll tell you here in a second. Um, one is B-roll storytelling videos. Um, that's where you are telling a story like a voiceover, and then you're using B-roll videos, and you can layer music over it, and it can really become like a little mini cinematic movie. That's kind of like art. Um, and then the next type of uh storytelling, which I think is a much lower effort content, um, is called carousel photo storytelling. So that is where um, and you can you can weave in videos there as well, but it's basically like you you're making a carousel and you basically type out the text, the copy on what you want to be on each carousel slide. And then once you've written out that, you say, okay, how many slides is this? Okay, cool. And then you pick a photo that would go best with those slides. Um, and then you just post them. Um, so again, if you would like some additional free resources, I'm gonna tell you how to get them um to help you post powerful storytelling that helps you land dream clients from Instagram. So you're going to go on Instagram, find me at Clayton.moves, and DM me on Instagram, the letter is Str, and I will send you a ton of storytelling resources to help you hit the ground running. So some of these resources include story arcs, um, organizing your B-roll and photos, um, powerful storytelling examples from me. So I've got like 20 B-roll storytelling examples I've done, and 20 carousel storytelling examples I've done, um, a masterclass on how to do B-roll storytelling. This covers editing, you know, uh finding the B-roll clips, like, you know, hooks, all that kind of stuff. Um, I also have a resource from Storyteller Tactics, like my three favorite cards that are like kind of frameworks for telling powerful stories and some other cool surprises there. So if you DM me on Instagram, STR, you'll get all that cool stuff. Um, and lastly, if you found even just a tiny bit of value from this episode, please do me a favor. Number one, screenshot the podcast on your phone. So if you're listening on Spotify, iTunes, or wherever. Step two, post it on your Instagram stories. Step three, tag at Clayton.moves. And step four, write one sentence about what you loved about this episode. So these four steps will take you 30 seconds, and it's a free way to support my podcast and to help change the lives of other health and fitness entrepreneurs who will then find it with you sharing it. So thank you from the bottom of my heart. I'm happy you're here. Now go make moves.