Back in late 2014, Shawn resolved to start writing a book on business storytelling to share what we had learned about achieving business results using the power of stories. It was 10 years since Shawn founded the company and it was definitely time to get the book out. Like most books, the writing was a […]

  20 March is World Storytelling Day. On that date back in 2011, we launched TheStoryTest.com, a website designed to help people develop their ability to spot stories. We now have close to six years of data from across the globe about the ability of people to know what is and what is not a […]

When I was doing my first degree back in the late 1970s, one of the very important – and simple – techniques for being a more effective manager was known as ‘management by wandering around’ (MBWA). The essence of MBWA is to get up from behind your desk – which managers often think of as […]

The process of becoming an effective storyteller in business is … well … a process. It doesn’t often happen by chance. The first step is learning how to spot a story. Then you need to start actively noticing stories – assessing things that happen in terms of their potential as useful stories. The next step […]

We developed the first version of our Storytelling for Leaders program nearly 10 years ago. Subsequently, we were asked many times to modify the program for sales teams. The results were so effective we set about developing a specific program for sales, Storytelling for Sales, which was released in 2015. I’ve just finished reading a relatively recent book […]

Simon Sinek walked on stage wearing jeans, casual shoes and a long-sleeve t-shirt. He was about to deliver the Monday keynote at ATD 2016 to about 10,000 people at the Denver Convention Centre. Armed only with a humble flipchart and marker he started by talking about a recent experience: About three weeks ago I was […]

About 10 years ago, we started working with organisations to convert their strategies into strategy stories. It was clear right from the start that creating a compelling story was only one of the conditions for success. The other non-negotiable was that leaders had to have the skills and confidence to tell their version of the […]

In mid-May I was in Denver for the ATD 2016 conference. It was a huge affair and there were about 11,000 participants, many from overseas. Near the end of the conference, I recorded the following video clip giving an update on the state of storytelling from the conference. There were 14 presentations on storytelling. This […]

Storytelling is a powerful business tool. It’s available to everyone. All you need is a little knowledge, a few new habits and some practice. We are firm believers in the importance of practice -it’s why we include a six-month Deliberate Practice Program as part of our programs. It’s also why we selected the bear and […]

In late 2014 I went to Dubai to run a three-day story session with 40 salespeople. Over the first two days we practised the core storytelling skills. The last day was devoted to what I call a pitch-off. I broke the salespeople up into six groups and asked each one to create its own version […]