Air Force Brig. General Christopher “Mookie” Walker

#168: How to Develop Your Leadership Story

There has always been a distinction between a commander and a leader. A commander gives instructions, delegates tasks, and implements orders. A leader has a more serious responsibility – that of influencing people and making the critical decision to choose what kind of influence he will be.

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Randy Olson, Author & Filmmaker

#167: For Want of a Story, the Democrat’s Kingdom Will be Lost

As the Kavanaugh hearing underscored, the Democrats still lack a focused, cohesive narrative on which to build their platform. We bring back narrative consultant, and scientist-turned-filmmaker, Dr. Randy Olson, author of the landmark 2015 book, Houston, We Have A Narrative from University of Chicago Press.  He last visited us the morning after the election to explain how Donald Trump has what he terms “narrative intuition.”

His episode became our most popular.  Now he is putting together the pieces of the bigger picture for the Democratic party — spotting the trend starting with Obama in 2012 conceding his failure “to tell a story to the American people,” connecting to Hillary Clinton in 2016 failing to have a clear story for her presidential candidacy, and now the failure of the Democratic senators in the Kavanaugh hearing to tell a story to the American people.

Lack of a story is clearly a recurring theme with the Democrats, and our concern is (drawing on the legendary proverb “for want of a nail”) that they are running the risk of losing everything some day — all for want of a story.

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Randy Murray, Randy Murray Productions

#166: How Truth is Your Most Powerful Storytelling Element

“One of the most important commodities in our industry is truth.”   In a world where almost everyone’s personal struggle revolves around the approval from others, it’s always been easier to say what we think people want to hear instead of what things actually are.

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Kathy Klotz-Guest, Carrie Wilkerson, Robert Rose, Daniel Lemin, Mike Ganino & Leslie Ehm

#165: Business Storytelling Tips From Six STORYco Leaders

Brand and business storytelling is all of the rage today. And for good reason. It works.

But while most storytelling experts tell you to tell stories, these six content marketing and communications leaders will show you how.

This week’s show previews the latest storytelling tips and techniques you’ll learn from leading brand and business storytellers who are coming together for STORYco, a FREE storytelling conference on October 25, 2018 at the historic downtown Los Angeles Theatre Center. (more…)

Patrick Hunt, CEO of Hunt Adkins

#164: Rare Story Sighting: Bigfoot in Brilliant Political Ad

The primaries are approaching and we’re inundated with the typical screeching political attack ads. But a surprising thing happens when you replace vitriol with ingenious storytelling. People take notice. And in this rare case, laugh.

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Nick Woodward-Shaw, VP of Communications for Forever Living Products

#163: How to Create Memorable Moments that Spark Brand Stories

40 years back, Forever Living was a scrappy startup operating from a garage. Today, it is a multi-billion dollar organization with a presence in 150 plus countries.

Their success can be attributed, in no small way to their genius brand storytelling prowess. (more…)

Andrew Robinson, Brand Anthropologist

#162: How to Engage Your Narrative Mind

Whether you are a multi-billion dollar business or a brave little startup, the struggle to connect with your audience is a difficult and often, unsuccessful one.

Presenting your brand story through a narrative lens will help facilitate effective translation, allowing you to reach your target audience. (more…)

Jennifer Russo, Brand Building Specialist

#161: How to Bring Clarity and Energy to Your Personal Brand Story

As I’ve learned from my associates at Anecdote, character trumps credentials every time when you are trying to connect with people. But when looking for a job or reinventing a career, we often make the mistake of leading with our resumes rather than our personalities.

After 15 years as a communications executive with a multi-national mining firm and ready to make a change, Jennifer Russo realized that her powerful resume is just the cost of entry into being considered for the high-level job she was seeking.  If she’s going to be successful landing the position that will help define her legacy, she needed to clarify her own brand story. (more…)

Avein Saaty-Tafoya, CEO of Adelante Sustainable Healthcare

#160: How a Purpose-Driven Brand Story Will Increase the Health of Your Organization

In 2005, Clinica Adelante was an organization struggling to stay afloat. Today, they are a 500 employee-strong community health center serving more than 75,000 patients every year.

What makes this transformation even more amazing is that they have achieved this without losing sight of their noble philosophy of providing affordable healthcare for all. (more…)

Jay Baer & Daniel Lemin, Authors of Talk Triggers

#159: How to Share Your Brand Story Through Talk Triggers

Word of mouth marketing is incredibly effective – if done the right way.

A talk trigger or story starter is a tool that can be used by businesses to carve a distinct brand identity via powerful word of mouth marketing. (more…)