What's Your Story?: Storytelling to Move Markets, Audiences, People, and Brands

"It's the same old story." Well, perhaps it is, but that doesn't make it any less effective. In fact, explain futurists and storytellers Ryan Mathews and Watts Wacker, the best way to convey your message is to use archetypical story themes derived from human experience. After all, who are Harley-Davidson's outlaw riders but modern day Robin Hoods? And isn't Apple just another warrior-like David attempting to defeat a Goliath-like Microsoft by offering the world superior graphics? You can tell a powerful story by learning basic storytelling techniques and crafting them to fit your message. Mathews and Wacker outline these basics, from leveraging themes and shaping your message, to finding the right context, and making it relatable and believable. Ironically, for a book about storytelling it is, at times, convoluted and a bit verbose. Even so, getAbstract suggests it to readers who want their business stories to have happy endings.

My first Wacker/Mathews book was Deviant's Advantage and the only reason I read What's Your Story was because of who wrote it. In WYS Mathews and Wacker get to the heart of connecting with people from a product/brand context. If I were to suggest to ANYONE what the first and the last book that they should read would be, then WYS is that book. It presents one of the most intellectual but easy to understand analysis of what is truly meant by "brand" and the writing is completely engaging. Though this book is more than just a Branding book, all that I can end with is that I've read, worked, and studied a great deal in marketing but no other book seems to get the right story across as to what a brand really is than does WYS.

A book which now and then sparkles wisdom (less that I thought to be honest). The bottom line is simple: stories have accompanied mankind since the very beginnings (at some point they dare to state that there have been societies which did not make use of the wheel, but none has not had stories as part of their culture), and somehow, both authors explore the ways in which this (storytelling) phenomenon can bring either prosperity or ruin into your business... I think it's a good book, however, if it wasn't for that deep prologue (interesting theory there), I was going to rate it with three stars. There is social sciences at the bottom of their theories, unfortunately, I expected more of them to sustain their hypothesis... If you are interested in going deeper into this creative way of interpreting success and / or failure (that's why I bought this book; I think the authors were brilliant in the sense that it's not easy to "unvail" new approaches to simple matters such as telling stories...) read it.

We read 8 books this quarter on marketing and branding. This book clicked and changed how we market our non profit. Telling who we are, what we do and why in a story format versus our old way has made a positive 200% change in our donations. We made our first page on our web site a brief story..It captures who we are quickly and simply. This is a sensational book..you will not be sorry. Steve Monahan, Founder, Meals Fur Pets.com

This book was an enjoyable read. I thought it was pretty well written. It highlights the importance of storytelling in life, whether it be personal or business. It reminds us that truthful stories are the best ones, and they may or may not be filled with true facts. If you have problems agreeing with this statement, then make sure to read the book. It provides some good lists. For example, Chapter 3 is about the ten functions of storytelling. And Chapter 6 is about the five critical story themes. At first glance one might think this book is not really dedicated to being about business. But it is! It tells us that the entrepreneur has to create a story when she puts together a business in order to qualify for a bank loan. It tells us that the entrepreneur has to create many stories when marketing her business' services and products. It tells us a business has to have a story if it expects to be able to recruit (and keep) employees. And a business has to have stories when it trains its employees. A business has to be able to tell the story about the industry it exists in. And the business will have its own story, too. Often the leaders in a business will have their own story. And a product or service that is branded will have its own story. All in all, this book clearly informs us that if we run a business, then we better be good at creating, writing, and delivering stories. What this book talked about was great. However, I would have liked it better if it had had a chapter or two telling the reader how to develop an ability to be a great story creator and teller. The easiest way I know to develop that skill is to join a Toastmasters club and do as many speeches there as possible. At Toastmasters if you participate you will quickly get a feel for putting together educational, entertaining, or inspirational talks. And when you get that feel, then read this book and see what you can do with your new skill or talent to make a business more successful. 4 stars!