We talk a lot about storytelling and brands, don’t we?

Let’s reverse that thought: how many brands are actually great storytellers? Dig a little deeper how many marketers do you know that are great storytellers? I see a lot of marketing and communications professionals who are able to create and transmit a message, but professional marketers who have studied and labored over creating stories? Marketers who have published stories (fiction or non-fiction) with success? They’re probably few and far between. This recent Google Talk took me by surprise. I went in suspecting to hear the usual presentation on how a story is created, crafted and manipulated. I couldn’t take my eyes off of the screen. Doug Stevenson is not someone who was on my radar, and I’m usually skeptical of former actors who are now trying to give leadership lessons on persuasion and presentation skills. I like being proven wrong. Doug has a book titled, The Story Theater Method for Strategic Storytelling in Business, that makes no attempt to turn you into a great actor, but does want to make you a "star" in whatever the room that you have to sell an idea happens to be. What’s most interesting is how he takes stories and helps turn the teller into a better storyteller.

Want to be more interesting, convincing and passionate in a room? Watch this: Doug Stevenson: "The Power to Persuade – The Magic of Story"