“Great stories happen to those who can tell them”
- Ira Glass
The Story Rules Content Hub
Welcome to the Story Rules Content Hub – the best place on the web to learn all about storytelling techniques for work. Here’s where you get rich storytelling examples, analyses, viewpoints, interview nuggets, visuals, quotes, and much, much more. To find out how you can make the most of this resource, please watch this 12-minute video.
You can explore this (for now free!) resource in four ways:
Trending from the blog
Storify your Diwali gatherings with this game
When you’re reading this, I’ll be on vacation in the lovely hill state of Sikkim! So this edition will be a short one. But it does pack a punch. I have a suggestion that can dramatically improve your family/friends gathering this Diwali. So, what happens when we meet friends and family during Diwali? Card games. Food. Catch-up conversations. More food. Gossip. Sweets. All good. But here’s a brilliant game that you can use to transform your get-togethers. It’s simple and fun to organise. It gets everyone involved from the youngest to the oldest. And what’s more, you get …
Every Story Framework Ever. Explained.
Aristotle’s Three Part framework. Freytag’s Pyramid. The Hero’s Journey. SCQA. The 7Cs Story Framework (ahem). There is no shortage of story frameworks. But why are there so many of them? What are the similarities and differences between them? And which one is the right framework? All questions answered in today’s email. This is a different kind of post – I decided to tell a visual story, instead of the usual long mail. And then I said, why don’t I go ahead and make it a video… Led to a fair amount of stress given that I was travelling this week …
E10: Max Dickins – Improv Principles for better outcomes at work
“So, I have this concept which I call ‘Listening to Ignite’, which is, you’re listening for things that can really light up the other person. So, it’s about what your curiosity clicks into. And (so) can you ask a question that allows them a launchpad to show the best of their skill, their experience, their expertise, their background? And I think in that occasion, when you’re thinking of those questions, when you’re thinking of something you remember, not being present with that person is almost the more generous act.” That is Max Dickins, an improv artist who helps leaders and …
E09: Swaminathan Anklesaria Aiyar – Chronicler of the India economic story
A pinch-me-am-I-awake kind of guest Growing up in Mumbai, the Times of India was a daily habit at our household. When I got my hands on the newspaper, here’s what I would unfailingly do: – I’d look for ‘interesting pictures’ in Bombay Times (I mean, let’s be honest, I was in my mid-teens) – In the main paper I would chuckle at RK Laxman’s cartoon of the day – I’d then ignore the rest of the front page and head straight to the sports pages. – And in the Sunday Times of India, I would head to the edit page …
Data Storytelling: As easy as ABC(D)
I’ve been formally teaching Data-Storytelling as a skill for 5+ years now. During this time, I’ve been obsessed with one goal: To have an elegant MECE framework to explain all the components that make up this skill. Today I would like to share a breakthrough in that journey. Let’s begin. A framework that is MECE… You need to know something about me – I’m MECE-obsessed in life. For the uninitiated, MECE (pronounced mee-see) stands for Mutually Exclusive, Collectively Exhaustive and is a neat acronym for clear, comprehensive thinking: – Clear: Mutually exclusive – i.e. you aren’t mixing up …
E08: Aravind SA – Standup comedian and Storyteller extraordinaire
‘I don’t make jokes, I tell stories’ When I started the Story Rules podcast, I wanted to interview all types of storytellers. Among practitioners of this craft, I find standup comedians perhaps the most talented. Let’s step back and acknowledge the sheer craziness of their mission: – Just one person – Entertaining hundreds of people at a time – Holding their attention at high levels of energy – For more than an hour – Armed with nothing else but some content and a mic. Standup comedy is a serious skill. Aravind SA (aka SA) is among the foremost standup comics in …
Brent Dykes wrote THE book on Data Storytelling
There’s a new book on data storytelling, and it’s incredibly good. Welcome to my content recommendations and reviews for Sep-21: a couple of books, a podcast, articles and a couple of videos. Let’s get started. 1. Books a. ‘Effective Data Storytelling: How to drive change with data, narrative and visuals’ by Brent Dykes I’ve been studying the craft of data storytelling for more than 15 years now and have been deeply influenced by several books. Allow me to take you through a brief history of my learning, in the order in which I read the books (The years in the brackets …
Celebrate memories as stories
Last week, our IIMA WhatsApp group shared a shocking news – one of our batch-mates (let me call him Samir) had suddenly passed away due to a cardiac arrest. We were struggling to process our emotions and come to terms with the event. Samir was only in his early forties. As a means to share our grief, the batch decided to have a call with Samir’s family, comprising his elderly mom, his wife and a 9-year-old-son. During the call, one by one several folks shared memories of their time with Samir… and it was all about his …
Decoding the skills of Shekhar Gupta: India’s best news storyteller
When did you start following the Indian journalist Shekhar Gupta? Hopefully your answer isn’t – “Who Shekhar Gupta?”. If so, then let me introduce you to India’s finest news storyteller. On the other hand, if you, like many others, have started following him through his incredibly popular ‘Cut the Clutter‘ series on YouTube, you might be thinking… “Man, this guy has become an overnight success!” Like most other ‘overnight successes’, however, it’s been one that’s 40+ years in the making. Shekhar Gupta began reporting in 1977… and is rightfully one of the foremost journalists of our …
