Anecdotally Speaking

Welcome to our 100th episode of Anecdotally Speaking! In this week’s episode, and to celebrate 100 episodes, Shawn and Mark look back on some of the stories they have told on Anecdotally Speaking and discuss which ones they tell most frequently. For each story, they explain what it is, why they like it, and in what circumstances they find themselves telling it. If you are interested in listening t...

In this week’s episode of Anecdotally Speaking, Shawn and Mark share a handful of short stories that showcase, both positive and negative, reward and recognition within the workplace. If you are interested in reading our paper, Corporate Storytelling: The Definitive Guide, click here.https://bit.ly/3qRw4q6 Shawn and Mark would love to hear your examples of reward and recognition, times it worked a...

In this week's episode of Anecdotally Speaking, Shawn shares a story he found in Invisible Women by Caroline Criado Perez. The story is one of many included in her book to demonstrate how unconscious gender biases can impact our actions and decisions. Shawn also mentions the premortem technique, which you can read about here. https://bit.ly/3qtqFp5 Stay tuned to see what we come up with for our 10...

TW: sexual assault at 27:04 In this week’s episode of Anecdotally Speaking, Shawn and Mark are joined by communication experts and Anecdote Partners, The Story Spotters, Sarah Jane McKechnie and David Pullan. Sarah Jane and David recently joined the Anecdote network late last year and are facilitators of our Story-Powered Sales program. Thank you to Sarah Jane and David for providing excellent ins...

In this week’s episode of Anecdotally Speaking, Shawn shares the story of how Airbnb co-founder, Brian Chesky, learnt the power of storyboarding to reveal insights. Storyboarding was invented by Walt Disney when the company was producing its first blockbuster film, Snow White, in 1937. If you would like to hear more about Airbnb’s co-founder, Joe Gebbia, check out his episode on the Tim Ferriss Po...

In this week’s episode of Anecdotally Speaking, Mark tells a story he first heard in a taxi in Coffs Harbour. The story explores how we can all get stuck in our ways and just move through the motions of life. It’s a great short story that we can all pop in our story banks! Our first public programs of the year are just two weeks away! If you are interested in attending one of our March Storytellin...

In this week’s episode of Anecdotally Speaking, Param Venkat, Founder and CEO of Spiria Inc, joins Shawn and Mark. Param is a storytelling and sales expert who delivers Anecdote programs across North America. Thank you to Param for joining the guys this week. If you would like to connect with him, click here. https://bit.ly/2YUb2vF If you are interested in attending our March Storytelling for Lead...

In this week’s episode of Anecdotally Speaking, Mark shares the story of a previous client of his, who had an internal group make outstanding behaviour change efforts with one small note. Shawn mentioned how emotion is a driving force for change and referenced a recent episode of Freakonomics. To listen to the episode on disgust, click here. https://bit.ly/3crwsYS And to read more on this topic, c...

In this week’s episode of Anecdotally Speaking, Shawn shares the story of a renowned inventor, Dean Kamen, and his invention, the Segway. The Segway’s invention brought a lot of excitement to mainstream media, but sadly it didn’t last very long. We will be releasing the dates for our first public Storytelling for Leaders program for 2021 very soon! If you are interested in attending or would like...

In this week’s episode of Anecdotally Speaking, Mark shares the story of a courageous firefighter, who led from the front and followed his intuition to make one of the most important decisions of his and his team’s lives. Mark wrote a blog post on this story many years ago; click here to read it! https://bit.ly/3qsbCMU Shawn mentions Daniel Kahneman and Gary Klein’s article Conditions for Intuitiv...

Welcome to 2021, and to a bonus episode which finalises our Anecdotally Speaking—Corporate Storytelling series! Last year, we released the first eight episodes of this podcast series. The series celebrates the publication of our definitive guide to corporate storytelling, titled Corporate Storytelling—The Essential Guide. You can access it here and read about the myriad of ways you can apply story...

Welcome to the final episode of our Anecdotally Speaking—Corporate Storytelling series! The series celebrates the paper we released at the end of October titled Corporate Storytelling—The Essential Guide. It is our definitive guide to corporate storytelling and delves into the myriad of ways you can apply storytelling in a business context. To access the paper, click here! https://bit.ly/3pe4FPU T...

Welcome to the seventh episode of our Anecdotally Speaking—Corporate Storytelling series! The series celebrates the paper we released at the end of October titled Corporate Storytelling—The Essential Guide. It is our definitive guide to corporate storytelling and delves into the myriad of ways you can apply storytelling in a business context. To access the paper, click here! https://bit.ly/3pe4FPU...

Welcome to the sixth episode of our Anecdotally Speaking—Corporate Storytelling series! The series celebrates the paper we released at the end of October titled Corporate Storytelling—The Essential Guide. It is our definitive guide to corporate storytelling and delves into the myriad of ways you can apply storytelling in a business context. To access the paper, click here! https://bit.ly/3pe4FPU T...

Welcome to the fifth episode of our Anecdotally Speaking—Corporate Storytelling series! The series celebrates the paper we released at the end of October titled Corporate Storytelling—The Essential Guide. It is our definitive guide to corporate storytelling and delves into the myriad of ways you can apply storytelling in a business context. To access the paper, click here! https://bit.ly/3pe4FPU T...

Welcome to the fourth episode of our Anecdotally Speaking—Corporate Storytelling series! The series celebrates the paper we released at the end of October titled Corporate Storytelling—The Essential Guide. It is our definitive guide to corporate storytelling and delves into the myriad of ways you can apply storytelling in a business context. To access the paper, click here! https://bit.ly/3pe4FPU...

Welcome to the third episode of our Anecdotally Speaking—Corporate Storytelling series! The series celebrates the paper we released at the end of October titled Corporate Storytelling—The Essential Guide. It is our definitive guide to corporate storytelling and delves into the myriad of ways you can apply storytelling in a business context. To access the paper, click here! https://bit.ly/3pe4FPU T...

Welcome to the second episode of our Anecdotally Speaking—Corporate Storytelling series! At the end of October, we released a paper titled Corporate Storytelling—The Essential Guide. It is our definitive guide to corporate storytelling and delves into the myriad of ways you can apply storytelling in a business context. To access the paper, click here! https://bit.ly/3pe4FPU Thank you to Darren Woo...

Welcome to the first episode of our Anecdotally Speaking—Corporate Storytelling series! Last week at Anecdote HQ, we released a paper titled Corporate Storytelling—The Essential Guide. It is our definitive guide to corporate storytelling in 2020 and delves into the myriad of ways you can apply corporate storytelling in a business context. To access the paper, click here! https://bit.ly/3kPPMAC Eac...

In this week’s episode of Anecdotally Speaking, Shawn shares a story he first heard on the renowned This American Life podcast (Episode 668: The Long Fuse). The story details how a letter to the editor took on a life of its own and created a storm of incorrect information that people still swear by to this day. Shawn writes about this story in this blog post: https://bit.ly/3dZpIjC. We’ve just rel...

In this week’s episode of Anecdotally Speaking, Mark shares a story he has been utilising in a business sense for a while now. Otto Rohwedder, an American inventor, created the first commercial bread slicer in 1917, but it took him some time to sell his first. We have some exciting news! A new multi-episode series of Anecdotally Speaking will begin on November 3. Keep your eyes and ears peeled to...

In this week’s episode of Anecdotally Speaking, Shawn shares a story about American rock band Van Halen. Shawn first shared this story in his book, Putting Stories to Work. If you would like to read the book, click here.https://bit.ly/3iQJYFh Our virtual Storytelling for Leaders and Story-Powered Sales programs kick off next week! If you are interested in attending, click here for more information...

In this week’s episode of Anecdotally Speaking, Mark shares a story of Howard Leventhal, a Yale University social psychologist, who used behaviour change techniques to encourage senior students to get their tetanus vaccinations. Mark first read the story in Malcolm Gladwell’s book, The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make A Difference. If you would like to read more about Gladwell’s book, cli...

In this week’s episode of Anecdotally Speaking, Shawn shares a story about Benjamin Franklin, whose idea to exchange rare books with one of his rivals built a friendship and comradeship he never before had with him. We will be hosting multiple public workshops at the end of October for both our Storytelling for Leaders and Story-Powered Sales programs. If you are interested in attending, click on...

On this week’s episode of Anecdotally Speaking, Shawn shares a story he stumbled upon when visiting Italy a few years ago. Remember when we could travel?! The story follows Filippo Brunelleschi, the founding father of Renaissance architecture, and his involvement in the Duomo Cathedral in Florence. If you would like to read Brunelleschi’s Dome by Ross King, click on the link to find out more about...