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The Storytelling Edge Lib/E: How to Transform Your Business, Stop Screaming Into the Void, and Make People Love You
Nearly every business today understands that they need to use content to better connect with the people they care about. (Content marketing is the big buzzword of the advertising world right now.) But few know how to do it well. That uncertainty puts them at a disadvantage. In Stories at Work, the content strategy minds behind Contently, the world renowned content marketing technology company, reveal their secrets that have helped award-winning brands to build intimate relationships with millions of customers. We go through the neuroscience of storytelling, the elements of powerful stories, and the methodologies for growing businesses by creating great content and engaging audiences with it. (And bonus: we also talk about leaders can use this same understanding of stories to build stronger, more loyal teams inside their own companies.)
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Published May 30, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews
April 27, 2020
The human brain is wired to find stories more engaging and memorable than simple statements.
We’re all hardwired to find stories more memorable than factual statements. That’s because storytelling engages more parts of our brains than abstract language does. Whether it’s Star Wars or a Hemingway novel, the best stories tap into this evolutionary trait by emphasizing relatability, novelty, tension, and fluency. But effective storytelling isn’t just about what’s on the page or on the screen. To influence your audience, you need to pay attention to how you’re delivering your message. In today’s information-packed world, the best way of doing that is to emphasize quality rather than quantity.
.....
Many years ago, a French poet named Jacques Prévert happened to meet a blind beggar in the street. Jacques asked him how things were going. Bad, the beggar replied – he hadn’t heard a single coin land in his hat all day. Jacques, a poor writer, didn’t have cash to spare, but he offered to rewrite the sign that explained the beggar’s situation. Two weeks later, the men met again. Things had improved. Folks were generous these days, the beggar said, and his hat was always full.
So what did Jacques write on the beggar’s sign? “Spring is coming, but I won’t see it.” Why did this help make people more generous toward the beggar?
The answer is also the key message in this blink: The human brain is wired to find stories more engaging and memorable than simple statements.
Imagine a high school health class. The teacher cites statistics about drug-related deaths and concludes that drugs are dangerous. Next door, his colleague takes a different approach. She puts up a slide of a handsome teenager and introduces the class to Johnny. He was a good kid, she says, but he had problems at home and started taking drugs to make himself feel better. She then shows an image of a sickly looking man with missing teeth – it’s Johnny ten years later. Drugs, she concludes, are dangerous.
Which class is more memorable? The second one, right? Here’s why.
Neuroscientists have a saying that “Neurons that fire together, wire together.” What they mean is that when multiple parts of the brain are working together, we’re much more likely to remember due to that cognitive work.
Logical statements like “drugs are dangerous,” for example, engage just two parts of the brain – those responsible for language processing and comprehension. When we hear stories, by contrast, our brains light up like switchboards. Suddenly, we’re also processing emotions and images, imagining sensations, and using the part of the brain that’s responsible for cognitive planning.
Now think back to our high school example. In the first class, students processed abstract statements and numbers – tasks the human brain can complete without breaking a sweat but often struggles to recall. In the second class, though, students were giving their gray cells a real workout. They were busy picturing the details of Johnny’s life, wondering how his problems compared to their own, and asking themselves whether they would also take drugs if they were in his shoes.
This barrage of neurons makes the second lesson much more “sticky.” Whatever their choices, these students will likely think back to poor Johnny if they’re ever offered drugs.
blinkist.com
We’re all hardwired to find stories more memorable than factual statements. That’s because storytelling engages more parts of our brains than abstract language does. Whether it’s Star Wars or a Hemingway novel, the best stories tap into this evolutionary trait by emphasizing relatability, novelty, tension, and fluency. But effective storytelling isn’t just about what’s on the page or on the screen. To influence your audience, you need to pay attention to how you’re delivering your message. In today’s information-packed world, the best way of doing that is to emphasize quality rather than quantity.
.....
Many years ago, a French poet named Jacques Prévert happened to meet a blind beggar in the street. Jacques asked him how things were going. Bad, the beggar replied – he hadn’t heard a single coin land in his hat all day. Jacques, a poor writer, didn’t have cash to spare, but he offered to rewrite the sign that explained the beggar’s situation. Two weeks later, the men met again. Things had improved. Folks were generous these days, the beggar said, and his hat was always full.
So what did Jacques write on the beggar’s sign? “Spring is coming, but I won’t see it.” Why did this help make people more generous toward the beggar?
The answer is also the key message in this blink: The human brain is wired to find stories more engaging and memorable than simple statements.
Imagine a high school health class. The teacher cites statistics about drug-related deaths and concludes that drugs are dangerous. Next door, his colleague takes a different approach. She puts up a slide of a handsome teenager and introduces the class to Johnny. He was a good kid, she says, but he had problems at home and started taking drugs to make himself feel better. She then shows an image of a sickly looking man with missing teeth – it’s Johnny ten years later. Drugs, she concludes, are dangerous.
Which class is more memorable? The second one, right? Here’s why.
Neuroscientists have a saying that “Neurons that fire together, wire together.” What they mean is that when multiple parts of the brain are working together, we’re much more likely to remember due to that cognitive work.
Logical statements like “drugs are dangerous,” for example, engage just two parts of the brain – those responsible for language processing and comprehension. When we hear stories, by contrast, our brains light up like switchboards. Suddenly, we’re also processing emotions and images, imagining sensations, and using the part of the brain that’s responsible for cognitive planning.
Now think back to our high school example. In the first class, students processed abstract statements and numbers – tasks the human brain can complete without breaking a sweat but often struggles to recall. In the second class, though, students were giving their gray cells a real workout. They were busy picturing the details of Johnny’s life, wondering how his problems compared to their own, and asking themselves whether they would also take drugs if they were in his shoes.
This barrage of neurons makes the second lesson much more “sticky.” Whatever their choices, these students will likely think back to poor Johnny if they’re ever offered drugs.
blinkist.com
October 15, 2018
Totally pertinent to current projects at work, I looked to this book with the hope that I’d find practical tips and/or frameworks. Those found were light - at best... The best part of the book was that they applied their own advice to a fault: so yes, the book was extremely easy to read. Fluency = A+. Relatability pretty good too. By why the book slipped from a 4 star rating to 3... and then ultimately 2.5? The entire conclusion was - spoiler alert - 100% a sales pitch as to why I should hire them! Boys, if you want your conversion funnel to truly work: you should be credible. That slipped page after page.
Do yourself a favour - pick up the book and read it ... up to page 100.
Do yourself a favour - pick up the book and read it ... up to page 100.
August 9, 2020
I've read quite a few business storytelling books over the past few years, and I'm always looking to pick up some new ideas and get some great examples. But it ends up that this book is a sales pitch for the author's services, and is focused on management of the process of creating stories for marketing. Not my cup of tea. I enjoyed the style, not so much the message.
March 8, 2019
They aren't even trying to hide the fact that this is just a sales/marketing tool for their software.
June 9, 2020
The first half of the book you could find anywhere, in blog posts, or any other book about storytelling. In fact, the book seemed almost exactly like some other books I've read which were published before this book.
The second 25% of the book was the useful part, showing the framework Contently uses to create their content.
And the last 25% was a promotion for their services on their website.
⭐⭐1/2
PS. I read the book in an hour and a half.
The second 25% of the book was the useful part, showing the framework Contently uses to create their content.
And the last 25% was a promotion for their services on their website.
⭐⭐1/2
PS. I read the book in an hour and a half.
October 10, 2022
I expected it will give some strategies or frameworks on how to tell stories. It talks overall about it but no deep dive and is mainly selling the Contently services. Quite disappointed. I would give it 2,5 stars. Because there were some insights from the book:
The 4 elements of great stories: relatability, novelty, tension, fluency (of writing and the story). The best stories use relatability to get us invested (usually through a character or a setting, or a scenario that we may care about) and then use novelty (the fun part) to keep us interested.
How to make a good brand:
1. Commit to a mission (eg audience first). In reality content marketing is more like a political campaign - you have to introduce yourself to people and earn their trust, you have to listen to their concerns. You can’t just campaign by demanding support without doing anything to earn it. You need a mission that drives your content and resonates with people. Eg Contently believed that can make the media world better by helping brands work with tools and talented creators that tell stories people actually want to engage with.
2. Getting smart about audience - experiment with ads to promote stories that can bring a high return (people who become email subscribers, download premium content, request demos).
3. Establishing a strategic methodology. One of the popular methods is to tag your stories by topic, persona, format, etc. and compare production metrics to performance metrics. That way you can see which stories are under- or over-performing against your goals on per story basis. This allows you to easily see what topics and formats you are relying too much and which ones you are not using enough. Then you can examine what content performs best across different channels and then tailor your distribution strategy accordingly. This ensures you are spending your time and money wisely and getting the right content to the right people. You should do such reviews at least every quarter. The underlying philosophy despite the changing times stays the same - serving the audience, telling the most interesting and useful stories about content marketing and tech industry.
The killer formula for building an audience. It pays to figure out what the audience wants before you decide what technology to use (people want good stories). Good audience building strategy follows a pattern (at Contently they call it the flywheel): first you create content, figure out how to get it to people (connect), and then you optimize both what you create and how you deliver it (create, connect, optimize).
Tomorrow’s brands must do 3 big things in order to actually get results from their storytelling efforts:
1. Breakthrough quality storytelling - humans are always excited by the latest thing and pay attention even if it’s garbage but eventually we lose interest and ultimately we want awesome content.
2. Rigorously strategic.
3. Tech enabled and data optimized.
Content decision engine (the wheel) - helps you make smarter decisions during the 5 stages of the storytelling process. Strategy - this is when you are figuring out what kind of story your audience wants, determining how you are going to reach them and putting together a plan of action that will get everyone on board. Plan - the phase when you are deciding how exactly are you gonna pull off your strategy, content calendar, staffing your team and budgeting. Create (the fun part) - the process of actually creating your story and making the right creative decisions to tell the best story possible. Activate - the process where you get your stories out there and you use them to build connections with the people that matter to you. The killer equation for the future is breakthrough stories + smart technologies to spread those stories. Optimize - the most important part in which you figure out what worked and tweak your strategy so you do even better next time.
The 5 factor model - personality classification model organized in 5 major traits: openness, consciousness, extroversion, agreeableness and emotional range. It linked language into human psychology in a scientific way (the words one writes and how people interpret those). It can reveal the science of storytelling - the psychological response that your language as a writer evokes.
Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing about. - Benjamin Franklin
The 4 elements of great stories: relatability, novelty, tension, fluency (of writing and the story). The best stories use relatability to get us invested (usually through a character or a setting, or a scenario that we may care about) and then use novelty (the fun part) to keep us interested.
How to make a good brand:
1. Commit to a mission (eg audience first). In reality content marketing is more like a political campaign - you have to introduce yourself to people and earn their trust, you have to listen to their concerns. You can’t just campaign by demanding support without doing anything to earn it. You need a mission that drives your content and resonates with people. Eg Contently believed that can make the media world better by helping brands work with tools and talented creators that tell stories people actually want to engage with.
2. Getting smart about audience - experiment with ads to promote stories that can bring a high return (people who become email subscribers, download premium content, request demos).
3. Establishing a strategic methodology. One of the popular methods is to tag your stories by topic, persona, format, etc. and compare production metrics to performance metrics. That way you can see which stories are under- or over-performing against your goals on per story basis. This allows you to easily see what topics and formats you are relying too much and which ones you are not using enough. Then you can examine what content performs best across different channels and then tailor your distribution strategy accordingly. This ensures you are spending your time and money wisely and getting the right content to the right people. You should do such reviews at least every quarter. The underlying philosophy despite the changing times stays the same - serving the audience, telling the most interesting and useful stories about content marketing and tech industry.
The killer formula for building an audience. It pays to figure out what the audience wants before you decide what technology to use (people want good stories). Good audience building strategy follows a pattern (at Contently they call it the flywheel): first you create content, figure out how to get it to people (connect), and then you optimize both what you create and how you deliver it (create, connect, optimize).
Tomorrow’s brands must do 3 big things in order to actually get results from their storytelling efforts:
1. Breakthrough quality storytelling - humans are always excited by the latest thing and pay attention even if it’s garbage but eventually we lose interest and ultimately we want awesome content.
2. Rigorously strategic.
3. Tech enabled and data optimized.
Content decision engine (the wheel) - helps you make smarter decisions during the 5 stages of the storytelling process. Strategy - this is when you are figuring out what kind of story your audience wants, determining how you are going to reach them and putting together a plan of action that will get everyone on board. Plan - the phase when you are deciding how exactly are you gonna pull off your strategy, content calendar, staffing your team and budgeting. Create (the fun part) - the process of actually creating your story and making the right creative decisions to tell the best story possible. Activate - the process where you get your stories out there and you use them to build connections with the people that matter to you. The killer equation for the future is breakthrough stories + smart technologies to spread those stories. Optimize - the most important part in which you figure out what worked and tweak your strategy so you do even better next time.
The 5 factor model - personality classification model organized in 5 major traits: openness, consciousness, extroversion, agreeableness and emotional range. It linked language into human psychology in a scientific way (the words one writes and how people interpret those). It can reveal the science of storytelling - the psychological response that your language as a writer evokes.
Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing about. - Benjamin Franklin
May 21, 2022
The timewasting edge.
February 20, 2018
It all begins with a story…
The Storytelling’s Edge is a refreshing looking into content marketing and the future of the business world. It delves deeply into the importance of having the ability to tell a compelling story to reach your target audience, for your business to succeed. Utilizing their own personal stories, and those of other influential innovators in business, science, journalism and film, Lazauskas and Snow, draw the reader into their narrative making it impossible to put down (read from pg. 40 till the end in one sitting. LOL), easy to absorb, and eager to implement the models and examples presented into your own business and day to day life. The Storytelling’s Edge gives the reader insight into the need for all of us to have a deeper connection to the things that influence our lives, whether that is to companies, small businesses, or even literary pursuits. That as human beings, connection, through the stories we tell, is the key to our souls. It is how we learn, how we educate future generations and how we are remembered when we are gone. The Storytelling’s Edge is a must read!
The Storytelling’s Edge is a refreshing looking into content marketing and the future of the business world. It delves deeply into the importance of having the ability to tell a compelling story to reach your target audience, for your business to succeed. Utilizing their own personal stories, and those of other influential innovators in business, science, journalism and film, Lazauskas and Snow, draw the reader into their narrative making it impossible to put down (read from pg. 40 till the end in one sitting. LOL), easy to absorb, and eager to implement the models and examples presented into your own business and day to day life. The Storytelling’s Edge gives the reader insight into the need for all of us to have a deeper connection to the things that influence our lives, whether that is to companies, small businesses, or even literary pursuits. That as human beings, connection, through the stories we tell, is the key to our souls. It is how we learn, how we educate future generations and how we are remembered when we are gone. The Storytelling’s Edge is a must read!
April 12, 2022
First and foremost, this book is an advertisement for Contently. You can feel that you're being sold to the whole time you're reading, which isn't a particularly pleasant experience.
The book is 80% descriptions of companies that succeeded through storytelling with very little explanation of *how* they succeeded. I was hoping for more actionable tactics. I can see these descriptions being useful for someone who needs to convince their managers to pursue content marketing (perhaps using Contently's services, anyone?), but other than that I didn't find the examples particularly useful - there are just so many of them.
There are snippets of good information scattered throughout the book, but not enough to merit 100+ pages of content. The actionable stuff could have been an article.
I also didn't love the tone of writing, but some people might. It felt a little like forced "relateability" with self-deprecating jokes and personal anecdotes. There was a surprising number of editorial errors throughout.
The book is 80% descriptions of companies that succeeded through storytelling with very little explanation of *how* they succeeded. I was hoping for more actionable tactics. I can see these descriptions being useful for someone who needs to convince their managers to pursue content marketing (perhaps using Contently's services, anyone?), but other than that I didn't find the examples particularly useful - there are just so many of them.
There are snippets of good information scattered throughout the book, but not enough to merit 100+ pages of content. The actionable stuff could have been an article.
I also didn't love the tone of writing, but some people might. It felt a little like forced "relateability" with self-deprecating jokes and personal anecdotes. There was a surprising number of editorial errors throughout.
February 1, 2020
Read Blinkist of this book and actually they have valid advice about how to create a a good brand based on how to tell a good story.
Takeaways (for improving one’s writing):
1) The human brain is wired to find stories more engaging and memorable than simple statements.
2) processing emotions and images, imagining sensations, and using the part of the brain that’s responsible for cognitive planning.
3) Great stories are relatable and require both novelty and tension, cos we’re all narcissistic and love to find similarity/differences.
4) Great storytellers value fluency above complexity.
5) To influence your audience, you need to pay attention to how you’re delivering your message. In today’s information-packed world, the best way of doing that is to emphasize quality rather than quantity.
Takeaways (for improving one’s writing):
1) The human brain is wired to find stories more engaging and memorable than simple statements.
2) processing emotions and images, imagining sensations, and using the part of the brain that’s responsible for cognitive planning.
3) Great stories are relatable and require both novelty and tension, cos we’re all narcissistic and love to find similarity/differences.
4) Great storytellers value fluency above complexity.
5) To influence your audience, you need to pay attention to how you’re delivering your message. In today’s information-packed world, the best way of doing that is to emphasize quality rather than quantity.
December 22, 2019
I work in Marketing but I’m not a Marketer. If you’re a Marketing person, this might not be the right book for you.
The book emphasizes Story over Marketing as a way to gain audience/customers/advocates. It’s clearly written and an enjoyable read. I typically hate business-y books but I actually finished this one (after misplacing it for several weeks) because it provided me a view of content marketing without boring the crap out of me or staying so high-level that it’s useless.
There are mentions of the authors’ company, Contently, throughout. However, I didn’t find them distracting. There were more as examples of how a client solved a particular problem using the tool — which is a darn good example of the power of storytelling as a marketing tool.
The book emphasizes Story over Marketing as a way to gain audience/customers/advocates. It’s clearly written and an enjoyable read. I typically hate business-y books but I actually finished this one (after misplacing it for several weeks) because it provided me a view of content marketing without boring the crap out of me or staying so high-level that it’s useless.
There are mentions of the authors’ company, Contently, throughout. However, I didn’t find them distracting. There were more as examples of how a client solved a particular problem using the tool — which is a darn good example of the power of storytelling as a marketing tool.
February 24, 2021
I have to admit that I like how this book was written--there were a few times I found myself looking for the end of the chapter, but for the most part, it kept my interest. That said, there are three main things you should know about this book:
1. There are a lot of great business stories found in this book--many of which I did not know before.
2. These stories can inspire you to think of ways to tell stories in your own business.
3. Towards the end, sections do almost read like an advertisement for their company; however, if you can get passed that, I think you'll find nuggets of truth that you can use in your own situation.
I have found a few, so I'll be applying these and see what we can get from them. Good luck on your journey as you incorporate more story!
1. There are a lot of great business stories found in this book--many of which I did not know before.
2. These stories can inspire you to think of ways to tell stories in your own business.
3. Towards the end, sections do almost read like an advertisement for their company; however, if you can get passed that, I think you'll find nuggets of truth that you can use in your own situation.
I have found a few, so I'll be applying these and see what we can get from them. Good luck on your journey as you incorporate more story!
January 25, 2020
“We’re all hardwired to find stories more memorable than factual statements. That’s because storytelling engages more parts of our brains than abstract language does. Whether it’s Star Wars or a Hemingway novel, the best stories tap into this evolutionary trait by emphasizing relatability, novelty, tension, and fluency. But effective storytelling isn’t just about what’s on the page or on the screen. To influence your audience, you need to pay attention to how you’re delivering your message. In today’s information-packed world, the best way of doing that is to emphasize quality rather than quantity.”
January 25, 2020
The book is simply on the art of storytelling. No one is born as effective storyteller rather it is an art that can be honed through constant practice. That practice must be carried out in daily conversations by applying its techniques.
This book emphasizes on elements of the storytelling. They include; making relatability, ensuring novelty, building tension, and presenting with fluency. With these tools and techniques you enable yourself to tell powerful stories that make ideas stick and persuade folks to take action.
In short, if you want to become an effective leader then you should cultivate the art of storytelling, being an essential element of any charismatic leader.
This book emphasizes on elements of the storytelling. They include; making relatability, ensuring novelty, building tension, and presenting with fluency. With these tools and techniques you enable yourself to tell powerful stories that make ideas stick and persuade folks to take action.
In short, if you want to become an effective leader then you should cultivate the art of storytelling, being an essential element of any charismatic leader.
March 6, 2023
There is some good information here, but Snow never seemed to go as deep into the principles and strategies as one would want, or as he could have. I’m glad I read it, it was engaging enough, and it succeeded in getting me thinking more about storytelling potential for for effective leadership, but the book is just not as practical as it presents itself. And it ultimately seems to function as an ad for Contently, which was kind of awkward.
November 18, 2019
Basically a long ad for contently, but still contains some interesting stories on the power of storytelling (very inception, I know) for businesses. It has a big focus on content marketing but some techniques are applicable in other areas of marketing (eg advertising). If you are new to content marketing this book isn’t a bad place to start.
February 13, 2020
I agree with many of the reviews posted here. It’s got some decent ideas, and a lot of company success stories that illustrate those ideas. A lot of the back half of the book is a sales pitch for their services.
I say if you’re interested in an overview of how brand storytelling works, give it a quick read.
I say if you’re interested in an overview of how brand storytelling works, give it a quick read.
January 11, 2021
Wonderful Book on Content Creation
Besides being a great brand in itself, Contently has allowed two of its most prominent members to write an extremely efficient and quite entertaining guide to creating, managing, and distributing branded content. I highly recommend it to anyone involved in marketing a company or themselves.
Besides being a great brand in itself, Contently has allowed two of its most prominent members to write an extremely efficient and quite entertaining guide to creating, managing, and distributing branded content. I highly recommend it to anyone involved in marketing a company or themselves.
December 5, 2023
This generic busy book reads more as marketing for the company that produced it than as helpful information. It’s saved from 1 star because the little information it does provide has some value.
I recommend taking half an hour at a local bookstore to skim through it and write down some key ideas to look up later.
I recommend taking half an hour at a local bookstore to skim through it and write down some key ideas to look up later.
January 1, 2024
3.5
Some interesting points on content creation and the “content economy” - if you’re completely new to storytelling probably you’ll leave with some questions but it’s a nice little read with concrete examples…also a smart way to promote their online platform which of course I’m gonna go check out 👀
Some interesting points on content creation and the “content economy” - if you’re completely new to storytelling probably you’ll leave with some questions but it’s a nice little read with concrete examples…also a smart way to promote their online platform which of course I’m gonna go check out 👀
February 22, 2025
Gave up 20% into the book as its focus is far more on marketing and business than on anything to do with storytelling. Their examples in Chapter 2 re George Lucas and Star Wars threw me out of their book due to their shallow surface level understanding both of what Lucas made and what messages to get from said stories.
Too shallow, too sales-business oriented for this writer
Too shallow, too sales-business oriented for this writer
April 17, 2018
What a good book. I like that the entire premise is something that is very relatable to my job, and it's something I try hard to do every day. If you have a business, profile, or personal brand, you will want to read this book.
January 18, 2020
Great Book but Lots of Pitching for Contently
I thought there was great information about storytelling but lots of sales pitches throughout on using Contently even if subtle in some chapters.
I thought there was great information about storytelling but lots of sales pitches throughout on using Contently even if subtle in some chapters.
January 29, 2020
Even at the face value this book title itself is worth knowing about.
We all relate very closely and personally with stories they shape who you are. Consuming facts don't change behavior but a story more likely will.
Loved the book, simply put that's how our brains are designed :p
Enjoy!
We all relate very closely and personally with stories they shape who you are. Consuming facts don't change behavior but a story more likely will.
Loved the book, simply put that's how our brains are designed :p
Enjoy!
January 31, 2020
A study of communicating, and being able to tell a convincing and fluent story. The human brain is wired to find stories memorable and engaging, so great stories need to have novelty and being fluent, and having tenssion. That is why we need to make sure to pay attention to how we deliver messages.
December 24, 2020
Read via Blinkist as a fast audio read. Some good annotations on a few examples for storytelling. A short read was enough! It was helpful to hear how examples are being constructed into story telling especially I was taking a course around storytelling effectively at this moment
May 26, 2018
Eminently unactionable
November 11, 2018
Seemed like an advert for contently
December 13, 2018
I mean, it’s basically an ad for Contently. But as someone new to content marketing, it provided a nice way to think about sharing my company’s story.
February 12, 2019
I read this for professional development, and the book has some good tips and models that I think may be useful as I continue my path of B2B content marketing for Affirm. (7)
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