Story

EVERYTHING is a story. It’s up to you to LEAD the story for the organization, for your team, and for your prospects.

Story

Great Reads on Storytelling

Some powerful RESOURCES to help you around the concept of STORYTELLING:

  • The Power of Story by Jim Loehr.
    Already mentioned a few times. A must read. Loehr has always been one of my favorite thinkers/writers. This has become one of my ‘favorite’ books! His other book, The Power of Full Engagement, is required reading for our team.
  • “The Four Truths of the Storyteller”
    An article in Harvard Business Review by Peter Guber, leader in the entertainment/experience world. (December 2007) This line alone ought to get you to read this article. “Although the MIND may be part of your target, the HEART is the bull’s-eye.”Also by Gruber …
  • Tell to Win: Connect, Persuade, AND Triumph with the Hidden Power of Story.
    Good stuff. Peter Guber, CEO of Mandalay Entertainment. Guber talks about ‘STORYTELLING’ as a “Professional Discipline.” Oh yeah. Quick quotes:

    • “Stories are tools.”
    • “Stories need to be interactive.”
    • “Stories need a purpose.”

    (Thus, “Purposeful Storytelling.”)

For even more from Gruber …

  • You can read a powerful Q & A with Guber by Mike Hoffman in INC. magazine on the “Power of Effective Communicators.” (March 1, 2011)
  • Around the Corporate Campfire by Evelyn Clark.
    Subtitle says it all: How Great Leaders Use Stories to Inspire Success.

  • “Using Great Storytelling To Grow Your Business”
    A great article by Kaihan Krippendorff. (FAST COMPANY, March 5, 2012) Here’s the shorthand:

    • Use lots of LOTS… Language of the Senses. When you tell a story, share the see, smell, feel, taste and hear.
    • Build on your Story Spine. This comes from the Actors Institute, which suggests using a five-step structure called the Story Spine: Reality is introduced, conflict arrives, there’s a struggle, the conflict is resolved, new reality exists.
  • Storytelling by Fog, Budtz and Yakaboylu.
    This is more about storytelling as it relates to BRANDING … but there is still some great stuff! For example, the four elements of storytelling:

    • THE MESSAGE!!!
    • CONFLICT (Problem/Solution in Our World)
    • CHARACTERS (Who is involved? Share your own story on the visit, etc.)
    • PLOT

  • The Way of the Storyteller by Ruth Sawyer.
    Just one of those classics about STORYTELLING. Originally published in 1942. (Believe it or not, before I was born!) Just another way to look at STORIES.
  • Crucial Conversations by Patterson, Grenny, McMillan & Switzler.
    Not the most ‘exciting’ book I’ve read but still has some good nuggets in it around the subtitle: TOOLS for Talking When Stakes Are High. It’s about trying to discover how to communicate best when it matters the most. Foreword by Stephen Covey.
  • A Whole New Mind (Storytelling) by Daniel Pink
    A brilliant thinker and author who clarifies and simplifies big concepts.
  • Story: Substance, Structure, Style and the Principles of Screenwriting by Robert McKee.
  • The Dream Society by Rolf Jensen.

Finally, if you just want to have some fun, pick up

  • Story People by Brian Andreas.
    He is an ARTIST who just makes me laugh and think. I love his work. Here’s one of my favorite lines: “I like geography best,” he said, “because your mountains and rivers know the secret.” And I love: “Pay no attention to boundaries.”