I'm blogging today from Seattle as I sit at the back of a CreativeLive studio. I was invited by my dear friends at Close To My Heart (CTMH) to fly over and teach a short, 20-minute segment on the importance of telling our stories. The crazy thing is my Keynote slides didn't get loaded in the production room, so when I stood up to talk, there were no slides and I had to wing it, live! I don't really have a hard time talking, but this was a test of my professionalism, because I REALLY wanted to make a "T" with my hands and shout  "Time Out!" I presented a couple weeks ago at the CTMH Album Retreat in Salt Lake City, Utah, so I tweaked my message there for my segment today. As I look back on 20+ years working in the scrapbooking industry, there are a few things I've learned about storytelling that will help you stay focused on what matters.