In a classic clip from an old I Love Lucy episode, Lucy gets a job in a chocolate factory and she and her friend Ethel are placed on the assembly line. The draconian supervisor tells them: “Girls, this is your last chance. If one piece of candy gets past you unwrapped, you are fired!” The production line starts slowly and they carefully …
Business Storytelling: why it’s much harder than it looks
Warren Buffett, often speaks in folksy aphorisms. I guess, in modern terms, we would refer to them as tweets. He famously said about investing, ‘…is simple but not easy.’ Interestingly, this is the most common feedback I get from clients all over the world. Not about investing, but about storytelling. Storytelling is much harder than it looks. So, to borrow …
What is the NEW currency of change?
How do we persuade people to adopt our ideas, listen to what we have to say and even be inspired to act? If you lived in 16th century Venice, the answer would be easy. You would do it through fear, as suggested by diplomat and political theorist, Niccolờ Machiavelli. Successful, smart leaders in the 21st century know that hard power …
Where Will Storytelling Be 1 Year From Now?
You can’t throw a stone without hitting a storytelling consultant today. Yet, I remember a lot of blank stares when we co-founded Australia’s first storytelling company 10 years ago. Our first 18 months were spent answering questions from puzzled people, such as ‘How can you storytell in business?’ and ‘Aren’t storytellers natural?’ Yes, we know today you can storytell in …
3 Business Storytelling Secrets that No One Tells you about
What’s the secret sauce that makes some stories better than others and some storytellers more successful than others? The answers might surprise you. Small beats big In business storytelling, David beats Goliath every time. Quite often, my clients start by putting themselves under pressure, thinking that their stories have to be mega—about scaling Mount Everest or sailing around the world …
Hijacked or Precious?
I introduced myself at a recent event as a business storyteller, which is what I am. There was a time when no one understood what the word meant. Not so today. The person next to me then introduced himself: ‘I am a storyteller too and tell stories with numbers.’ Everyone just looked confused. We later found out that he was an …
A Star and a Suggestion
One of our highest needs is appreciation. This is true even if you are not normally needy! My daughter was telling me her violin teacher has created a simple way for the kids to appreciate one other after a performance. They use a system called “star and a suggestion.” A star would be one thing I liked about your violin …
Shhh this is private…
Our biggest fear with storytelling is that we might disclose too much. It is after all storytelling and not group therapy! At work, no one wants to be like that friend on Facebook who overshares. The paradox is that successful storytelling requires vulnerability. This then begs the question—how can we do storytelling and do it well? When working with clients, …
Mission Possible: 3 Fail proof ways to remember names
“A rose by any other name would smell as sweet” is one of William Shakespeare’s famous lines from Romeo and Juliet. But, I’m sure you will agree that, in business, your name matters and you don’t want to be called by the wrong name. Remembering and using people’s names is the most powerful and authentic way to build connections. Yet, sadly, …
Revenge of the analogue?
Every year, I do an annual holiday with my oldest childhood friends. A ‘girls only’ holiday, no partners or kids. It’s definitely one of the highlights of my year. Last year, one of my friends brought some of the letters we had written to each other when we were teenagers. We read the letters aloud to each other, all of …