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Stories Sell: Storyworthy Strategies to Grow Your Business and Brand
WIN CUSTOMERS AND BUILD BRANDS THROUGH THE POWER OF STORYTELLING
Moth GrandSLAM all-time champion storyteller, writer, and business coach Matthew Dicks presents a guide to using the power of storytelling for success in business of any type or size. Matt has found that the basic principles of effective storytelling are universal, teachable, and more crucial than ever for business communication. Jam-packed with examples, Stories Sell reveals the ingredients of a compelling story and then demonstrates how they can be incorporated into persuasive marketing copy, productive face-to-face conversations, effective sales pitches, and presentations that people actually want to hear. Topics include:
• The three elements of a winning story: stakes, suspense, and surprise
• Finding the right narrative structure (and why beginning at the beginning isn’t always the best method)
• The power of being vulnerable: how admitting your mistakes can build rapport with audiences
• When and how to use humor
• Zigging while others zag: making yourself stand out from competitors
Whether you’re an online marketer, advertising professional, salesperson, small business owner, independent contractor, or Fortune 500 executive, Stories Sell will teach you to find your voice and get your message across for maximum impact and profit.
Moth GrandSLAM all-time champion storyteller, writer, and business coach Matthew Dicks presents a guide to using the power of storytelling for success in business of any type or size. Matt has found that the basic principles of effective storytelling are universal, teachable, and more crucial than ever for business communication. Jam-packed with examples, Stories Sell reveals the ingredients of a compelling story and then demonstrates how they can be incorporated into persuasive marketing copy, productive face-to-face conversations, effective sales pitches, and presentations that people actually want to hear. Topics include:
• The three elements of a winning story: stakes, suspense, and surprise
• Finding the right narrative structure (and why beginning at the beginning isn’t always the best method)
• The power of being vulnerable: how admitting your mistakes can build rapport with audiences
• When and how to use humor
• Zigging while others zag: making yourself stand out from competitors
Whether you’re an online marketer, advertising professional, salesperson, small business owner, independent contractor, or Fortune 500 executive, Stories Sell will teach you to find your voice and get your message across for maximum impact and profit.
328 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 11, 2024
117 people are currently reading
522 people want to read
About the author
Matthew Dicks
15 books1,144 followersMatthew Dicks is the internationally bestselling author of the novels Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend, Something Missing, Unexpectedly, Milo, The Perfect Comeback of Caroline Jacobs, and the upcoming novels The Other Mother and Cardboard Knight, as well as the nonfiction Storyworthy: Engage, Teach, Persuade, and Change Your Life Through the Art of Storytelling. His novels have been translated into more than 25 languages worldwide.
Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend was the 2014 Dolly Gray Award winner and was nominated for a 2017 Nutmeg Award in Connecticut. Matthew was also awarded first prize in 2016 and second prize in 2017 in the Magazine/Humorous Column category by the CT Society of Professional Journalists.
He is also the author of the rock opera The Clowns and the musicals Caught in the Middle, Sticks & Stones, and Summertime. He has written comic books for Double Take comics. He is a columnist for Seasons magazine and has published work in Reader's Digest, The Hartford Courant, Parents magazine, The Huffington Post, and The Christian Science Monitor. He was awarded first prize for opinion writing in 2015 by the Connecticut Society of Professional Journalists.
When not hunched over a computer screen, Matthew fills his days as an elementary school teacher, a storyteller, a speaking coach, a blogger, a wedding DJ, a minister, a life coach, and a Lord of Sealand. He has been teaching for 20 years and is a former West Hartford Teacher of the Year and a finalist for Connecticut Teacher of the Year.
Matthew is a 35-time Moth StorySLAM champion and 5-time GrandSLAM champion whose stories have been featured on their nationally syndicated Moth Radio Hour and their weekly podcast. He has also told stories for This American Life, TED, The Colin McEnroe Show, The Story Collider, The Liar Show, Literary Death Match, The Mouth, and many others. He has performed in such venues as the Brooklyn Academy of Music, The Wilbur Theater, The Academy of Music in North Hampton, CT, The Bynam Theater of Pittsburgh, The Bell House in NYC, The Lebanon Opera House, Boston University, and Infinity Hall in Hartford, CT.
He is a regular guest on several Slate podcasts, including The Gist, where he teaches storytelling.
Matthew is also the co-founder and creative director of Speak Up, a Hartford-based storytelling organization that produces shows throughout New England. He teaches storytelling and public speaking to individuals, corporations, and school districts around the world. He has most recently taught at Yale University, The University of Connecticut Law School, Purdue University, The Connecticut Historical Society, Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health, Miss Porter's School, The Berkshire School, and Graded School in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Matthew is the creator and co-host of Boy vs. Girl, a podcast about gender and gender stereotypes.
Matthew is married to friend and fellow teacher, Elysha, and they have two children, Clara and Charlie. He grew up in the small town of Blackstone, Massachusetts, where he made a name for himself by dying twice before the age of eighteen and becoming the first student in his high school to be suspended for inciting riot upon himself.
Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend was the 2014 Dolly Gray Award winner and was nominated for a 2017 Nutmeg Award in Connecticut. Matthew was also awarded first prize in 2016 and second prize in 2017 in the Magazine/Humorous Column category by the CT Society of Professional Journalists.
He is also the author of the rock opera The Clowns and the musicals Caught in the Middle, Sticks & Stones, and Summertime. He has written comic books for Double Take comics. He is a columnist for Seasons magazine and has published work in Reader's Digest, The Hartford Courant, Parents magazine, The Huffington Post, and The Christian Science Monitor. He was awarded first prize for opinion writing in 2015 by the Connecticut Society of Professional Journalists.
When not hunched over a computer screen, Matthew fills his days as an elementary school teacher, a storyteller, a speaking coach, a blogger, a wedding DJ, a minister, a life coach, and a Lord of Sealand. He has been teaching for 20 years and is a former West Hartford Teacher of the Year and a finalist for Connecticut Teacher of the Year.
Matthew is a 35-time Moth StorySLAM champion and 5-time GrandSLAM champion whose stories have been featured on their nationally syndicated Moth Radio Hour and their weekly podcast. He has also told stories for This American Life, TED, The Colin McEnroe Show, The Story Collider, The Liar Show, Literary Death Match, The Mouth, and many others. He has performed in such venues as the Brooklyn Academy of Music, The Wilbur Theater, The Academy of Music in North Hampton, CT, The Bynam Theater of Pittsburgh, The Bell House in NYC, The Lebanon Opera House, Boston University, and Infinity Hall in Hartford, CT.
He is a regular guest on several Slate podcasts, including The Gist, where he teaches storytelling.
Matthew is also the co-founder and creative director of Speak Up, a Hartford-based storytelling organization that produces shows throughout New England. He teaches storytelling and public speaking to individuals, corporations, and school districts around the world. He has most recently taught at Yale University, The University of Connecticut Law School, Purdue University, The Connecticut Historical Society, Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health, Miss Porter's School, The Berkshire School, and Graded School in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Matthew is the creator and co-host of Boy vs. Girl, a podcast about gender and gender stereotypes.
Matthew is married to friend and fellow teacher, Elysha, and they have two children, Clara and Charlie. He grew up in the small town of Blackstone, Massachusetts, where he made a name for himself by dying twice before the age of eighteen and becoming the first student in his high school to be suspended for inciting riot upon himself.
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
June 6, 2025
Full review to come!
Forget marketing… this is a great book for life!
This has truly impacted me. I’ve been inspired and my perspective has been wonderfully transformed.
I mean, I’m reading it for a second time in a three-month time span. That’s gotta say something. First time through was a listen. Second time was to highlight everything I want to reference again and again, and to also black out the unfortunate words/content sprinkled here and there.
I’ve been telling my friends that this is a “must read.” Now they’re reading it. Next weekend we’re getting together over coffee to discuss it. I’m very excited to hear all the take-aways and what this has done for them, their families and their social circles.
Content Considerations: three f-words, sh*t used several times in one short story, and d*mn sprinkled throughout. There are multiple crude references to the author’s last name (about ten times). Mentions having sex on a golf course, being naked when the sprinklers turn on (that’s the extent of the story). Mentions you the reader possibly being naked in your bath tub while reading this book. Mentions a guy in a thong. Mentions the author doing a strip tease in McDonald’s - references this two or three times. Mentions a few kisses - non-descriptive. Makes two gay references - one is mentioning that after a woman read/watched a lot of gay porn she “found out” she was gay.
**Like my reviews? Then you should follow me! Because I have hundreds more just like this one. With each review, I provide Content Considerations, mentioning any objectionable content I come across so that parents and/or conscientious readers (like me) can determine beforehand whether they want to read a book or not. Content surprises are super annoying, especially when you’re 100+ pages in, so here’s my attempt to help you avoid that!
If you’re considering a book or looking for a new title to read, check out my highly categorized shelves, read my reviews and Friend or Follow me to spiff up your feed with clean, wholesome, living books.
Forget marketing… this is a great book for life!
This has truly impacted me. I’ve been inspired and my perspective has been wonderfully transformed.
I mean, I’m reading it for a second time in a three-month time span. That’s gotta say something. First time through was a listen. Second time was to highlight everything I want to reference again and again, and to also black out the unfortunate words/content sprinkled here and there.
I’ve been telling my friends that this is a “must read.” Now they’re reading it. Next weekend we’re getting together over coffee to discuss it. I’m very excited to hear all the take-aways and what this has done for them, their families and their social circles.
Content Considerations: three f-words, sh*t used several times in one short story, and d*mn sprinkled throughout. There are multiple crude references to the author’s last name (about ten times). Mentions having sex on a golf course, being naked when the sprinklers turn on (that’s the extent of the story). Mentions you the reader possibly being naked in your bath tub while reading this book. Mentions a guy in a thong. Mentions the author doing a strip tease in McDonald’s - references this two or three times. Mentions a few kisses - non-descriptive. Makes two gay references - one is mentioning that after a woman read/watched a lot of gay porn she “found out” she was gay.
**Like my reviews? Then you should follow me! Because I have hundreds more just like this one. With each review, I provide Content Considerations, mentioning any objectionable content I come across so that parents and/or conscientious readers (like me) can determine beforehand whether they want to read a book or not. Content surprises are super annoying, especially when you’re 100+ pages in, so here’s my attempt to help you avoid that!
If you’re considering a book or looking for a new title to read, check out my highly categorized shelves, read my reviews and Friend or Follow me to spiff up your feed with clean, wholesome, living books.
June 29, 2024
I read many books, so it was just a matter of time before I came across Matthew Dicks book: Stories Sell. Matthew is an award winning story teller as well as an elementary teacher. He chases a kid, writes books, raises children, Dee-Jays weddings and has near death experiences all while providing easy to follow instruction in developing and crafting stories! I wasn’t quite sure what separated great stories from anecdotes but thanks to his book I have a new knowledge, that great stories can be overlooked because they are not told properly. If you would like to harness the power of the storyteller, I would invite you to step into the world of this book and be prepared for homework.
December 25, 2024
Great read, super informative. I would love to see even more business focus in the future.
November 7, 2024
I could feel this book changing my life as I read it. The way I speak and write stories. The stories Dicks used to illustrate his points are powerful and emotional causing me to cry on several occasions — not something I was expecting. Rented it form the library and will probably end up purchasing.
June 19, 2025
I picked up Stories Sell because I wanted to become a better storyteller—for myself and for my business. I admire Matthew Dicks and his storytelling craft, so I was excited to dive in.
The book has a lot of tactics and structure, which I wasn’t expecting. For someone who sees storytelling as a more intuitive, emotional process, I found the step-by-step approach a bit overwhelming. It started to feel more like following a formula than finding a voice.
That said, there’s no denying that Matthew knows his stuff—and for someone who wants to approach storytelling from a technical, almost engineering mindset, this book might be gold. It just didn’t match the moment I’m in right now.
I’m putting it on pause, not because it’s a bad book, but because I may not be the right reader right now. Might return to it with a different mindset.
The book has a lot of tactics and structure, which I wasn’t expecting. For someone who sees storytelling as a more intuitive, emotional process, I found the step-by-step approach a bit overwhelming. It started to feel more like following a formula than finding a voice.
That said, there’s no denying that Matthew knows his stuff—and for someone who wants to approach storytelling from a technical, almost engineering mindset, this book might be gold. It just didn’t match the moment I’m in right now.
I’m putting it on pause, not because it’s a bad book, but because I may not be the right reader right now. Might return to it with a different mindset.
November 29, 2024
If I hadn't read Storyworthy first, I'd have given Stories Sell five stars. However, I read this book immediately after Storyworthy and found there to be a lot of repeated material. I still found value in this book. Don't get me wrong. I just didn't want to read so many repeated stories and techniques. I thought there may be a few more fresh approaches.
Overall, there are lots of exciting practical tips that can be implemented immediately. The argument for fewer slide decks and more storytelling is powerful. I particularly appreciated the conclusion, where the author sums up what we need to remember in a bulleted list.
☆ I listened to this book on audio.
Overall, there are lots of exciting practical tips that can be implemented immediately. The argument for fewer slide decks and more storytelling is powerful. I particularly appreciated the conclusion, where the author sums up what we need to remember in a bulleted list.
☆ I listened to this book on audio.
July 3, 2024
Picked it up for professional development but would recommend it to anyone interested in telling better stories. Matthew covers what makes a story worth telling, how to find those stories in your everyday life, and how to master story structure. Seeing as the author is a professional storyteller, the audio book in his voice is engaging. I loved the part of the book when Matthew shares how his willingness to be vulnerable through storytelling moved others to tell him their secrets after a show, and the many relationships he’s impacted through his stories.
February 13, 2025
Stories Sell by Matthew Dicks is like a masterclass in storytelling—except it’s fun, approachable, and doesn't leave you wondering if you’re supposed to be taking notes for a PhD. Dicks gets straight to the point, showing you how to turn your brand's story into something that actually connects with people. Forget about robotic pitches or cringey taglines—this book is all about making your audience feel something real. It’s packed with clever strategies that don’t just help you sell, but help you humanize your business. Whether you’re a small business owner or just trying to jazz up your personal brand, Dicks has a way of making storytelling feel like something you need to be doing—and that’s no small feat.
August 4, 2024
This book hooked me and never gave any slack. In the paraphrased words of the author, you need to earn people's attention. In this book he outlines the discipline of storytelling, as he sees it. It is insightful and heartfelt, in clearly written, unpretentious prose. The concept of finding stories in your everyday life gives life a richness. You won't want to go back to being story ignorant after this read.
December 22, 2025
If you’re an entrepreneur or working in corporate, this is a great resource on how to use powerful storytelling to sell ideas, programs, and products.
Please note, however, that if you’ve already read the author’s book Storyworthy, there will be a lot of repeated information. This repetition worked out just fine for me because I wanted the refresher, but it could be very annoying for others, especially if you’ve bought both books.
Please note, however, that if you’ve already read the author’s book Storyworthy, there will be a lot of repeated information. This repetition worked out just fine for me because I wanted the refresher, but it could be very annoying for others, especially if you’ve bought both books.
October 4, 2024
This is a "business book," but it's actually a book about storytelling (tilting the lens toward business use cases). And it is filled with stories to illustrate the concepts! So it's entertaining and useful, and I'll actually remember the lessons (unlike the past N storytelling books I've read). I listened to the audiobook, which was also very engaging.
October 27, 2024
I picked this up on a recommendation from Andrew Wilkinson. Matthew Dicks is a great storyteller and I learned some things I’ve already started implementing, like Homework for Life. This is a great book for anyone wanting to figure out how to find the storyworthy moments in their lives and how to apply them to business. Highly recommended!
December 12, 2024
I'm a BIG fan of Matthew Dicks because he truly is a master storyteller. However, I recommend his book Storyworthy (5⭐️!) over this one.
Even though I am more interested in storytelling for business (the focus of this book) rather than competitive storytelling which is largely the focus of Storyworthy, I still enjoyed it more.
But you can't go wrong picking up either one.
Even though I am more interested in storytelling for business (the focus of this book) rather than competitive storytelling which is largely the focus of Storyworthy, I still enjoyed it more.
But you can't go wrong picking up either one.
November 1, 2025
Overall I really love the storytelling advice Matthew Dicks has to offer. However, this book had many parts that were nearly identical to his other book, Storyworthy. Rather than tips for storytelling in business, much of the book was stories from his life that made a point. Still worth reading if you haven’t read Storyworthy. Thanks!
July 11, 2024
Super libro para aprender a contar historias y enfocarlas en los negocios. Es bastante parecido y usa muchas historias y técnicas que enseña en Storyworthy. Pero siempre es entretenido escuchar a Matthew Dicks.
May 31, 2025
Very good ideas, except it largely repeats his other book Storyworthy. That it’s a separate book feels more like a marketing choice and in my view forcing corporate applications makes the takeaways generally weaker than in the original.
July 30, 2025
Feels like it's connecting the dots for all the people with no critical-thinking who read Storyworthy and emailed the author saying "but how do I apply this to my business"
Just read storyworthy and then use your brain (or if you're too lazy for that, use AI)
Just read storyworthy and then use your brain (or if you're too lazy for that, use AI)
September 7, 2024
Matthew Dicks engaged through every page. Not my normal experience with nonfiction. Feeling inspired.
October 1, 2024
Brilliant
December 17, 2024
Great stories and advice about story telling!
December 24, 2024
this has very good strategies for captivating an audience but definitely requires a lot of practice to implement
January 20, 2025
Haven't even finished & this is already one of the greatest books I've ever read on storytelling.
January 22, 2025
Love Matthew Dicks. However, there’s a lot of overlap with his other book Storyworthy. Still good and still some good additions to the art of storytelling.
March 29, 2025
Absolutely Fabulous! Definitely in my 2025 top 10.
May 12, 2025
really straight to the point and easy to understand I always remember the story of spoon of power, it show u that he is not lie.
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews