The Power of Telling Your Story | Dominic Colenso | TEDxVitoriaGasteiz

As humans, we love to listen to good stories. But what makes a story good? Dominic Colenso explores the elements that make a story irresistible, transforming a run-of-the-mill tale into an extraordinary epic.

At TEDxVitoriaGasteiz 2017 our speakers encapsulated the idea of trace, or how our actions and inactions, as well as our ideas, might translate into something tangibly different or even leave their traces in others and in the environment.

Dominic Colenso knows a thing or two about the highs and lows of performance. By the time he was 26 he had flown a Thunderbird, lost a million dollars and been fired by Simon Cowell.
During his acting career, Dominic worked alongside some of the UK’s most famous performers, appeared on the London stage and in BBC Period Dramas, and even took a starring role in a Hollywood movie. Exciting? Yes! But Dominic discovered his true talent when he was asked to give master classes in acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, coaching and motivating the stars of tomorrow. This experience inspired him to set up his own company so that he could share his practical and transformational methodologies with a wider audience. He now works with businesses around the world to help individuals, teams and leaders take central stage and deliver outstanding performances.


Actor. Director. Storyteller. Working with businesses around the world to unlock creativity, connection and communication.

Actor. Director. Contador de historias. Trabaja con negocios en todo el mundo para desbloquear la creatividad, conexión y comunicación.

[IDontKnowMuchAtAll]

When we run from the past, we lose our identity, no matter how successful we have become. When we remove emotion and purely replace it with logic, we lose our humanity. There's no Base 10, Base 2 or other numbering scheme that can add up the experience of each individual person. That is what makes us unique. Not how you invented something, or created the next best thing/innovated something in your respective career field. Our experiences and dreams that mold us into the people we become. Not logic.

This was well said and really seals the deal for me to start my podcasting hobby I have wanted to start. Thanks Dominic.

[realworldtraining]

Your past is your biggest asset. Thanks for sharing. On that note, I’ll share some of my story. I am 35 and in reality, I feel like I’m 25, because the last 10 or so years of my life have been a blur. I’ll keep it as brief as I can. It’s hard to know where to start from. My story is a story of ‘trauma’ and how my life has been connected to that word. As a kid I would always play rough and sometimes get hurt, but my first encounter with trauma was when I was about 11. I was in a boarding school, it was late and we had just finished mopping the corridors. My and two other boys decided it would be fun to run and slide on the wet floors. We were having a great time until I slipped and landed on my face. I remember being in a daze, in that daze I noticed my face felt tingly, so I followed the sensation to my mouth, I realised I was missing my two front teeth. There was a bit of blood on the floor and in my dazed state I started looking for my teeth in the blood. I couldn’t find them and this confused me, so I put my hand in my mouth to feel the gums and I felt something hard. All of a sudden I realised what had happened. I had literally hammered my teeth upwards and they were lodged in my gums. I felt a sudden rush of adrenaline in my 11 year old body. I ran to the medical room of my dormitory as fast as I could. In fact I can remember running on the wet floor soapy floor and not even sliding, while all my other dorm mates watched in horror. My two front teeth were lodged in my gums. It turned out that if my teeth had gone up even a few millimetres further they would have crushed my nose bone and killed me. I ended up with false teeth and have since then. Fast forward to when I was about 25, playing football with a few friends when all of a sudden my hip started hurting really bad to the point I had to lie down in pain. After that I started walking with a limp. The doctors couldn’t find anything wrong, I continued with the limp for years, eventually I got really bad, I started having stomach pains and losing weight rapidly. Doctors discovered I had a bowel disease called ulcerative colitis. I was in an out of hospital for years. Sometimes I would become so anaemic that I would need blood transfusions. This went on, my body resembled more of a skeleton than a body. Before all this, I was a big dude, gym fanatic and I had established this reputation for fitness and strength. Now people started to pity me and this was slowly destroying any self worth I previously had. I would get to points where on paper I should be dead but somehow I persevered. One day I went to the hospital to address a neck pain I was having. Turned out my neck was broken, my c1 and c2 joint were snapped. It was broken for so long that my skull had managed to fused itself to my c1(I suppose it was my body’s way of adapting). When the doctors discovered this, they literally cello taped me to the bed and they were all panicking. Apparently there was no explanation for how I was still alive. The extent of my injury according to them was not even a risk of paralysis, I was simply supposed to be dead. Some people say it was because of my fitness training that I had somehow managed to use muscles to support my neck, but who knows. I looked like a skeleton with an athletic physique. I had to wear an uncomfortable neck brace, eventually I went for surgery and had my neck fused, with metal rods. As a consequence, I can’t turn my neck either way and I can’t lift my head up and that is for life. It was hard adjusting to my new movement range. I ended up in hospital again not long after the surgery. I was literally rushed in on an ambulance, half dead. This time my bowel disease had gotten really bad and they now had to remove my bowels and give me one them bags on my stomach. When I heard that, a sudden rush of adrenaline woke me up, as I very sternly refused to give my consent. I wasn’t about to go through another surgery, even if it meant I would lose my life because of it and I stood strong on that. They eventually very reluctantly discharged me. I decided I was going to stop taking their medication against their orders and find a way to heal myself. I did tons of research and tried hundreds of new things, I won’t bore you with all that detail. Eventually I got even worse, to the point I couldn’t even walk. I was fully crippled. I could not even dress myself. I ended up back in hospital, after about 4 years of no medication, literally on deaths door. They discovered that all along, I had a condition called ankylosing spondylitis, I have a slight scoliosis, my s.i joint is partially fused, I have arthritis in my hips, all this along with my bowel disease and my stiff neck. They managed to get rid of the inflammation and sent me home. I start working out slowly, in a few months I stopped using the crutches to walk and I must point, I was walking with the crutches for about 2 years. I carried on working out and I started regaining some body mass and strength. Now, 6 months after being released from hospital, last year October, I feel the best I have in a long time. I am currently about to start my youtube channel, where I will share my story and my workouts with the world. I know the story may seem long, believe me when I say, that was as brief as I could keep it. I hope I have inspired someone to never give up and to always believe that there is a way.

[cartercameron]

POV you're here because your English teacher told you to watch it.

[richarddavies]

Dominic. What a great talk. Eloquent, thought provoking and you have inspired me to tell my personal 'once upon a time'. Telling your story is the best way to being authentic and make meaningful connections.

[Bonnie]

Your past is your biggest asset ... Thank you for talk, very inspiring, much needed . ❤

[Piyush_Works]

You don't read CVs of the people you admire! You read their biography. Wowww. What an amazing view. That hit me!

[mariterodriguez]

Thank you very much, I think the same. 😊Many people use high impact (neuroscience) in marketing just to generate expectations and sell. That's all. However, the story must be deep and consistent with a good product. With the mediocrity of the socio-economic changes that we are experiencing in any sectors, your Ted talk has been really inspiring, I have lowered the listening level from ×2 to ×1 to make a reflection together the speech. It has had genial! 🎉 I felt reflected in a part of my life, cover my story because it's simple.

[krystleroyse]

Sharing our story is so powerful! I am sharing my story online in hopes to help others with theirs!

[Slow_Lazy]

Learnt a lot from Dominic! Glad I found this video - inspiring and gives me more ideas and confidence in starting my youtube channel.

[candicejohnson]

THIS REALLY GAVE ME CHILLS ''THE POWER OF TELLING YOUR STORY ''..BEAUTIFUL

[antonynjenga]

powerful narrative..the stories of the past make movies of today and the future...

[TYAmentor]

Excellent! The skills you demonstrate are so needed today! For instance, in the British Labour Party. Oh, and the Church of England...You have a terrific past, an inspiring present, and as for the future - stand back....

[arlinegeorge]

Interesting n informative talk. Thank you, bless you. All your dreams come true.

[harrypearle]

WONDERFUL WISDOM Thanks so much
I never heard advice expressed in such simple and hopeful terms.

[motskii]

POV your writing teacher is showing you this.

[lucasj]

Great Speech, I am planning to tell my story since many years, after watching You Dominic now is time to learn and build the plan towards it :)

[Dr.WaltzFromChicago]

Beautiful speech and story!🌹🌹🖤✌🏾☮🙌🏻
Thank you Victoria..

[johnthompson]

I was actually searching for how to create a life legacy biography video and found this page. If anyone has any thoughts on this I'd really appreciate it. My aunt has a great life story and I'd like to find a way to professionally record it in the New York City area. thanks!

[AlexisKingsbury]

Great presentation Dominic! Such awesome advice - I accept your challenge and promise to share more.

[Playboysmurf]

How we tell our own story has a huge affect on our outlook, in the same way as affirmations are said to do.

If your story lists only or mostly the horrible and tragic events you can become a victim or worse.

It needs to be honest but confident and said frequently to yourself.