The Anatomy of a Speech: Turning Hard Journeys Into Great Stories

Jun 30

Standing vulnerable before a crowd, sharing the most challenging parts of my life, demanded weeks of dedicated drafting, editing, and practice—a meticulous process that anyone can learn to master.

I've been a longtime admirer of storytelling masters like TED, The Moth, Nancy Duarte, Simon Sinek. My fascination is two-fold: a genuine love for dissecting the craft of a great story, and a personal drive to learn how to be vulnerable in public.

This passion made me excited when I was invited to speak on "Seeds of Possibility" at The Wing Women All Member Meeting this month. I envisioned it as my personal TED-meets-The Moth moment, surrounded by 60+ empowering women.

For me, great leadership means using creative storytelling to build human connection and clarity, and embracing vulnerability to show emotional intelligence and strength. Guided by these beliefs, I was eager to rise to the challenge, despite the undeniable nerves.

Here’s an inside look at how I prepared and delivered my “Possibility Willing” speech:

The Blueprint: Defining the Speech Goals

Every impactful speech begins with clear objectives. For this event, each speaker had 5-7 minutes, demanding a single core story and one clear takeaway—approximately 650-750 words. The challenge was to make it emotional and sensory without the aid of slides or extensive visuals.

It required an invisible structure, far removed from typical corporate presentations laden with chapter slides and bullets. Crucially, the narrative needed to seamlessly weave into the “Seeds of Possibility” theme and resonate specifically with former Nike employees.

Finding the Core Story: A Journey Through Adversity

My mind immediately turned to a pivotal period during my Nike career when I feared my professional growth had ended, not due to a minor setback, but a life-altering event. For years, this was a story I'd actively hidden at times, hesitant to be perceived as anything less than fully capable.

Yet, as I prepared for this moment, a deeper conviction emerged. It became imperative to uncover this experience—to serve as an example of resilience and perseverance when truly tested, to humanize my approach to leadership through vulnerability, and to drive significant personal growth by sharing its profound lesson.

Short Isn’t Simple: Embracing the Messy First Draft

For me, effective writing hinges on a distinct separation between brainstorming and editing. I always begin by capturing every idea in its raw, messy, and verbose form, then meticulously refine it for brevity, precision, and structure.

As Woodrow Wilson famously quipped about speeches, "If it is a 10-minute speech, it takes me all of two weeks to prepare it. If it is a half hour speech, it takes me a week. If I can talk as long as I want to, it requires no preparation at all. I am ready now." This enduring truth—that conciseness demands significant effort—certainly applied to my process.

The Hero's Arc: Reframing Weakness into Strength

While I often employ Nancy Duarte’s "Sparkline" or Simon Sinek’s "The Golden Circle" for corporate presentations, I knew this deeply personal story uniquely demanded Joseph Campbell's The Hero's Journey. I admire how this classic narrative framework, a timeless blueprint found in everything from Star Wars to ancient myths, offers incredible versatility.

Applying its powerful arc to my own experience wasn't merely a creative exercise; it proved genuinely therapeutic and cathartic, enabling me to reframe a moment of profound weakness as a hero's transformative journey.

Speaking to the Soul: The Art of Writing for the Ear

When we write a speech, we’re crafting something to be heard rather than read, setting it apart from written forms like articles, books, emails, or social media posts and making it more akin to writing for radio, television, or film.

Given that only about 30% of people are primarily auditory learners, the most effective speeches utilize short, clear sentences, simple vocabulary, and a conversational tone to ensure the message is easily digestible for every listener.

Pacing for Impact: Guiding the Audience Through Emotion

Once I'd shaped the story to fit the hero's arc and eliminated any cumbersome phrases, I focused intensely on delivery. I integrated line breaks and dashes to meticulously guide my verbal pacing, breath control, and dramatic pauses, aiming for the intimacy of a monologue—more "Moth" than "TED."

These notations were essential for me to avoid rushing or faltering during practice. My goal was simple: to deliver at least 80% of my practiced performance, confident that even with live audience pressure and nerves, the message would land effectively.

From Script to Stage: Mastering the Delivery

A friend, a two-time speaker at The Moth, offered invaluable advice: "It's all about the vocal inflections." She urged me to record myself, listening intently for pacing, tone, and inflections to ensure my delivery was captivating. With this guidance, I dusted off some old stage acting skills and began practicing my speech aloud, systematically layering in new components with each run-through.

This comprehensive preparation involved systematically addressing every aspect of my delivery, from identifying precise vocal inflections (varying pace, volume, and emotion) and strategically noting pauses for breath or drama, to planning gestures and prop usage. I also practiced in different settings (sitting and standing), familiarized myself with a voice tracking teleprompter PromptSmartPlus, worked on memorization (even while multitasking), and prepared for distraction management to ensure consistent voice and body language during the live performance.

The Performance: Bringing the Story to Life

The moment arrived, and the nerves were definitely there—dry mouth, shaking leg, but still absolutely determined to get up on that stage and deliver my message. As a colleague wisely told me earlier that day when I confessed my apprehension, "You're just a vessel for a story that someone in that audience needs to hear tonight."

This profound advice underscored the full-circle significance of the moment: not only was I sharing a story rooted in my Nike career with an audience comprised of Nike women, but stepping off stage, I was met with a hug from the very woman who had invited me—someone I'd supported through her own similar injury years earlier. The synergy of shared experience and purpose was incredibly powerful.

Lessons Learned: Reflecting on My Hero's Journey

Reflecting on this speech, I'm reminded of the profound power of storytelling, not just to connect with an audience, but to heal and reframe our own experiences. My journey through injury and recovery, shaped by the Hero's Journey, became a testament to the enduring force of will.

The art of mapping one's personal challenges to this heroic arc isn't just for speeches; it's a valuable practice we employ in leadership teaming workshops and coaching to help individuals and teams reframe setbacks, turning project challenges or career roadblocks into integral steps of their own transformative journeys. May this serve as an invitation for you to recognize your own innate capacity to "will yourself to see" the limitless possibilities in your life, even when the path ahead seems unclear.

Have a listen:

Follow along with how all the components came together:

Speech Anatomy Table

      Teleprompter Script
      The Hero’s Journey Structure
      Performance Notes
    
        So, I’m not going to tell you 

        about how I launched a business after getting laid off, 

        or how I help leaders each day workshop their biggest dreams and company goals, 

        or even how I gave up my corporate career to adventure in a camper van.

        Instead, 

        I’m going to tell you about a time I was completely thrown off course —

        sent years back in progress, 

        left questioning whether I lost my mind, 

        and all possibility of who I was.
      
        The Ordinary World & The Call to Adventure: The hero's normal life is established, often hinting at underlying dissatisfaction or an impending change.
      
        Start casually

        Build credibility

        Pivot

        Soften tone
      
        You see, in 2015 I was 

        cruising down the highway

        on my way to Nike 

        at 50 miles per hour

        when I saw red.

        Break lights.

        I slammed my foot down, 

        skidded on the concrete, 

        braced my whole body,

        and stopped.

        In a moment of relief 

        that I didn’t hit the car in front of me, 

        I realized.

        I was being hit from behind.

        My head slung back, 

        then forward.

        And everything went black.

        —

        I woke up to plastic buckled around me, 

        a ringing in my ears, 

        and a confusion in the stillness.

        That afternoon I’d end up in urgent care.

        The next day in the ER.

        And the next 2 years — in intensive rehab.
      
        The Inciting Incident / Refusal of the Call: The catalyst that propels the hero into the journey, often something dramatic or unexpected.
      
        Sound mundane

        Quicken pace

        Imagine the car

        Stomp foot

        Tense body

        Close eyes

        Dramatic pause

        Look around

        Hand to ear

        Squint
      
        I sunk into one of the 

        darkest chapters of my life, 

        frustrated by my injuries,

        clouded by constant pain,

        lost in the grief of who I once was,

        and terrified I would never bounce back.
      
        Crossing the Threshold / Belly of the Whale: The hero enters the new, unfamiliar world, often facing a profound challenge or low point.
      
        Soften tone

        Slow down
      
        One day,

        about eight months in,

        sitting in the occupational therapy office

        I learned one of my most profound lessons.

        You see, for weeks, I had been working on this exercise 

        to get my two brain hemispheres to work together 

        to see properly.

        I would put on these 3D glasses 

        and look at a sheet of paper 

        with letters in red and white boxes

        just like this.

        The glasses and colored boxes 

        would indicate which hemisphere was dominant.

        For me, the letters on the page would shake

        as my two hemispheres would compete to see the same image 

        from two different vantage points.

        —

        My job 

        was to tell my brain to bring the letters into focus – 

        a skill most learn as babies.

        Each day I would say,

        “Listen up brain, 

        we’re going to bring these damn letters into focus.”

        Then, one day after weeks of painstaking effort,

        a single letter 

        midway down the page 

        snapped into focus.

        And in almost the same instant, 

        all the other letters on the page 

        vanished.

        —

        I gasped — 

        and sat back in my chair.

        The occupational therapist leaned in and asked, 

        “What happened?”

        —

        Now, this wasn’t some magic trick of the paper

        or even the glasses.

        As my therapist explained:

        my vision was like 

        a clunky set of switches

        in the cockpit

        of an old plane.

        Rather than turning on 

        all the buttons at once 

        to take flight, 

        my vision 

        turned periphery off 

        to focus 

        on one letter.

        —
      
        Meeting the Mentor (and Tests, Allies, and Enemies): The hero encounters a guide who provides wisdom, training, or magical gifts for the journey. The hero also faces trials, meets allies, and confronts adversaries.
      
        Brighten tone

        Show glasses and paper prop

        Point eye to eye

        Assert self talk

        Whisper vanished

        Lean back

        Audibly gasp

        Lean in
      
        This 

        sent me into an existential crisis.

        Because what is my reality 

        if my brain decides not to see?

        How do I have mind over matter

        when my mind is the thing that’s broken?

        —
      
        Approach to the Inmost Cave / Ordeal: The hero comes to a dangerous place, often underground, where they face their biggest fear or a life-or-death crisis.
      
        Slow down
      
        I wrestled with this — for days.

        And then it hit me, 

        sometimes the answer is right in front of us — 

        and we just need to will ourselves to truly see it.

        And will —

        it’s a relentless force,

        something deep inside of us, 

        beyond any cognition, 

        underneath any emotion, 

        despite any ailment …

        it’s there even when you’ve 

        lost your mind.

        —
      
        Reward (Seizing the Sword): The hero seizes the reward after surviving the ordeal, which could be an object, knowledge, or reconciliation.
      
        Quicken pace

        Pause
      
      To find it, 

        I had to dig deep into myself,

        sink into the darkness,

        focus my energy,

        and command myself, 

        my brain, 

        my eyes,

        my whole body,

        my every cell,

        to see what’s in front of
        —

        A few sessions later,

        —

        I brought that paper into focus,

        —
      
        The Road Back: The hero begins the journey back to the ordinary world, often still facing consequences or challenges.
      
        Quicken pace

        Pause

        Say with pride
      
    but seeing wasn’t the real lesson that day. 
 The lessons I learned about will, perseverance, resilience,
 and possibility – 
 were priceless. 
 —
  
    Resurrection / The Return with the Elixir: The hero undergoes a final, more significant ordeal, often a cleansing or rebirth. They return with the "elixir" that can heal or improve the world.
  
    Say with learning
  
    I remind myself all the time 
 that our will to see 
 what’s often right in front of us 
 unlocks all sorts of possibilities.
 When I feel stuck on a challenge in my business, 
 on a client problem, 
 on some seemingly insurmountable task, 
 I think, 
 “There’s a solution that’s possible, 
 I just need to will myself to see it.” 
 —
 You don't need to go through what I went through for this lesson.
 You, too, can dig deep, muster every bit of you 
 to bring possibilities into focus.
 So my question to you is this:
 What do you need to will yourself to see today
 for a seed of possibility? 
 —
 Thank you.
  
    Sharing the Elixir (The Call to Action): The hero shares the wisdom or gift gained from their journey with their community, inspiring or helping others.
  
    Neutral tone 
 Inspiring tone
 Eye contact

View the full video from the live event on thewingwomen.org.

storytellingspeech writingspeechesspeakingspeaking engagements

Sarah Cargill

Teleprompter Script	The Hero’s Journey Structure	Performance Notes
So, I’m not going to tell you about how I launched a business after getting laid off, or how I help leaders each day workshop their biggest dreams and company goals, or even how I gave up my corporate career to adventure in a camper van. Instead, I’m going to tell you about a time I was completely thrown off course — sent years back in progress, left questioning whether I lost my mind, and all possibility of who I was.	The Ordinary World & The Call to Adventure: The hero's normal life is established, often hinting at underlying dissatisfaction or an impending change.	Start casually Build credibility Pivot Soften tone
You see, in 2015 I was cruising down the highway on my way to Nike at 50 miles per hour when I saw red. Break lights. I slammed my foot down, skidded on the concrete, braced my whole body, and stopped. In a moment of relief that I didn’t hit the car in front of me, I realized. I was being hit from behind. My head slung back, then forward. And everything went black. — I woke up to plastic buckled around me, a ringing in my ears, and a confusion in the stillness. That afternoon I’d end up in urgent care. The next day in the ER. And the next 2 years — in intensive rehab.	The Inciting Incident / Refusal of the Call: The catalyst that propels the hero into the journey, often something dramatic or unexpected.	Sound mundane Quicken pace Imagine the car Stomp foot Tense body Close eyes Dramatic pause Look around Hand to ear Squint
I sunk into one of the darkest chapters of my life, frustrated by my injuries, clouded by constant pain, lost in the grief of who I once was, and terrified I would never bounce back.	Crossing the Threshold / Belly of the Whale: The hero enters the new, unfamiliar world, often facing a profound challenge or low point.	Soften tone Slow down
One day, about eight months in, sitting in the occupational therapy office I learned one of my most profound lessons. You see, for weeks, I had been working on this exercise to get my two brain hemispheres to work together to see properly. I would put on these 3D glasses and look at a sheet of paper with letters in red and white boxes just like this. The glasses and colored boxes would indicate which hemisphere was dominant. For me, the letters on the page would shake as my two hemispheres would compete to see the same image from two different vantage points. — My job was to tell my brain to bring the letters into focus – a skill most learn as babies. Each day I would say, “Listen up brain, we’re going to bring these damn letters into focus.” Then, one day after weeks of painstaking effort, a single letter midway down the page snapped into focus. And in almost the same instant, all the other letters on the page vanished. — I gasped — and sat back in my chair. The occupational therapist leaned in and asked, “What happened?” — Now, this wasn’t some magic trick of the paper or even the glasses. As my therapist explained: my vision was like a clunky set of switches in the cockpit of an old plane. Rather than turning on all the buttons at once to take flight, my vision turned periphery off to focus on one letter. —	Meeting the Mentor (and Tests, Allies, and Enemies): The hero encounters a guide who provides wisdom, training, or magical gifts for the journey. The hero also faces trials, meets allies, and confronts adversaries.	Brighten tone Show glasses and paper prop Point eye to eye Assert self talk Whisper vanished Lean back Audibly gasp Lean in
This sent me into an existential crisis. Because what is my reality if my brain decides not to see? How do I have mind over matter when my mind is the thing that’s broken? —	Approach to the Inmost Cave / Ordeal: The hero comes to a dangerous place, often underground, where they face their biggest fear or a life-or-death crisis.	Slow down
I wrestled with this — for days. And then it hit me, sometimes the answer is right in front of us — and we just need to will ourselves to truly see it. And will — it’s a relentless force, something deep inside of us, beyond any cognition, underneath any emotion, despite any ailment … it’s there even when you’ve lost your mind. —	Reward (Seizing the Sword): The hero seizes the reward after surviving the ordeal, which could be an object, knowledge, or reconciliation.	Quicken pace Pause
To find it, I had to dig deep into myself, sink into the darkness, focus my energy, and command myself, my brain, my eyes, my whole body, my every cell, to see what’s in front of — A few sessions later, — I brought that paper into focus, —	The Road Back: The hero begins the journey back to the ordinary world, often still facing consequences or challenges.	Quicken pace Pause Say with pride
but seeing wasn’t the real lesson that day. The lessons I learned about will, perseverance, resilience, and possibility – were priceless. —	Resurrection / The Return with the Elixir: The hero undergoes a final, more significant ordeal, often a cleansing or rebirth. They return with the "elixir" that can heal or improve the world.	Say with learning
I remind myself all the time that our will to see what’s often right in front of us unlocks all sorts of possibilities. When I feel stuck on a challenge in my business, on a client problem, on some seemingly insurmountable task, I think, “There’s a solution that’s possible, I just need to will myself to see it.” — You don't need to go through what I went through for this lesson. You, too, can dig deep, muster every bit of you to bring possibilities into focus. So my question to you is this: What do you need to will yourself to see today for a seed of possibility? — Thank you.	Sharing the Elixir (The Call to Action): The hero shares the wisdom or gift gained from their journey with their community, inspiring or helping others.	Neutral tone Inspiring tone Eye contact