Business Articles

Photo by Sigmund on Unsplash

Hybrid Events Are Here

By Jessica Robinson, Better Said Than Done As the number of new covid cases start to go down in many areas of the country, more and more events are going hybrid. As a show producer – I produce Better Said Than Done out of Fairfax, VA – and a video producer – I run a […]

Story Now Interview: Joe Herrington

At the National Storytelling Network, our mission is to advance all forms of storytelling within the community through promotion, advocacy, and education. STORY NOW! Interview Series The theme of our 2019 annual conference was Story Now! Now! From the boardroom to the classroom, and the page to the stage, personal stories and folktales are catalysts […]

Story Now Interview: Jerome Deroy with Narativ and Jules Ryan with J Ryan Partners, Be engaged at work

At the National Storytelling Network, our mission is to advance all forms of storytelling within the community through promotion, advocacy, and education. STORY NOW! Interview Series The theme of our 2019 annual conference was Story Now! Now! From the boardroom to the classroom, and the page to the stage, personal stories and folktales are catalysts […]

Story Now Interview: Living Proof Advocacy, Tim Cage and John Capecci

At the National Storytelling Network, our mission is to advance all forms of storytelling within the community through promotion, advocacy, and education. STORY NOW! Interview Series The theme of our 2019 annual conference was Story Now! Now! From the boardroom to the classroom, and the page to the stage, personal stories and folktales are catalysts […]

Kevin Cordi

Challenges to Those Who Respond with Story – A Call Out to Storytellers

By Kevin Cordi Challenges to Those Who Respond with Story – A Call Out to Storytellers One must continually reflect when they chose to take on the ‘mantle of storyteller’ or decide to use stories in their work and daily life. For over 25 years, I work to honor this mantle. This includes not only […]

Story Now Interview: Jackie & Papa Wright, Jr. – St. Louis, Missouri

At the National Storytelling Network, our mission is to advance all forms of storytelling within the community through promotion, advocacy, and education. STORY NOW! Interview Series The theme of our 2019 annual conference was Story Now! Now! From the boardroom to the classroom, and the page to the stage, personal stories and folktales are catalysts […]

Story Now Interview: Karen Dietz – San Diego, California

At the National Storytelling Network, our mission is to advance all forms of storytelling within the community through promotion, advocacy, and education. STORY NOW! Interview Series The theme of our 2019 annual conference was Story Now! Now! From the boardroom to the classroom, and the page to the stage, personal stories and folktales are catalysts […]

How Storytelling Can Help Young Doctors Become More Resilient

Harvard Business Review | October 16, 2018 by Jessica Zitter, MD, MPH I recently stood in front of a group of emergency room residents at my hospital and asked an unusual question. “Has any of you ever judged your attending physician for not trying hard enough to save a patient’s life?” Then I looked around […]

The economy could use more storytellers

Marketplace | October 21, 2019 by Bennett Purser and Kai Ryssdal College degrees in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) are seen as lucrative, reliable path to a career. But an uptick in STEM majors since the financial crisis means English majors are down 25.5%, which appears to be worrying some economic leaders. That’s because […]

Story Now Interview: Karen Golden – Los Angeles, California

At the National Storytelling Network, our mission is to advance all forms of storytelling within the community through promotion, advocacy and education. New Interview Series…STORY NOW! The theme of our 2019 annual conference was Story Now! Now! From the boardroom to the classroom, and the page to the stage, personal stories and folktales are catalysts […]

How To Persuade An Audience That Thinks It Knows Everything

Forbes   September 8, 2019 First, acknowledge your audience’s point of view. People aren’t ready to hear anything disagreeable until they feel heard by having their ideas repeated back to them. Second, ask your audience to take you through the process of how they came to their point of view. This will probably reveal things they […]

Story Now Interview: Artem Mushin-Makedonskiy – Moscow, Russia

At the National Storytelling Network, our mission is to advance all forms of storytelling within the community through promotion, advocacy and education. New Interview Series…STORY NOW! The theme of our 2019 annual conference was Story Now! Now! From the boardroom to the classroom, and the page to the stage, personal stories and folktales are catalysts […]

Turns Out Storytelling Isn’t Always The Best Way to Get People to Believe Facts

ScienceAlert.com  August 25, 2019 A team of consumer psychology researchers at Northwestern University have been investigating whether stories help convince people of facts, or have the opposite effect. Three experiments suggest that storytelling makes the ‘weaker’ facts easier to swallow and the strongest arguments significantly harder. In other words, storytelling might actually dilute strong facts while […]

Jane Goodall: If you want leaders to truly listen, use the power of storytelling

CNBC  January 29, 2019 World-renowned primatologist and conservationist Jane Goodall said: “So often, I see activists and they come face-to-face with a CEO or somebody — and they immediately become very aggressive (with phrases like): ‘Do you realize what you’re doing to the planet?’ (or) ‘Do you realize what you’re doing to my future?’” “So, […]

Storytelling in data science

BusinessWorld  July 3, 2019 With the unprecedented increase in the amount of data that businesses create, the potential value from data also increases. However, we can only realize the value of data when the insights we derive move people into action. The question is: How exactly can we do that? To move people into action, […]

You’ve Told That Story 100 Times. Please Stop.

March 30, 2019  Wall Street Journal Storytelling is supposed to be bonding. But you need to get good at storytelling for the bonding to take place. Here are some tips to be a better storyteller: Have a point Open hot. Flesh out your characters. Build tension. Don’t exaggerate. Disclose somethings about yourself. If you’re telling […]

5 Storytelling Tips to Help You Ace Your Job Interview

March 24, 2019   Forbes Often job interviewees focus on their credentials and competence. An interviewer spending a day interviewing candidates for a job might end up feeling she ,hadn’t had the chance to actually meet any of them. A story illustrating their character makes candidates memorable. Some tips about creating job interview stories: Don’t overshare – […]

What does membership provide?

By Patricia Coffie What does membership provide? Payback on what you invest. When members cease to invest time and talent as well as money, organizations die. I am currently a member of a family group, two historical societies, a storytellers’ guild, a regional storytelling organization (five states and the others too), a national storytelling organization, […]

How Howard Schultz Elevated The Art Of Corporate Storytelling

Forbes September 7, 2018 Inspiring leaders, like Howard Schultz, are great storytellers. This is his signature story.   On a business trip in Milan in 1983 for the recently created Starbucks corporation, “I went past one coffee bar after another and was captivated,” he recalled last month in Britain’s Sunday Times newspaper. “The symphony of flavor, the romance […]

New ACLU Storytelling Program at TSU to Train Advocates for Criminal Justice Reform

Houston, TX  August 2, 2018 The ACLU and Texas Southern University (TSU) are joining together to tackle criminal justice reform by fostering storytellers — a first of its kind storytelling bureau in the U.S.A. The program will train students who have been impacted by the criminal justice system how to tell their stories in public forums such as the state […]

3 Core Tenets Of Leadership Storytelling

Forbes, May 29,2017 Summary It is important for individuals and organizations to synchronize these three key elements–internally and externally: what they say, what they do, and what is truly in their hearts. Esther Choy says, “I believe ‘heart’ is an expression of the leaders’ deepest motivation–the core that’s driving everything else. It flows from the company’s mission and vision […]

On the importance of storytelling in medicine

Stanford Medicine  April 20, 2017 Summary Data Needs Narrative: Communicating Science to the Public Science is complex. And like many professionals in fields with their own terms unknown to the general public, medical researchers often have difficulty explaining their research to the public. However, stories can animate data. Dhruv Khullar, a resident in internal medicine […]

Why Science Needs Storytellers

British Science Association  March 1, 2018 Summary Written by Dr. Pippa Malmgren, manufacturer of AI-led aerial robotics at her firm H Robotics and former Presidential Advisor to President George W. Bush, and Jessica Fox, Artist-in-residence at the UK Centre for Synthetic Mammalian Biology and former Storyteller at NASA.   A problem exists: scientists generally don’t […]

The Crying Hour: In an Unorthodox Team-Building Exercise, Bills Players Share Their Life Stories

Sports Illustrated  December 1, 2017 Summary: Last spring, the new Buffalo Bills coach Sean McDermott started a new tradition: ending many team meeting with a player telling a personal story about his upbringing, his motivation, his influences, what’s most important to him. The first player to tell his story, veteran tackle Jordan Mills said, “It’s […]

Cooperation and the evolution of hunter-gatherer storytelling

Nature Communications,   December 2, 2017 Summary:   This is an anthropological study of the impact of storytelling on the Agta, a Filipino hunter-gatherer population. Their stories contain themes promoting cooperation, sex equality and egalitarianism — common to other foraging societies. When there are good storytellers, cooperation increases.

United’s newest crew member: Chief storyteller

Chicago Tribune (Chicago, IL), October 25, 2016 Summary: As part of CEO Oscar Munoz’s revamping of United Airlines, a new position has been created and filled: Chief Storyteller Dana Brooks Reinglass. Jim Olsen, United’s senior vice president of corporate communications, explained: “The idea is using stories to give employees and customers a window seat to how we’re doing […]

This is your Brain on Communication

TED Conferences (New York, NY), February, 2016   Summary: During an official TED conference, neuroscientist Uri Hasson, Princeton University, researches the basis of human communication, and experiments from his lab reveal that even across different languages, our brains show similar activity, or become “aligned,” when we hear the same idea or story. This amazing neural […]

This is your brain on communication

TED Conferences (New York, NY), February, 2016 Summary: During an official TED conference, neuroscientist Uri Hasson, Princeton University, researches the basis of human communication, and experiments from his lab reveal that even across different languages, our brains show similar activity, or become “aligned,” when we hear the same idea or story. This amazing neural mechanism […]

This Is Your Brain On Communication

This Is Your Brain On Communication TED Conferences (New York, NY), February, 2016 Summary: During an official TED conference, neuroscientist Uri Hasson, Princeton University, researches the basis of human communication, and experiments from his lab reveal that even across different languages, our brains show similar activity, or become “aligned,” when we hear the same idea […]

Why Data Storytelling Is So Important

Why Data Storytelling Is So Important The Wall Street Journal (New York, NY), October 9, 2015 Summary: Tom Davenport, the President’s Distinguished Professor of Information Technology and Management at Babson College, a Fellow of the MIT Center for Digital Business and independent senior advisor to Deloitte Analytics, discusses why storytelling with data is critical to […]

Why positive storytelling matters to transportation

Why positive storytelling matters to transportation GreaterGreaterWashington.org (Washington, DC), June 23, 2015 Summary: Better streets, transit lines, and bike lanes are wonderful things. But for communities hoping to kick the car habit, good marketing and public relations matter just as much as the infrastructure itself. At StreetsCamp, Mobility Lab’s Paul Mackie taught us why marketing […]

Why Positive Storytelling Matters To Transportation

Why Positive Storytelling Matters To Transportation GreaterGreaterWashington.org (Washington, DC), June 23, 2015 Summary: Better streets, transit lines, and bike lanes are wonderful things. But for communities hoping to kick the car habit, good marketing and public relations matter just as much as the infrastructure itself. At StreetsCamp, Mobility Lab’s Paul Mackie taught us why marketing […]

11 Ways Remarkable Storytellers Create New Worlds

11 Ways Remarkable Storytellers Create New Worlds Time Magazine (New York, NY), June 10, 2015 Summary: The better at storytelling someone is, the more that readers and listeners are transported to a whole new world. According to studies conducted on this transportation phenomenon, great stories alter beliefs, result in the loss of access to real-world […]

The resurgence of the storyteller

The resurgence of the storyteller The Hindu Business Line (Chennai, India), March 12, 2015 Summary: It’s beyond doubt that storytelling has immense power as a tool to make people believe in an idea. For different kinds of professionals (educators, human resource managers, marketers, etc.) different reasons are fuelling the storyteller phenomenon. Specifically, in the case […]

Stories Triggered The Measles Outbreak, And Storytelling Can Stop It

Stories Triggered The Measles Outbreak, And Storytelling Can Stop It Forbes (Jersey City, NJ), February 3, 2015 Summary: Olivia was 7 years old when she caught the measles. She seemed to be recovering when the disease took a turn. She felt sleepy. Her fingers and her mind weren’t working together. The measles had triggered encephalitis, […]

Stories Triggered The Measles Outbreak, And Storytelling Can Stop It

Forbes (Jersey City, NJ), February 3, 2015   Summary: Olivia was 7 years old when she caught the measles. She seemed to be recovering when the disease took a turn. She felt sleepy. Her fingers and her mind weren’t working together. The measles had triggered encephalitis, an acute inflammation of the brain. “In an hour […]

Showcasing Your Strategy Through Storytelling

Showcasing Your Strategy Through Storytelling Probono Australia (Melbourne, VIC, Australia), January 22, 2015 Summary: The social sector ‘strategy’ is now receiving a makeover, thanks to storytelling techniques that are transforming routine reports,such as strategic plans, into compelling content. Here are some top tips for Not for Profits: 1. Publish on Digital Platforms Each year, more […]

Storytelling Your Way to a Better Job or a Stronger Start-Up

Storytelling Your Way to a Better Job or a Stronger Start-Up New York Times Magazine (New York, NY), December 12, 2014 Summary: The age-old art of storytelling — something humans have done since they could first communicate – has become this year’s buzzword. In these days, you need to be compelling, unforgettable, funny and smart. […]

Why Your Brain Loves Good Storytelling

Why Your Brain Loves Good Storytelling Harvard Business Review (Cambridge, MA), October 28, 2014 Summary: Paul J. Zak said, “A decade ago, my lab discovered that a neurochemical called oxytocin is a key ‘it’s safe to approach others’ signal in the brain. Oxytocin is produced when we are trusted or shown a kindness, and it […]

Scientists Study Why Stories Exist

Scientists Study Why Stories Exist Wall Street Journal (New York, NY), April 4, 2014 Summary: We human beings spend hours each day telling and hearing stories. We always have. Why? At a fascinating workshop at Stanford last month called “The Science of Stories” scientists and scholars talked about why reading Harlequin romances may make you […]

Scientists Study Why Stories Exist

Wall Street Journal (New York, NY), April 4, 2014 Summary: We human beings spend hours each day telling and hearing stories. We always have. Why? At a fascinating workshop at Stanford last month called “The Science of Stories” scientists and scholars talked about why reading Harlequin romances may make you more empathetic, about how ten-year-olds […]

Scientists Study Why Stories Exist

Wall Street Journal (New York, NY) , April 4, 2014 Summary: We human beings spend hours each day telling and hearing stories. We always have. Why? At a fascinating workshop at Stanford last month called “The Science of Stories” scientists and scholars talked about why reading Harlequin romances may make you more empathetic, about how […]

Tap the Power of Storytelling

Tap the Power of Storytelling Forbes (Jersey City, NJ), January 4, 2014 Summary: By Rodger Dean Duncan No doubt about it, the best speakers are good storytellers. The best writers are good storytellers. The best leaders are good storytellers. The best teachers and trainers and coaches are good storytellers. It might even be argued that […]

To Persuade People, Tell Them a Story

To Persuade People, Tell Them a Story Wall Street Journal (New York, NY), November 9, 2013 Summary: Paul Smith had 20 minutes to sell the CEO of Procter & Gamble, and his team of managers, on new market-research techniques for which Mr. Smith’s department wanted funding. As associate director of P&G ‘s market research, Mr. […]

Businesses Can Connect Through Storytelling

Businesses Can Connect Through Storytelling The Salt Lake Tribune (Salt Lake City, UT), July 29, 2013 Summary: Ty Bennett, the author of “The Power of Storytelling,” says stories are a big way to connect with audiences and customers. Storytelling works in a business presentation because stories make every presentation more engaging, dynamic, compelling and memorable. […]

A Twist in the Tale

The Hindu (Chennai, India), July 6, 2013 Summary: Indians are big on stories. This is a land of myths and mythologies; of tales with pious men and brave gods; of stories with carefully masked do’s and don’ts; of tickling anecdotes and gruesome monsters. We have always loved a good story, and we’ve always had storytellers. […]

A Twist in the Tale

A Twist in the Tale The Hindu (Chennai, India), July 6, 2013 Summary: Indians are big on stories. This is a land of myths and mythologies; of tales with pious men and brave gods; of stories with carefully masked do’s and don’ts; of tickling anecdotes and gruesome monsters. We have always loved a good story, […]

A Twist in the Tale

The Hindu (Chennai, India), July 6, 2013 Summary: Indians are big on stories. This is a land of myths and mythologies; of tales with pious men and brave gods; of stories with carefully masked do’s and don’ts; of tickling anecdotes and gruesome monsters. We have always loved a good story, and we’ve always had storytellers. […]

A Twist in the Tale

The Hindu (Chennai, India), July 6, 2013 Summary: Indians are big on stories. This is a land of myths and mythologies; of tales with pious men and brave gods; of stories with carefully masked do’s and don’ts; of tickling anecdotes and gruesome monsters. We have always loved a good story, and we’ve always had storytellers. […]

A Different Kind of (Business) Storytelling

A Different Kind of (Business) Storytelling Savannah Now (Savannah, GA), February 19, 2013 Summary: Storytelling is a wonderful part of our city. From unique storytelling events, like this past weekend’s book festival that hosted renowned authors reading their own works, to the almost common sound of a period actor waxing to tourists in a downtown […]

Entrepreneurs Who Master Storytelling Win More

Entrepreneurs Who Master Storytelling Win More Forbes (New York, NY), January 25, 2013 Summary: The entrepreneur’s challenge is to effectively communicate their value proposition, not only to customers, but also to vendors, partners, investors, and their own team. Especially for technical founders, this is normally all about presenting impressive facts. But in reality facts only […]

The Heart of Storytelling: The American Red Cross Lets Real People Tell Their Stories

The Heart of Storytelling: The American Red Cross Lets Real People Tell Their Stories Co.Create, Fast Company (New York, NY), December 18, 2012 Summary: With its new Storytellers campaign, The American Red Cross gives a voice–and a camera–to the people who have been helped by the organization. A New Yorker whose home was ravaged by […]

The Heart of Storytelling: The American Red Cross Lets Real People Tell Their Stories

Co.Create, Fast Company (New York, NY), December 18, 2012 Summary: With its new Storytellers campaign, The American Red Cross gives a voice–and a camera–to the people who have been helped by the organization. A New Yorker whose home was ravaged by Hurricane Sandy, a Michigan teenager whose Red Cross CPR training helped him save a […]

The Heart of Storytelling: The American Red Cross Lets Real People Tell Their Stories

Co.Create, Fast Company (New York, NY), December 18, 2012 Summary: With its new Storytellers campaign, The American Red Cross gives a voice–and a camera–to the people who have been helped by the organization. A New Yorker whose home was ravaged by Hurricane Sandy, a Michigan teenager whose Red Cross CPR training helped him save a […]

Tips for Lawyers on Persuading Through Storytelling

Tips for Lawyers on Persuading Through Storytelling Law.com (New York, NY), July 10, 2012 Summary: Most lawyers could do with an intensive remedial course in “Once upon a time.” The longer they have practiced law, the more they probably need it. A lawyer’s job is to persuade, which is not possible without some type of […]

Not Just for Bedtime, Marketers Corner the Market on Storytelling

Not Just for Bedtime, Marketers Corner the Market on Storytelling Forbes (New York, NY), June 27, 2012 Summary: While emerging forms of communications in marketing are often based on the latest technologies, it’s ironic that the hottest trend in marketing today just might be the ancient art of storytelling. Marketing guru Seth Godin equates storytelling […]

Seven Tips in Digital Storytelling From the New York Times and CNN

Seven Tips in Digital Storytelling From the New York Times and CNN Journalism.co.uk (Brighton, East Sussex, UK), May 31, 2012 Summary: “We are in a golden age of storytelling” was the message shared by the New York Times’s assistant managing editor Jim Roberts early on in a session at the News World Summit today named […]

Nine Steps to All the Power You’ll Ever Need

Nine Steps to All the Power You’ll Ever Need Forbes (New York, NY), April 15, 2012 Summary: by August Turak Authentic power arises from compelling communication. Every great leader is a powerful communicator. It worked for Steve Jobs. Here’s how to make it work for you. The primary job of leadership is to “communicate a […]

Storytelling to Help Your Career

Storytelling to Help Your Career CNN (Atlanta, GA), June 29, 2011 Summary: “It occurred to me that everybody in business shares one universal problem: To succeed, you have to persuade others to support your vision, dream or cause,” Peter Guber, author of Tell To Win: Connect, Persuade, and Triumph with the Hidden Power of Story, […]

The Psychological Power of Storytelling

Psychology Today (New York, NY) , January 16, 2011 Summary: Stories are authentic human experiences. Stories leap frog the technology and bring us to the core of experience, as any good storyteller (transmedia or otherwise) knows. Our brains still respond to content by looking for the story to make sense out of the experience. No […]

The Psychological Power of Storytelling

The Psychological Power of Storytelling Psychology Today (New York, NY), January 16, 2011 Summary: Stories are authentic human experiences. Stories leap frog the technology and bring us to the core of experience, as any good storyteller (transmedia or otherwise) knows. Our brains still respond to content by looking for the story to make sense out […]

Telling Stories: Creating Community One Story at a Time

Tucson Citizen (Tucson, AZ), March 2, 2010 Summary: Stories can heal, educate, sell, empower, and/or illuminate. They can be told, performed, journaled, blogged, social media’d, and/or written. Here are some on-line locations where you can learn more about storytelling applications. The National Storytelling Network has five special interest groups dealing with healing, producing storytelling events, […]

Enter the World of Storytelling

ExpressBuzz (Chenai, India), February 10, 2010 Summary: No one who sat in the intellectual audience at IIT Madras on a Sunday afternoon would’ve imagined that a story of two little goats who lived on two separate hills would do wonders to lift their energy levels. Yet, Jeeva Raghunath, a professional storyteller, addressed a gathering on […]

Why Right-brainers Will Rule This Century

Why Right-brainers Will Rule This Century CNN.com (Atlanta, GA), May 7, 2009 Summary: Your left brain is logical, linear, by-the-numbers; the right side is creative, artistic, empathetic. Oprah Winfrey talks with Daniel Pink about his groundbreaking book, “A Whole New Mind”, and explores how right-brain thinkers are wired for 21st-century success. The best part: Anyone […]

The Secrets of Storytelling: Why We Love a Good Yarn

Scientific American Mind (New York, NY), September, 2008 Summary: Storytelling is a human universal, and common themes appear in tales throughout history and all over the the world. The best stories—those retold through generations and translated into other languages—do more than simply present a believable picture. These tales captivate their audience, whose emotions can be […]

Storytellers Tackle Modern Woes with Old Tales

Reuters.uk (UK), May 24, 2007 Summary: Ancient stories first told by the Aztecs and Sumerians are helping businesses and people in the age of the Internet to make sense of modern life. Professional storytellers like Dez Quarrell are using tales culled from cultures around the world to explain the conundrums of modern life for technology […]

Shopping Cart
Scroll to Top