Lead with a Story Book Summary - Lead with a Story Book explained in key points
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Lead with a Story summary

Paul Smith

A Guide to Crafting Business Narratives that Captivate, Convince and Inspire

4.2 (80 ratings)
19 mins
Table of Contents

    Lead with a Story
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    Storytelling is an important aspect of any successful business.

    Question: Why is it that some of the longest-running shows on televisions are soap operas?

    Answer: People just love a good story. Whether it’s the drama in a soap or a riveting page-turner, we become completely captured by good stories.

    But it’s not only authors and screenwriters who have profited from the art of storytelling. In fact, a great deal of businesses have as well: Nike, Microsoft, FedEx and Costco each have their own corporate storyteller.

    Who exactly are these corporate storytellers and why do these companies hire them?

    Stories are critical components of corporate messaging towards customers and employees alike.

    For most of human history, storytelling has been the primary method for imparting knowledge. Before the printing press made possible the mass distribution of written materials, most information was shared via oral tradition in the form of stories.

    Indeed, storytelling offers some unique advantages over other types of communication:

    First, anyone can tell and learn from a story. A good story can transfix anyone, regardless of age or education.

    In addition, stories are memorable. It’s quite difficult to remember an isolated fact or a statistic. However, according to psychologist Jerome Bruner, if these facts are put into a story, we’re 20 times more likely to remember them.

    Finally, stories can appeal to every type of learner.

    There are three types of learners: 40 percent of us are visual learners, 40 percent are auditory learners and the remaining 20 percent are kinetic learners. Stories attract all three – a story’s imagery influences visual learners, the vocabulary appeals to auditory learners and the emotions and feelings connect with kinetic learners.

    As you can see, stories are a great way to impart knowledge, so much so that businesses have incorporated them into their strategies. In the next few blinks, we’ll go into detail about the specific areas of business that can be improved with a story.

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    What is Lead with a Story about?

    Lead with a Story (2012) teaches you how to enhance your skills as a great leader by harnessing the power of storytelling. By taking examples from one of the most successful companies in the world, you’ll learn how to craft a great story that motivates people and modifies their behavior.

    Who should read Lead with a Story?

    • Leaders of all kinds
    • Anyone who wants to be better at motivating others
    • Anyone who finds his or her coworkers dozing off during presentations

    About the Author

    Paul Smith is a popular keynote speaker as well as a corporate trainer in leadership and storytelling techniques. He is formerly an executive and 20-year veteran of the Procter & Gamble Company and has authored two books, Lead with a Story and Parenting with a Story.

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