“Our stories disclose in a general way what we used to be like, what happened, and what we are like now.” (Chapter 5, Big Book)
“A triptych is a work of art (usually a panel painting) that is divided into three sections. … The middle panel is typically the largest and it is flanked by two smaller related works, although there are triptychs of equal-sized panels.” (Wikipedia)
When I’m asked to speak at a meeting, the subject is me, not ‘it’: not what ‘it’ used to be like, etc., but what ‘I’ used to be like. Like a triptych, there are three parts, and the largest part is ideally the ‘what happened’, in other words the programme I have been working.
This is what I find useful when I hear others: a little bit about what the person was like, so I can identify; a little bit about what they are like now, to provide a contrast and an indication of what the results of the programme can be; but mostly what I can actually do about my problem, as reflected in the speaker’s experience.
“Sobriety—freedom from alcohol—through the teaching and practice of the Twelve Steps, is the sole purpose of an AA group.” (Language of the Heart)
I would get very frustrated in my early days, because, within half a minute I had identified with the speaker, so no more drunkalogue was required, and, within another half a minute, I had figured out that this person was doing well in life, so the motivation was there. More often than not, the meal was a bread sandwich: the left and right panels of the triptych but little or nothing in the main middle panel. I looked out for and grabbed hold of people who could actually articulate what they did about their problems and took their numbers.
That’s why, now the roles are reversed, I aim, when sharing, to convey as much substance as possible.