How to Tell Your Daughter More of Your Story

Happy 2026 to you, Dad!

If you’ve been reading my blogs or listening to The Dad Whisperer Podcast for any length of time, you know how I encourage you to tell your stories to your daughter. And not just the positive and good ones---but also the messy ones (especially when there’s a redemptive ending).

I believe this is so vitally important to your relationship with her that I ended my book, Let’s Talk: Conversation Starters for Dads and Daughters with an entire section called, “Lead Her to Listen.” This is where you as dads hand your daughter the book so she can ask you questions about your life.

Here’s how I introduce this section in my book, explaining why this matters:

“Remember that we daughters don’t expect you dads to be perfect or to have never made stupid decisions or chosen an unwise path. When we see you as authentic and human while admitting that you’ve made mistakes along the way, it makes you more real and approachable, and we respect you all the more for having forged through hard stuff despite challenges.

We’re inspired when hearing about obstacles you’ve overcome to get where you are today, which gives us more freedom to tell you what’s going on in our lives.

Additionally, Dad, when you tell your daughter stories from your own life, it serves as a reminder of what you’ve learned the hard way, thus giving you more grace for her at the age and stage she’s in now.

And whether or not your daughter realizes that she’s going to grow through this process of asking you questions and hearing your responses, the reality is that this is a vital skill set for her going forward as she learns to inquire and investigate with care and genuine interest in another person.”

Dad, here are three options to move forward this year if this idea of story-telling resonates with you:

1. A great place to start is to get a copy of Let’s Talk and let your daughter follow the directions in the last chapter to ask you specific questions about your life.

2. If you’re ready to action now, here’s a quick 3-fold template to begin telling your story to your daughter:

• Tell her what happened

• Tell her what you learned (even the hard way…and be sure to include the redemptive ending!)

• Invite questions

3. If you’re ready to take a bigger step forward in telling your stories, here’s more ideas to support that goal:

• Tell about your life chronologically: One year at a time.

  • Share one thing from each age of your life. And if your daughter has questions, answer them in age appropriate ways based on her ability to track with you.

• Tell about your life seasonally: One season at a time.

  • My dad would often tell me stories that fit with the time of year that we were in - be it a specific holiday or even a weather-related story. You can even tell her about food traditions at specific times of the year.

• Tell about your life thematically: One topic at a time.

  • Open the vault and tell her about your family of origin and what it was like to be in your family---and go into more detail about your education...jobs…sports…friends…girlfriends…dating…adventures…risks…etc.

• Tell about your life spiritually: One theme at a time.

  • Reveal significant times in your life with God...or questions you’ve had…or lessons you’ve learned…mentors you’ve had…or parts of the Bible that are particularly meaningful to you.

• Tell about your life relationally: One person at a time.

  • As you tell about people who have influenced you, not only will you be honoring those individuals while inviting your daughter to learn from them as well, but you’ll be positively impacted by re-telling about the influence and impact of mentors, coaches, pastors, teachers, relatives, etc.

You’ve heard me say this before and I’ll stay it again: You don’t have to be perfect, you just have to be present. And though you’ve made mistakes in your life, telling your stories can model to your daughter what resilience looks like in real time and she’ll internalize your strength.

Telling your stories is a powerful way to be present in your daughter’s life.

Dad, make it a goal this year to share more of your story with your daughter. She’ll be grateful for it…and I believe you will be too!