“There I was, lost in the oldest part of Shanghai during a monsoon…” that’s how my friend started his story.
“Don’t let the facts get in the way of a good story,” he advises. It’s important, he says, for telling a good story. This comes from his background as a good storyteller and public speaker, plus he has formal training and lots of experience.
The biggest problem with his approach comes from his wife. She corrects him on the facts, sometimes while he’s telling a story. His wife thinks she’s helping; but he thinks she’s meddling, and is only disrupting a good story. He doesn’t really fib, but just stretches the truth to help propel the story that he’s telling along.
My friend and his wife sometimes get into a spat afterwards, in private, because of their different approaches. He’s trying to be entertaining and while she’s assuming he’s trying to relay facts to an audience. Of course, the situation isn’t resolved because they’re coming from two different places.
So here’s what takes place now. My friend winds up telling his best stories when his wife’s not around. Or he’ll tell a story she wasn’t around for… And they lived happily for the rest of their lives.