The Storytelling Pocketbook

Storytelling, when used as a strategic tool, helps managers and leaders to communicate their organizations' values, gets people to embrace change, and inspires higher levels of performance. PowerPoint presentations can make audiences doze off and facts and figures often bore people. Stories are memorable and by developing our storytelling skills we can tell stories in a purposeful way with a business aim. This is why storytelling is used in organizations around the world. In the Storytelling Pocketbook, Roger E. Jones advises on how to use storytelling in a pragmatic way to achieve results. He explores the situations where stories can do what facts and figures can't and explains how stories pull the listener towards the storyteller's conclusion. The book guides the reader in how to find stories, develop their own stories, how to tell stories and how to use stories in situations as diverse as training sessions, induction programs, customer service, coaching, selling and more. The author helpfully recounts some of his own stories to illustrate the types of stories that can be used and the messages they help to deliver. There is also a resource section and plenty of hints and tips on how to build your own story library.

About the Author

In his early career Roger E. Jones was an oil exploration geologist in West Africa. After gaining an MBA degree at Cranfield School of Management he then worked around the world in marketing, business development and general management roles. In 1996 he discovered the power of storytelling after seeing a CEO deliver a truly inspiring conference speech using simple stories. This experienced ignited his interest in researching how storytelling could be employed to persuade, inspire action and make change happen. Roger started his own business in 2001, to help business people harness the power of storytelling. The Financial Times and The Sunday Times have featured his storytelling workshops and Forbes reviewed his last book. He enjoys delivering pragmatic storytelling coaching programs, workshops and conference speeches, to leaders and managers in companies across all business sectors throughout Europe, Asia and the USA.