The Story Factor (2nd Revised Edition)

I discovered this book by reading "The 100 Best Business Books of All Time" by Jack Covert. Covert's book was good for identifying other books worth reading, but otherwise not useful from a content point of view.

Among the countless personal and professional development books that I consume, I found The Story Factor to be among the most valuable. Bravo!

Bearing in mind the author's advice that "bullet points don't change behavior" (p. 252) and that putting storytelling into a framework is like cutting a kitten in half to see why it is so cute, here are the key messages I got as a reader.

Other reviewers have mentioned this is not a "how to" type book. The author is pretty explicit that this is not her goal. I'm a structured, frameworks driven person. To make the book really resonate, open your mind and let the stories and the analysis subtly alter your mental model of effective communication.

IMPORTANT: The following summary cannot capture the impact the author has in communicating this information through story. You have to read the book to "get it":

- Practice to make story telling a habit (ex: make non-smilers smile)
- Deeply listen to others to understand their stories so that you can connect with them
- Story first, facts later!
- Give evidence of what is in it for you before you tell them what is in it for them
- Use language, tone, gestures, and body language that are congruent & genuine

- Connect with the deep needs of your listeners for:
--> Love & Belonging: Be proud of their lives & feel like they are important, known, & understood
--> Desire & Self Interest: Achieve personal gain or joy in giving
--> Self Development: Help them feel curious about themselves and their world
--> Hope: A vision of the positive promise of tomorrow that is reachable and worth their effort

- Tell stories that:
--> Are specific and rich in personal, emotional content and vivid, descriptive, sensory detail
--> Adopt a particular subjective point of view (or distinct sequential points of view)
--> Connect to and reinforce what your listeners already feel is important
--> Establish trust by showing you "walk the walk" and that you care
--> Are about things that happened to you
--> Are indirect enough for people to be able to think for themselves
--> Reveal wisdom and interpretation, not facts
--> Do not challenge your listeners ego (i.e. by proving them wrong)
--> Acknowledge deep disillusionment but move toward positive outcomes
--> Focus on how smart your listeners (not you) are
--> Are authentic, passionate, and fun
--> Are not overtly outcome focused

"Never judge a book by its cover.." as the saying goes. On AMAZON, I would put it as "Never judge a book by its ratings". As a previous review indicated, I have no clue in the world how this book is a 4 1/2 stars book. The book keep on telling WHY storytelling is important (I guess we know that and that's why we invest in books on the topic) but fails to address the "Art of Storytelling" as it shows on the cover. My advice would be to avoid doing the same mistake and to carry on looking as this book is definitely not worth it.

I gave this book three stars - five stars for being an absolutely incredible, perspective-changing work, and one star for being utterly repetitive, boring and atrociously tedious to wade through.

Let me start by saying that if you are like me - you often butt heads with people in an attempt to change their viewpoint or behavior, only to experience complete resistance and often anger - this book will go a long way in raising your awareness as to what elements of human nature are behind this phenomenon and a powerful weapon against it: storytelling.

Storytelling is the age-old human remedy for gentle persuasion, influence and even subtle manipulation.

There you have it - basically everything you need to know from this book.

I have been chewing through books at a pace that would astonish all but the most avid reader since the age of five or six; in fact, I spent 3 months trying to muster up the fortitude to complete this book because I absolutely despise not finishing something I start - but I finally gave up on this book (today) at page 178.

Please note that I finished a biography on Captain James Cook entitled "Farther Than Any Man" (which I highly recommend by the way) in less than two weeks, WHILE trying to finish "The Story Factor."

If you are reading this review, you are probably interested in the subject matter, and thus I do recommend that you read the book - you will definitely find the perspective you are looking for. At the very least, this book will raise your self-awareness (which is at least half the battle in life) and put you on a path towards understanding human nature and your ability to influence others.

As far as actionable steps, there are none - or at least, not in the first 178 pages, at which point I could not bring myself to pick the book up one more time - I was forcing myself to read one sub-chapter a night for a while (2-4 pages) and finally couldn't even bear to do that any more as I became busier.

The book assumes that you have a plethora of story in your arsenal, ready for influential detonation at any time. Most if not all of us probably do, but there was no advice on how to look back on our lives and draw out this experience that connects us with other human beings - once again, at least not in the first 178 pages.

So order this book - preferably a used copy - and read it until you really feel that you understand the concept on a deep level; then when you find yourself getting to that point where you feel like you "get" what the author is trying to say and are waiting for the next step, the next cognition or revelation... stop reading. There isn't one. That's it.

Well, once again, at least within the first utterly repetitive, tediously boring 178 pages...

In reading many books on persuasion, influence and public speaking, this is the only one that after reading half way through went straight to the garbage can. The book talks alot about the importance of storytelling but lacks practical information and it is not concise. I also found some of the information, such as that one "cannot influence groups but only individuals" false. Most of our modern society is built on influencing groups including advertising, presidential campaigns, etc.

There's no doubt, a good story is an effective tool to inspire, influence and persuade others. In fact, in business, the person with the best story usually wins.

Most of this book seems dedicated to driving that point home and that's the problem - since I'm buying this book, I'm already pretty much bought into that idea.

What I was hoping for were constructs, templates, lists, best practices and other tools in easy to reference layout that would help me create and tell better stories. But I all I got was dense text that I had to wade through. And as I was wading through, I got bogged down and drowned. I couldn't force myself to finish.

Tha't my story and I'm sticking to it.