Business Storytelling For Dummies

Ready to hone your storytelling skills and craft a compelling business narrative?

Professionals of all types -- marketing managers, sales reps, senior leaders, supervisors, creatives, account executives -- have to write. Whether you're writing an internal email or a social media post, a video script or a blog post, being able to tell a good story can help ensure your content resonates with your intended audience.

Storytelling is an art, but there’s a method behind it that anyone can learn. Full of practical advice and real-world case studies, Business Storytelling For Dummies is a friendly, no-nonsense guide that will help you tell more engaging stories in your business presentations, internal communications, marketing collateral, and sales assets.

Connecting with customers through storytelling can help you build trust with your audience, strengthen your brand, and increase sales. Look to Business Storytelling For Dummies to

• Learn the elements of storytelling and how to use them effectively
• Become a better listener to become a better storyteller
• Make your stories come to life with relatable details
• Back up your story with data points
• Use the power of storytelling to effect change
• Choose the perfect format to tell your story

Startups, small businesses, creative agencies, non-profits, and enterprises all have a story to tell. Get the book to explore examples, templates, and step-by-step instruction and create your own compelling narrative to tell your story to the world.

Introduction 1

Part I: Getting Started with Business Storytelling 7

Chapter 1: The Scoop on Business Storytelling 9

Chapter 2: The Why, What, How, and Who of Business Storytelling 19

Chapter 3: What Makes a Story a Story 29

Chapter 4: Stories to Have in Your Hip Pocket 51

Chapter 5: Listening: Hearing What Others Have to Say and Capturing It 77

Part II: Moving People to Action: Creating Compelling Stories 97

Chapter 6: Crafting a Story 99

Chapter 7: Polishing a Story: Structure and Embellishments 119

Chapter 8: What to Do About Data 141

Chapter 9: Expanding and Contracting Your Story 159

Part III: Sharing Stories for Maximum Value 177

Chapter 10: Getting Comfortable Telling Stories 179

Chapter 11: Moving Stories into Multiple Media 197

Chapter 12: Incorporate Story in Your Organization 213

Part IV: Tailoring Storytelling to Special Circumstances 233

Chapter 13: Storytelling to Fund Your Passion 235

Chapter 14: Storytelling in Marketing 255

Chapter 15: Selling With Stories 275

Chapter 16: Using Stories to Spark Change 295

Part V: The Part of Tens 315

Chapter 17: Ten Things You Should Never, Ever Do 317

Chapter 18: Ten Storytelling Tips for Speakers 323

Chapter 19: Ten (or so) Ways to Measure the Results of a Story Project 331

Appendix: Real-Life Stories and a Template 335

Index 355

Karen Dietz, PhD, is a 25-year veteran in business storytelling consulting, training, and leadership, and organizational development.

Lori L. Silverman offers business storytelling training, keynotes, and consulting. For 26 years, she's advised enterprises on strategic planning and organizational change.

Learn to:

• Translate data, facts, and figures into rich, captivating messages
• Harness the power of good storytelling to influence and motivate employees
• Effectively convey messages to buyers and funders
• Connect with your audience and drive your business to new heights

Use storytelling to influence people and move them to action

Need to get your point across? Get staff on board with change? Foster collaboration? Increase sales? Strengthen employee engagement? Build customer loyalty? Drive innovation and creativity? Capture best practices? Align people around a goal? Grow your business? Business Storytelling For Dummies empowers you to do this — and more. Learn how to harness the power of a good story to influence prospects, customers, colleagues, team members, sponsors, and funders. Use stories to tap into their imaginations and translate sterile facts and stagnant case studies into exciting concepts they can identify with.

• Get started with business storytelling — discover why organizations across a variety of industries have embraced storytelling, why it works, and what it can do for you
• Create compelling stories — use tried-and-true methods for crafting compelling stories that engage listeners and quickly shift people into action
• Share your story — get the practical ins-and-outs of story sharing, best practices for telling stories, different media to use, and how to keep stories fresh and alive
• Bring story into your work — dig into the nuts and bolts of the most popular and requested applications of stories in business, complete with how-to steps, templates, and examples

Open the book and find:

• The why, what, how, and who of business storytelling
• What makes a good story
• How to craft the core of a story
• When to embellish a story to give it impact
• Tips for being a good listener
• Ways to sell with stories
• How to create storied marketing materials
• Storytelling tips for speakers
• Ten ways to measure the results of a story initiative