“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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A storytelling lesson from the Valmiki Ramayana
I know. Things are looking crazy grim. I just hope that you and your loved ones are doing okay during these scary times. Stay strong, stay safe. Meanwhile, I thought I’ll take your mind off the pandemic with this captivating extract from an ancient story. The story of a fascinating conversation Two brothers are walking in a dense forest. The setting is beautiful. It is spring. There’s an eye-catching lake filled with lilies and lotuses in full bloom. The lush grass shines like a gorgeous carpet. Treetops are covered with scent-laden flowers and entwined with flowering creepers. A gentle breeze …
E2: Shrehith Karkera – The Storyteller who simplifies financial news for 400K plus readers
Sajith is a VC at Blume Ventures and arguably the most astute observer and thought-leader on India’s vibrant start-up ecosystem. …
Using ‘psycho-logic’ to get people to give up gold for iron
Hi folks, It’s time for my content recommendations for Apr-21: a book, a podcast, articles and a couple of videos. Let’s get started 1. Book a. ‘Alchemy: The Surprising Power of Ideas That Don’t Make Sense’ by Rory Sutherland Alchemy is the ancient and long-discredited art of converting base metals to gold. Surely it is not possible, you’d think. Ah, it may not be physically possible. But, as illustrated so amply and vividly in this book by Rory Sutherland (the Vice-Chairman of the Ogilvy and Mather advertising group), it is possible ‘psycho-logically’. ‘Psycho-logical’ decisions, according to Rory are those which …
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 …
