There aren’t many certainties in professional life, but one is that when it comes to persuading someone, making an assertion or giving an opinion runs a far second to telling stories.   Let’s say you want to alert someone to a problem in your organisation, and perhaps get their help in addressing the issue. There […]

In June last year we released the Storytelling for Sales™ program and have been delivering it in Australia and the US. One of the main objectives of the program is to close the gap between the very best salespeople and the core sales group. And it’s a big gap. When it comes to complex solution […]

Anecdote is holding a public Storytelling for Leaders® program in Zurich on Friday 12th February 2016. Now in our 12th year, you can imagine that we have had heaps of experience delivering this program across the globe. We continue to get great feedback about the program. In fact, just a few weeks ago a participant commented: […]

It’s that time of year again. As we slide headlong into the festive season, we’d like to say Merry Christmas to you all from everyone in the Anecdote team.

About 6 years ago, a participant in a leadership program explained how she had found her dream job and put in place a comprehensive plan to get that job. It took about six months, but she finally got the offer. “But I turned it down” she said. She explained “I was at home with my […]

At the start of our Storytelling for Leaders® programs, we always ask the question ‘who thinks they are a storyteller?’ Very few people raise their hands. But most will know people who are ‘natural storytellers’ and believe this is due to some innate gift – a genetic inheritance – without which polished storytelling performance will […]

When I did my first degree back in the early 1980s there were some big issues to focus on. One of them was ‘what will we do with all the leisure time society will have when computers are doing many of the jobs people currently do?’ Obviously, this issue was nothing to worry about! But […]

Over the past few months we’ve been helping a global architecture firm put together pitches for several multi-million dollar opportunities. It’s been a great experience, and learning opportunity, to apply the power of storytelling to pitching big ideas. The value of using storytelling in sales situations is evident but it really works well when the […]

Michael Leunig is an Australian cartoonist. He is a friendly, approachable and intelligent man well known for his humour and whimsy. He has been publishing his cartoons since the 1970’s. He is well-known for lovable characters such as Mr Curly and for the duck that inspired part of the opening ceremony for the 2006 Melbourne […]

There is a big difference between assertions and stories when it comes to impact, comprehension and memorability. Most business talk is full of assertions and opinions. These can sound very impressive but they are hard to understand and remember. To an audience, these often just sound like blah, blah, blah. Get your message to stick To […]