How to Tell a Great Vacation Story

Taken any good vacations lately?

It's a question you'll hear at business dinners, conferences, client meetings and friendly get-togethers. And you'll want to be prepared to tell a good story.

The good news is, you don't have to relate a boring yarn. In fact, you really shouldn't be, because storytelling is also an essential business skill, says Chip Heath, co-author of Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die.

"We often think of the stories [people] tell as a form of entertainment, but they are a way of letting people know what you're like, and what you're about. Your listener is evaluating you as someone they'll potentially do business with, and they're listening for how you respond to challenges," he says.

They're also a great way of building rapport, says Lea Thau, executive director of The Moth, a New York-based organization that promotes and teaches the craft of storytelling.

"Stories help us to find the connection between us as human beings. You give your audience an opportunity to enter into the story, where their hopes are going to rise and fall with yours -- if you're running a marathon, they're going to be drenched in sweat."

It's a bond that's not soon forgotten -- but you must tell the story well.

Here's how to do it.

Think Small

"You want to focus on one specific aspect of your trip, and not attempt to talk about the entire vacation," says Tim Leffel, editor of Perceptive Travel, a Web site that publishes travel narratives.

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