How

“The most powerful person in the world is the storyteller.”
- Steve Jobs

Approach to the Craft

You need two skills in a Story Coach​

Alright, so you’re convinced that storytelling is a critical skill to develop. But what makes Story Rules the right partner for you? Two differentiators - a holistic approach to storytelling and the use of customized examples.

01

Holistic Approach

Storytelling is both a science and an art. You need a holistic, balanced approach that combines both ‘left-brain’ and ‘right-brain’ elements to make it work well.

I come from the world of numbers and business, given my past as a CA, MBA and management consultant (hey, don’t judge me… we all make mistakes).

But I also understand and appreciate the importance of ‘right-brain’ elements - an understanding that flowered during my years with a social enterprise and my history-storytelling startup. In addition I keep learning the craft by exposing myself to exemplary work by different types of storytellers - and bring that learning into my work.

So, I ‘get’ the world of business and also ‘get’ the world of stories. You get the holistic, complete picture.

You get the Science and the Art, the Head and the Heart of storytelling.

02

Customization

The world of storytelling techniques can seem like a distant island, disconnected from your land. Which is why it is important to build bridges. Bridges between your specific industry or function and the storytelling techniques being taught.
I build these bridges by doing four things:
  • Having specialized courses for specific audiences rather than a generic, one-size-fits-all course
  • Customization of modules (within those courses) that are most relevant to your use-cases.
  • Incorporating specific case-examples on storytelling from your own organization or from the industry.
  • Combining the conceptual understanding with individualized coaching on the participant's specific work stories/presentations
Due to this approach, the participants can make the most of the concepts and apply them to their work immediately.

At the beginning

The Brand Story

When I started Story Rules in 2016-17, all I did was pick a name and design a simple logo. For the original logo, in fact, I didn't even bother speaking to a designer. I just created it on PowerPoint using the thick 'Impact' font!

And it worked fine... Until it didn't!

My logo was simple but dull. And my slides, website and other visual assets did not exactly speak a common visual language. Which was fine, if I was just going to be doing B2B training. But with upcoming B2C initiatives like a public e-Course, a podcast and an online video series, I wanted all my content and visual assets to speak the same brand language.

And so, I embarked on a brand-redesign exercise. Here I’ve written  the story of how this brand logo came about. For the revamp, I was lucky to be directed to the right people for the job - Madhumita Srivastava and Amrita Dasgupta. Madhumita and Amrita's hearts beat for design and art, and they are a fountainhead of creativity. They immersed themselves into this project and came up with a range of interesting logos, each telling a different story.

But here's the one that I loved the most:

 
The person' in the middle is the 'Sutradhar'

The ‘person’ in the middle is the ‘Sutradhar’ – who indicates that underlying all data and numbers is the human element – that connects the disparate threads and weaves them into a coherent story

O' forms the head of the person

While the ‘O’ forms the head of the person and signifies the ‘left-brain’ approach, the ‘u’ below is stylised to show the hand on the ‘heart’ – signifying the holistic approach of head and heart. (Interestingly I do a small ritual at the end of my workshops where I get participants to take a pledge with their hand on their hearts!)

balance is also showcased by the word 'STORY'

The balance is also showcased by the word ‘STORY’ being written in caps, while the word ‘rules’ is in lowercase – a balance between structure and free-flowing creativity

'Customised solution'

For the ‘Customised solution’ aspect, there’s a cool element embedded in the logo. The ‘u’ and ‘l’ of ‘rules’ have been stylised to form a paperclip! Now, paperclips are known in the design world for their flexibility and customisability.

the 'rising' columns

Finally, the ‘rising’ columns between the ‘u’ and the ‘l’ indicate growth and progress.

 

Our clients

Testimonials

Hear what clients say!

Ravi knows the science behind the story. His is a simple repeatable and scalable approach that brings real results.
Kevin Ignatius
KPMG Management Consulting
Venture capital is quite complex to understand for a new investor. Ravi put-in enormous effort in studying our subject and made the pitch simple and articulate with investor benefits highlighted in every sentence
CEO
YourNest Angel Fund
This is the best training I have attended at my company. The facilitator was the best ever (that I have encountered).
Participant
Leading Analytics Firm
Ravi is a master of storytelling. Lots of people have the ability to take your idea and create a great story. Very few people can take an already great story and make it 'wow'. Ravi did that magic for our speakers during TEDxPune 2019. Highly recommended if you want to make your Story Rule!
Ashwin Naik
Serial Entrepreneur, TEDx Pune Leader
We could observe vast improvement in all the presentations given by the business heads…. Once again, you have gone above and beyond in your efforts to bring out the best in each of them!
Senior HR Rep
InterGlobe Air Transport
I have had Ravi to come to my organization for more than once for Business Storytelling. Highest recommendation from my side. We have highly benefited from his structured and creative workshop!
Senior HR Leader
Amdocs
Ravi worked with finance team in Medtronic India during mid 2020, after I reached out to him for help. He took multiple sessions through video calls in the most simplistic manner and followed up with short group sessions to clear doubts to my team. His approach of story telling is not only unique, but simple enough for everyone to understand. It's been six months since the session, I can clearly see marked improvement in the way my team including myself think on the story even though we have only numbers to present.
Vineet Jain
CFO, Medtronic India and COE Pricing, Asia-Pacific

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