Anja Gild is a specialist in storytelling as well as text and language on the internet/intranet/social media. Born in Munich in 1967, grew up with two siblings in Ottobrunn. Studied German language and literature, German and English folklore and newspaper studies at the LMU. Freelance journalist at the Süddeutsche Zeitung Ebersberg and from 1995 at Focus Online. Worked at the Academy for the Third Millennium (Dr. Christa Maar, Burda Verlag), editor at the Internet agency Spielraum and since 2000 independent trainer/educator for the above-mentioned topics. Clients include Siemens, Bayerischer Journalistenverband, Journalistenakademie Dr. Hooffacker, Akademie für Mode und Design. Today: widowed, two children, two dogs, three cats, 10 chickens. And lots of ideas.

What drives you, Anja?

Being authentic and finding your own identity – it’s these two words and processes that fascinate me and have driven me in life. It took me a long time to look behind my own story and understand it. Until today.

Who am I? Where do I come from? What do I want? What feels right for me?

On the path to authenticity and identity, language is an infinitely important factor. We express ourselves through language – with the right words we make our inner self visible. One of my goals in life is to help people to (re)find the power of their individual language and to use it authentically. And how do I find my language? Among other things, by learning to tell my story.

My story – unmistakable, like a fingerprint. The famous quote by Max Frisch from “Mein Name sei Gantenbein” has accompanied me for many years: “Sooner or later, every person invents a story that he thinks is his life, or a whole series of stories.” What would a person be without his own story? What would a company be without its own story? What would an existence be without a story to tell?

We ourselves are the authors of our history or our stories. We find ourselves through our own stories. To speak language fluently – that is still my credo today. I write poetry; when I am in need, I pick up a pen and write; I write letters, sing language, present and tell stories publicly as a free-speaking storyteller. No sheet of paper between me and the listeners, only words that unfold their effect.

I believe in the power of stories, I believe in the power of language – for one’s own identity and authenticity. A society seems to me to be equipped for the future if it can tell its very own identity. Value-free, unrivalled, self-confident. When it strives to be authentic.

You want to get in touch with Anja? Find Anja Gild on LinkedIn