“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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Three storytelling lessons from Kamala Harris’ stirring victory speech
In today’s edition, I’m sharing my quick take on some storytelling elements used in the victory speech by the US VP-Elect Kamala Harris. (This being Diwali, I thought it’s appropriate to share a story about the victory of good over evil 😉 If you haven’t watched/ read the speech yet, you can do so here (video) and here (transcript). It’s a powerful speech – emotionally resonant and yet clear headed. A fitting articulation of a historically significant moment. In the address, Harris has used many storytelling techniques; I’m going to pick three interesting ones that caught my eye. 1. Begin …
The most consequential napkin art of all time (or was it?)
Today being the first Saturday of the month, it is time for my content recommendations – books, a podcast, articles and videos. Let’s get started 1. Books a. ‘Narrative Economics’ by Robert Shiller On the 13th of September 1974, probably the most famous curve of all time was drawn on a table napkin in a restaurant in Washington DC. Here’s the scene. Four men at the table. A journalist (Jude Wanniski, who was the one who later wrote about it), two top White House officials (future VP Dick Cheney and future Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld) and the our main guy – …
Our struggle with Probability
Today I’m sharing an old article that I wrote – back in early 2015, when I was figuring out what to do after leaving my job at an NGO. I briefly flirted with blogging, but then moved on to co-found a startup focused on history storytelling. During that period of blogging, I wrote something about the role of probability and how our struggle with it defines such a large part of what we do. This piece is written from the point of view of organised religion – but it applies to a lot of aspects of life. Look forward to your thoughts …
An ode to the patron Goddess of Storytelling 🙂
My dad loves listening to talks and lectures on spirituality. He often shares little-known stories from the unending storehouse that is Indian mythology. Recently he shared a fascinating story about Goddess Saraswati – the Hindu Goddess of Learning and Music (about whom I hadn’t heard very many stories)! It is a little known side-story from the epic Ramayana. As we all know, Lord Rama was an avatar of Lord Vishnu, sent down on earth to vanquish and kill Ravana, the ten-headed king of Lanka. Now here’s an interesting theory in this version of the story: When God comes down on …
The (revised!) 5Cs framework for thought leadership
A few months back I had written the “3R” framework for thought leadership: Read, Reflect and (W)rite. I, ahem, reflected on it since then… and realised that it was missing a few key pieces. So here is my revised thought-leadership model, conveniently christened as the 5Cs Framework. In order to be a thought leader, you need to: Consume – Cerebrate – Confer – Create – Coach Let’s dive in. 1. Consume: Reading is, of course, critical. But just ‘reading’ is too narrow. Different people get their information in different ways. Some prefer visual inputs, while others like to listen to stuff. Do what …
The story of a rural janitor… who left $6M to charity
Today being the first Saturday of the month, it is time for my content recommendations – a book, a podcast, articles and videos. Let’s get started 1. Books a. ‘The Psychology of Money’ by Morgan Housel Once in a while, you come across a book, that makes you think – damn, I wish I had read it when I was younger. A book that you’d like to gift to everyone you know. A book that takes a universal topic (money) and uncovers counter-intuitive wisdom, using data and some carefully curated stories. And a book, which makes for a fascinating …
The plural of anecdote isn’t Data: Structuring the search for your Data Story
“I think health advisories about eating and drinking are all made up. My uncle enjoyed having fried food, drank like a fish and smoked often. He lived to a ripe old age of 87. My aunt, on the other hand, was a teetotaler and used to go for her daily walks. And yet she passed away because of a heart attack at 62!” ”I don’t think we should invest in Madhya Pradesh. My cousin had a tough time getting his approvals for a factory in Jabalpur“ “Nepotism exists in all sectors. Have you not heard of doctor/lawyer families? And by …
A new logo. A new story.
I was in two minds about writing this story. It’s the story of my journey of revamping Story Rules’ brand identity. On one hand, I feel it’s worth sharing since it contains lessons that can be applied by anyone looking to build their personal/corporate brand. On the other hand, talking so much about myself in a post makes me squirm a lot. Some parts are decidedly ‘salesy’, and not the kind of stuff that would normally go in this story-letter. But eventually, I thought that the benefits outweigh the cons. Let me know if you think otherwise 🙂 Here goes. …
Not winning despite having the best product in the market? You need the right connections!
Today being the first Saturday of the month, it is time for my content recommendations – a book, a podcast, articles and videos. Let’s get started 1. Book a. ‘Content Trap’ by Bharat Anand How important is a product’s quality to its success? You’d say, its the most important thing! Customers would always buy a higher quality product over a lower one. Right? Wrong. It depends on the connections that the product leverages. Consider Apple. The Macbook in the late 80s and early 90s was clearly superior to any Windows machine. And yet it struggled. Here’s the author, Prof. Anand: ‘Imagine …
My recommended reads and listens for August 2020
I’ve been listening to a lot of podcasts lately – the quality of conversations is truly mind-blowing in some. And to think that it is all free… (Enjoy it while it lasts – subscription-only models may be coming soon). In this month’s edition, I review a podcast that shares some absolutely gobsmacking stories from previous disasters that have plagued humanity (literally) … and what we can learn from them. But the first recommendation is the book of the month – a fun and insightful read. 1. Book: a. ‘The Catalyst: How to Change Anyone’s Mind’ by Jonah Berger: In Thailand, …
