“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:
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E01: Mohit Bansal – The Guy who Creates Multi-Million $ Decks
In the middle of an engagement, the CEO of Instamojo says: “You know Mohit, we have been running this business for seven, eight years, but it’s only now we have understood what we really do” Mohit Bansal is the Founder of Deck Rooster, a Chandigarh based company that conceptualises and creates startup pitch decks. Decks that get high praise from clients:“Don’t waste two per cent on a Banker, these folks at Deck Rooster rock!”– Ravish Naresh, CEO, KhataBook.“Deck Rooster guys not only helped bring our story to life with visuals, but were an equal thought-partner in helping me articulate the story. …
The missing C and an imaginary conversation: The Story of my Podcast
Some creative projects are quick and fun. Like writing a LinkedIn post. Some are detailed, time-consuming and require a ton of prior work – like launching an online course. But some projects possess you. Consume you. They take you through a roller-coaster ride of hope, anticipation, unrealistic expectations, disappointment, worry, fear … and then back to cautiously optimistic hope… The ‘Story Rules Podcast’ has been one such project. A project which completes the missing C in my intellectual life. Let’s dive in. The Missing C I’ve written before about The 5Cs of Thought Leadership. In order to be a thought leader, …
A framework to analyse your audience for a big presentation
It was early-2017. I had just started out as a Storytelling trainer and was reaching out to known folks for potential client references. One early reference I got was through my Dad. A close friend (and ex-colleague) of his ran a Surgical Training Institute, where they trained surgeons on the latest equipment, that was owned by a leading multinational company. My dad’s friend – a friendly, avuncular gentleman called Dr. G – asked me to come over to his office and showcase my work. This was just my second or third BD call and I was excited! Just before this, …
Why bad news can be good for your brand
Say you have some non-flattering performance to communicate. The division you lead has had a terrible quarter and it’s up to you to present the bad news with the Executive Leadership team. Things could get ugly. As a default approach, most of us would tend to: Be defensive Sugarcoat the bad news Offer reasons why the performance isn’t as bad as it looks Pass the buck to another team, division etc. But perhaps we can learn from a fascinating story that played out in the US around 40 years ago. A horror story that unfolded in the fall of ‘82 …
The riveting story of India’s most valuable startup
It’s time for my content recommendations for Mar-21: a book, a podcast, articles and a video. Let’s get started 1. Book a. ‘Big Billion Startup: The Untold Flipkart Story’ by Mihir Dalal In late 2008, A and B ran into each other in Koramangala, Bangalore. A: ‘What are you up to?’ B: ‘Startup …’ A: ‘What kind of startup?’ B: ‘We sell books.’ A: ‘Abbe, who sells books? Where is your salary coming from?’ B: ‘How will we get a salary? We’re looking for funding.’ A: ‘Funding kaun dega be?’ (Who will give you funding, man?) A was Anil Kumar …
Amazon’s competitive advantage: Narrative
Till 2003, a weekly ritual would play out in the Amazon head office. Every Tuesday their S-Team (the seniormost leadership group) would meet for four hours to discuss progress on key goals. The team would select two to four S-Team goals and do a deep dive into their progress using PowerPoint presentations by the relevant team. Four hours being spent by a dozen-odd folks – that’s expensive leadership time. And it was not being spent well. “Too often, we found the presentations did not serve the purpose for which they were intended. The format often made it difficult to evaluate …
ACE your story by aligning with Authenticity, Empathy and the Clear, Comprehensive Facts
The stories you tell at work need to be aligned at three levels: What happens in case of misalignment? Let’s explore through three fictional stories: 1: Dan leads a business division in a large company. His division outperforms the others and he leads from the front. However, he can be abrasive and disrespectful to employees and peers. If someone commits even a genuine mistake, they are due for a massive tongue-lashing from him. And yet, recently during the company’s 50-year celebration, when Dan was asked to speak about the company’s values, he waxed eloquent about them. Especially about one value: …
Discovering joy in 1950s Hindi film music
This one is a short, slightly self-indulgent one on old Hindi music. 🙂 (It’s also got a cool gift!) I grew up listening to music from the late-80s and early 90s. We had a small radio cum cassette-player at home and my music-loving uncle would be the one to get all the latest movie releases. The reigning kings then were Laxmikant-Pyarelal. Saudagar, Hum, Tezaab, Ram Lakhan – they were the guys directors went to for the blockbuster, big-budget movies. But they were on their way out. A new crop of youngsters was vying for the crown. Anand Milind, Nadeem-Shravan, Jatin-Lalit. …
A part of you can stretch from Ahmedabad to Assam: Guess which one?
Hi folks, It’s time for my content recommendations for Feb-21 – a book, a podcast, articles and videos. Let’s get started 1. Book a. ‘The Body: A Guide for Occupants’ by Bill Bryson I used to abhor Chemistry in school – especially organic chemistry. In fact, it was one of the reasons why I preferred taking Commerce. And then many moons later, I read this passage in a book: “What sets the carbon atom apart is that it is shamelessly promiscuous. It is the party animalof the atomic world, latching on to many other atoms (including itself) and holding tight, …
