Mike Tyson has a great quote, “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face.”

Years ago, long before we started the podcast, Alper and I were talking to Noel Francisco, an old university roommate of mine who has gone on to fame and fortune as one of the top lawyers in the US. For example, he was Solicitor General, representing the US government in cases before the US Supreme Court.

Alper and I asked Noel about the importance of stories in the legal profession, and Noel related that when trying a case before the Supreme Court, lawyers typically only have 20 seconds to speak before the judges interrupt them.

And when a Supreme Court judge interrupts you, you shut up. You don’t get to say “hang on, let me finish talking.”

So when you step in front of the Supreme Court, you know that some of the most elite people on the planet are about to punch you in the face, and you will not be able to remember any plan. A plan has too many steps, it’s too complicated.

All you can hope to do is remember the story so that you can recover from that punch really fast. That’s where the three sentence story comes in. The story has to be in three sentences. Don’t think you’re going to be able to remember any more than that.

And by the way, for those of you who say stories are too simplified for your business: If stories are used to swing cases in the top court in one of the most powerful countries in the world, who are you to say that they won’t work for you in your world?