Unleash the Power of Storytelling: Win Hearts, Change Minds, Get Results Paperback – February 13, 2018

I am intrigued with the power of stories to bring new insight and even lead to transformation, and I am always on the hunt for how stories work, how they may be structured, and to what ends they may be used. That is what drew me to Rob Beisenbach’s book, Unleash the Power of Storytelling, and it did not disappoint.Ignore the fundamentals of storytelling, the author, contends, and “you could end up squandering an opportunity to change minds and even lives.” What makes stories this powerful? Beisenbach gives us six keys to impactful stories: (1) stories trigger an emotional response; (2) stories involve characters we can related to; (3) stories connect us; (4) they communicate what we value; (5) they raise the stakes; and (6) they show, rather than tell, what we stand for.So what is a story? In simplest terms, it is “a character in pursuit of a goal in the face of some challenge or obstacle.” There are, of course, other elements in a story—a turning point, a climax, and more—but character, goal, and challenge are “the three legs of the stool.” Without these three, you don’t have a story.For a story to work, the author says, you need the following elements: (1) a character who is a specific individual, (2) conflict (the tension between your character’s goal and the challenge facing your character, (3) something important at stake (a serious problem that cries out for action), (4) events connected to one another in a cause-effect relationship (rather than just a random series of events), and (5) an emotional response from the audience (frustration, disappointment, joy, etc.).A story has a beginning, a middle, and an end. In the beginning of the story, you set the scene and introduce the main character. Then, something happens (a challenge) that upsets the balance of things. The middle is where the character works to overcome the challenge, and the end is where things come to a resolution (the character either reaches his goal or doesn’t).The best stories are the ones that come from our own experience, but whatever their source, our stories must show that (1) we know who our audience is, (2) we know what we want them to do (buy a product, work more efficiently, join our cause), (3) we have thought through the main challenges that are likely to get in the way of our goal, (4) we have found a character who has overcome one or more of those challenges, and (5) we have brought resolution to our story.The importance of emotion cannot be underplayed in an effective story. In fact, claims Beisenbach, “facts don’t influence action the way an emotional appeal does.” He goes on to say that “emotion drives decision-making.” (People buy on emotion and justify their purchase with logic.) In order to reinforce the emotional impact of a story, the author suggests that the storyteller focus not just on what he or she does but on why they do it.The goal of telling any story is an important consideration. For example, our goal may be to align our team with a certain strategy, or it may be to promote a brand. We might be seeking simply to establish common ground or even show others how humanly real we are. We may want to motivate a change in behavior, inspire a team, or establish trust and credibility with a customer. Whatever our goal, we should have it clearly in mind, and the story we’re telling should be directed toward that goal.Collecting stories is a lifelong pursuit—and a worthy one. You will have just the story you need when the time comes to tell it. Or, perhaps a story won’t be exactly what’s needed but a metaphor or an analogy will be. Beisenbach covers this skill as well.This book has great value to anyone who seeks to communicate with others, motivating them and encouraging them. According to Beisenbach, there is power in storytelling. Our stories define who we are and what we stand for. They set us apart. So, think of a character with whom others can identify, lay out his or her goal and the challenges she or he faced in pursuing that goal, and bring the whole thing to resolution. And read Beisenbach’s book. He will be just the coach you need to impact the world around you for good.

Rob is really gifted at breaking through all the clutter of “best practice” and “can’t miss tips” about public speaking and presenting to identify the critical elements to success. He presents his ideas in a way that is really effective and easy to remember, which makes them easy to apply.I do a lot of presenting and try hard to use stories as a way of keeping people interested. I especially appreciated the sections on the various ways to tap into emotion and how to focus: “When we’re unprepared, we wander. When we’re tired, we lose focus” is a great reminder of the value of preparation, especially when we’ve told the same story a hundred times.As with his other books, “Unleash the Power of Storytelling” includes some great insights that go far beyond presenting - “In fact, I believe opening up and revealing your humanity is a duty of leadership”.

Storytelling is hard. It draws on elements of communication, creativity, and performance. Most of us are bad at it. Even those who consider themselves "natural storytellers" have much to learn.I am one of those self-styled "naturals." I work as a research scientist, though at heart I'm a teacher. Each data presentation is an opportunity to practice what I love most about my job, and over the years I have received much praise for clear and understandable slide decks. That's why I bought this book. I wanted to continue to develop something that I "did well" to carve out a unique niche in the company. I'm glad that I did because I still have quite a bit to learn about this art.The lessons in this book are fantastic. Biesenbach wastes no time in extraneous detail and presents a simple algorithm to generate a story. It is a quick read overall with each chapter taking me less than 10 minutes to read (and I'm a slow reader!). This makes the book a great option for busy managers with "no time" and corporate book clubs alike.One can construct their first story after just 40 pages. Although the earlier chapters seem geared toward executives and higher level managers, the later chapters on telling the company's origin story and personal branding are extraordinarily helpful for startups and job seekers respectively.I finished this book months ago and have used its principles in several data presentations, a major corporate presentation, and a pitch deck for funding. A coworker whom I greatly respect told me my latest data presentation was "the best technical presentation she's seen in years." The corporate presentation was praised for its immersion and triggered multiple conversations that continued well into the next meeting. The pitch deck ("telling the company origin with a story") is now uniquely "us" as opposed to a cookie-cutter corporate pitch.All this is to say that the lessons work. Which is big for us science types as interpersonal communication isn't necessarily a strong-point. Neither is taking the time to put one's self into the shoes of the audience and consider it from their perspective. Fortunately that should be improving as I pass this book around to interested coworkers!

Great book on what it takes to tell a compelling story, winning hearts, changing minds, and getting results no matter the circumstance! 5/5

Double spaced, headline, brick and mortar business class seminar. That’s this book.

This book was recommended to me by my coach, he gave me some good insight of putting together my story and what's important to my clients it help me realize who my client was as well as what they are looking for if you're in sales this would be a good read and a little bit different from some of the others that are out there

It’s an easy read and the structure provided is pretty practical. I wish there were more examples to actually illustrate how to apply the structure to write your own stories