To Persuade People, Tell Them a Story

Re:To Persuade People, Tell Them a Story by spodek on Sunday November 10, 2013 @03:42PM (#6708346)

When I started to realize the value of storytelling, I gathered a group of friends to meet regularly to improve our storytelling. I read a bunch of books on storytelling and distilled their essence into a few parts -- mainly characters, conflict, struggle, and goal, which I memorize as CCSG. All the books I read described these four elements as the most important, which my experience confirms.

I wrote a few posts on the basics of storytelling (not all independent). While no substitute for practice, observing, and reading comprehensive books, people have told me they helped improve their storytelling. Storytelling improves persuasion and a lot more.

http://joshuaspodek.com/model-great-story

http://joshuaspodek.com/communication-skills-exercises-4

http://joshuaspodek.com/improve-public-speaking-storytelling...

Speaking of practice, look up http://themoth.org for great storytelling events and podcasts. The Moth is amazing. (If you search my blog you can find video of me telling stories at the Moth).

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Re:To Persuade People, Tell Them a Story by thro2 on Sunday November 10, 2013 @06:37PM (#6709019)

> When I started to realize the value of storytelling, I gathered a group of friends to meet regularly to improve our storytelling.

I see what you did there

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Re:To Persuade People, Tell Them a Story by fudged71 on Sunday November 10, 2013 @07:50PM (#6709290)

But wait! There was a challenge that was overcome...

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Re:To Persuade People, Tell Them a Story by bloodorange on Monday November 11, 2013 @02:07AM (#6710370)

I think this also depends on the purpose and the audience of the presentation. If someone were to drift into stories of the kind described in the article (the one this thread is about) I'd get restless quickly and keep thinking "Why doesn't this person get to the point?"

I want the facts and I want them presented plainly and simply. I want to be able to go through relevant things quickly.

So, I definitely can't relate to this 'story'.

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Re:To Persuade People, Tell Them a Story by e12e on Monday November 11, 2013 @05:23AM (#6710901)

I guess I should put role playing and game mastering back on the CV... :)

Seriously though, role playing is a very efficient training and collaborative brainstorming strategy. Which is one reason why both the military and police use it as an almost exclusive training focus (exercises).

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Re:To Persuade People, Tell Them a Story by jashmenn on Sunday November 10, 2013 @11:56PM (#6710024)

> I read a bunch of books on storytelling and distilled their essence into a few parts

Care to share which books you read on storytelling? I'd love to read them.

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Re:To Persuade People, Tell Them a Story by r0h1n on Monday November 11, 2013 @12:43AM (#6710175)

FWIW, I've found these books really helpful*

> For non-fiction storytelling

- Telling True Stories: A Nonfiction Writers' Guide from the Nieman Foundation, http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0452287553/ref=nosim/...

- The Art and Craft of Feature Writing: Based on The Wall Street Journal Guide, http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0452261589/ref=nosim/...

> For fiction storytelling:

- Writing Fiction: The Practical Guide from New York's Acclaimed Creative Writing School, http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1582343306/ref=nosim/...

- The Modern Library Writer's Workshop: A Guide to the Craft of Fiction, http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0375755586/ref=nosim/...

* Disclaimer: I am a professional journalist, but I believe that the fundamentals of telling a good story are universal.

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Re:To Persuade People, Tell Them a Story by mchaver on Sunday November 10, 2013 @09:03PM (#6709519)

This American Life is another great source of stories: http://www.thisamericanlife.org/

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