Stories Mean Business - Nick Warren

Business storytelling techniques: 2/30 FLOW Season 1, Episode 2 of The West Wing is titled "Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc". After this, therefore because of this. The episode opens with President Bartlet complaining that his staff are falling for this logical fallacy – assuming that one thing led to another just because it came first... Humans seem especially vulnerable to this mistake: She's angry b...

Business storytelling techniques: 2/30 TRIGGERS I'm writing this the day after the sad death of Robbie Coltraine. Fantastic actor. For me, he'll always be Cracker, but as Hagrid, he's a fantastic example of today's thesis. Stories are about change. Yesterday, I talked about POINTS OF NO RETURN. Today, we're focused on where to start our story ... the triggers of change. Harry Potter learns he's a...

Business storytelling techniques: 1/30 THE POINT OF NO RETURN In the second season of Breaking Bad, Walter White crosses a line. It’s episode 12, and he’s standing over a young woman who’s choking to death. He could easily save her, but he does nothing. Because the woman is a threat. Bryan Cranston, the actor who plays White, describes the emotional aftermath of the scene in his memoir, A Life In...

Here's something you haven't thought before. You are powerless to resist the storyteller inside your head This picture nails the point... If you've never seen Game of Thrones, it's a fairy-tale wedding. If you have, it's a visceral knot of tension and dread. And whichever is it, you have no choice. The voice inside you roars ahead, freighting the image with inference, meaning and story. And that s...

A good story can save or make your business. Here’s a true example. It’s three lines long, but it changes reality… Back in the late 1990s, I had a problem. I'd quit my IBM job in a temper tantrum and accidentally started a web agency. In reality, "agency" was a pretty grand title for what we had. The company had just two employees. For most of the brands we wanted to work with, this was a problem....

Here’s a puzzle… Most leaders agree that storytelling is powerful, but few can articulate why. Here’s a big clue >> In the New York Times bestseller, Pre-Suasion, Robert Cialdini demonstrates our vulnerability to tiny signals … His examples blow my mind: How writing down a big number makes us more likely to buy an expensive box of chocolates. How hearing French music makes us more likely to...

Trust is the most under-valued and under-discussed quality in business. Here’s why … Four years ago, we brought Tala back from Battersea Dogs Home.  She was our 3rd Collie, but our first rescue dog. I admit, I had doubts. She'd been found, tied up and abandoned near some derelict outbuildings in the north of England. For reasons I prefer not to think about, she was particularly scared of men....

Do you sell simplicity? I only ask because... Google simplified finding stuff. Amazon simplified shopping. Hotmail simplified email. Apple simplified software distribution (among other things) Headspace simplified meditation IKEA simplified furniture Netflix simplified video rental Spotify simplified music Canva simplified design Xero simplified accounting. LinkedIn simplified networking. Two thou...

It’s helpful to remind ourselves that EVERYONE online is: 10% less good-looking than their profile pic. 25% less together than they appear. 50% less successful than they secretly want to be.* But it’s equally important to remember that EVERYONE behind those pics is 100% real. Act accordingly. (*This figure comes via Will Storr’s great book, The Status Game. Studies show that however successful we...

Yesterday, I tried to take a new profile photo. Huge mistake. Huge lesson. "Just be casual", I told the grizzled guy staring back at me. "All you have to show is that you’re approachable, intelligent, creative, experienced, responsive, dependable, funny, understanding and amazing at what you do." 30 minutes later, I abandoned the effort when it (finally) reminded me of a decision I made years ago....

Last month, I put out my 1,111th daily podcast. This month, I’m writing 31 posts on LinkedIn (as a challenge to myself).  Doing a podcast is easy.  Writing a post is easy. Staying consistent is hard. First, it’s work. Then it’s a muscle. But eventually, it becomes your identity. Which is why you should do it. Don’t make podcasts. Don’t write posts. Do your thing. But whatever that is, go...

Two businesses. Which are you? One is a hunter-gatherer. It grinds hard to sell, pushing out every day to chase opportunities, smash objections and make sales. The other is a blacksmith. It grinds hard to build a centre of gravity, establishing expertise, reputation and status. Both work, but only one attracts opportunity like water flowing downhill. ------------------- The Stories Mean Business p...

Persuasion tactics in brief ... Inspire: With this, you can fly. Negotiate: If you do this, I'll do that. Shame: No decent person could deny this. Appeal to vanity: This item is exclusive. Passive aggressive: Fine, don't buy it. Threaten: Do this now, or I'm taking it away. Social Proof: See, everyone's doing it. Dis: I'm not sure you're up to this. Compromise: Okay, how about half? Slipstream: My...

Still amazes me that so many people struggle to give their 'why'. They have an offer, but if you ask them to talk about themselves, they stumble. "Buy my thing. It's good. Honest." Sure, but where's the depth? I need the origin story. And it doesn't mean being bitten by a spider or doused in gamma radiation. (Although that would be cool.) It's the story of how you ended up here. 250 words. 90 seco...

For 1%, life works like this: Attention > Money For the rest of us, the reality is closer to: Effort > Attention > Opportunity > Work > Skill > Money > Trust > Reputation > Influence > Craft > Status > Wealth > Sustainable accelerants include: Consistent effort Long-term thinking Giving before you get Telling better stories To be clear. We are in the 99%. Act...

60 seconds that changed my life. No exaggeration.  ------------------- The Stories Mean Business podcast with Nick Warren. One Idea A Day, Every Day. Get deeper into business storytelling: https://storiesmeanbusiness.com/storybusiness/ https://storiesmeanbusiness.com/podcast

Where do you fall, shallow or deep? Talking is shallow. Doing is deep. Tactics are shallow. Strategy is deep. Consumption is shallow. Creation is deep. Guessing is shallow. Testing is deep. Branding is shallow. Mythology is deep. Scaring is shallow. Attracting is deep. Knowing is shallow. Learning is deep. Telling is shallow. Asking is deep. Attention is shallow. Influence is deep. Money is shallo...

It's time to play a game ... ------------------- The Stories Mean Business podcast with Nick Warren. One Idea A Day, Every Day. Get deeper into business storytelling: https://storiesmeanbusiness.com/storybusiness/ https://storiesmeanbusiness.com/podcast

Contentment is all very well, but ... ------------------- The Stories Mean Business podcast with Nick Warren. One Idea A Day, Every Day. Get deeper into business storytelling: https://storiesmeanbusiness.com/storybusiness/ https://storiesmeanbusiness.com/podcast

Here's a fundamental truth of the human condition. If you get what you want, you’ll want something more. The greatest hack – therefore – is to learn to want what we have . ------------------- The Stories Mean Business podcast with Nick Warren. One Idea A Day, Every Day. Get deeper into business storytelling: https://storiesmeanbusiness.com/storybusiness/ https://storiesmeanbusiness.com/podcast

One thing we can learn and use as business storytellers. ------------------- The Stories Mean Business podcast with Nick Warren. One Idea A Day, Every Day. Get deeper into business storytelling: https://storiesmeanbusiness.com/storybusiness/ https://storiesmeanbusiness.com/podcast

Turning £10 into £20. ------------------- The Stories Mean Business podcast with Nick Warren. One Idea A Day, Every Day. Get deeper into business storytelling: https://storiesmeanbusiness.com/storybusiness/ https://storiesmeanbusiness.com/podcast

Classic marketing example from Derek Sivers, who wrote this joyful email in 20 minutes. ------------------- The Stories Mean Business podcast with Nick Warren. One Idea A Day, Every Day. Get deeper into business storytelling: https://storiesmeanbusiness.com/storybusiness/ https://storiesmeanbusiness.com/podcast

Here's the link I mentioned in the episode. Enjoy. Summer Swing - Electro Swing Mix 2022 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pFFdTgg9s4 ------------------- The Stories Mean Business podcast with Nick Warren. One Idea A Day, Every Day. Get deeper into business storytelling: https://storiesmeanbusiness.com/storybusiness/ https://storiesmeanbusiness.com/podcast

Sometimes it's good to be short, as my Dad used to tell me. ------------------- The Stories Mean Business podcast with Nick Warren. One Idea A Day, Every Day. Get deeper into business storytelling: https://storiesmeanbusiness.com/storybusiness/ https://storiesmeanbusiness.com/podcast