I did not particularly enjoy this book. I agree with the importance and power of storytelling on both a personal and business level, however, I felt like I was slogging through this book like I would reading a textbook. I think his business approach must be more powerful through his presentations. It seemed weird that the book didn't feel like it was written in an interesting, engaging storytelling format when that was what the book was all about!

Powered by Storytelling
By Murray Nossel

3 Stars

This title works on the premises that humans are hardwired for liking and living through stories. That it is through stories that we can overcome obstacles.

The book promotes the ‘Narrative Approach’ to storytelling, which the authors promote through their communication consultancy firm. Through their services and partly through the book.

The book does contain several strategies to approaching and delivering storytelling.


This title has been reviewed by www.books-reviewed.weebly.com

This title was provided by Netgalley and the publisher in return for an open and honest review.

# PoweredByStorytelling #NetGalley

Unfortunately, I did not find value in this book. I've read a few books on presentations/storytelling and this one did not live up to its premise. I was left feeling that the author's true strength must be in coaching and working directly with clients rather than in writing.

Murray Nossel’s book Powered by Storytelling: Excavate, Craft, and Present Stories to Transform Business Communication is dense complexity made gloriously clear and actionable.
Let’s ignore the bit about transforming business communication. Essential though that may be, it limits the potential of a terrifically important book for every person. All communication is story — and we can all use improved story telling and listening skills to live more abundantly, wisely, and joyfully.
Anytime there are two people in dialogue, there is story between them, one person telling the story and the other listening. In Nossel’s model, listening is the vessel that shapes the story, so both the telling and the receiving are equal parts in the exchange, one shaping and enriching the other.
Humans are wired for story, crave it as we do food, air, water. We make sense of the world through story, through the experiences we live and interpret to the experiences that others relate in story that instruct, entertain, and inspire.
Nossel has made a lifetime of teaching storytelling. That expertise resounds in this book, where story is distilled to its essential pieces along with the way that an individual can develop their own stories.
This is a seminal work in storytelling. If I were only allowed three books on writing, this would be one.
The only thing wrong with the book is the subtitle. I see the value in this book extending far, far, far beyond business communication. It belongs everywhere, in education, government, and all enterprises, including families and communities. It belongs on every writer’s desk for starters…
We live and die by the stories we tell. Some earn money from their stories; all of us use stories to understand and navigate the world and live life as best we know how.
Nossel presents a simple, memorable way of getting to the core of story:
Answer Why Story? and Why Now?
Identify and Release Obstacles to Listening
Remember Your Heritage
Tell What Happened and Find Your Ending
Connect With Your Audience
This novelist sat bolt upright when I read Nossel’s counsel to use the senses to tell story — and no interpretation, summaries, or themes to take away. It is the ultimate in showing, not telling; all you can use is the senses of sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell. I’ve heard it, read it, proclaimed it before, but never inhabited what it means to do this — and Nossel provided vivid case studies of storytellers working their way to tight, powerful, memorable stories.
Rapt, I read faster and faster, discovering the simplest arc for story that I’ve seen described so simply and well: First Line; Last Line; Emotional Turning Point (highest point of emotion).
That’s it. That’s all you need.
Get those right and there’s your story.
I’m not there.
Not even close.
But I’m getting there, thanks in part to Nossel’s excellent Powered by Storytelling.
I received an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This is the review — now I’m off to buy a book that I cannot wait to add to my writer’s bookshelf. While I’m off in the world acquiring the book, I am also learning more about Nossel’s Narativ organization devoted to storytelling and business communication — so much to learn, so impactful and important…

This book is great for nonprofits. It gives you a blueprint into making your company tell a story that people can relate to, thus increasing dollar amounts spent and donated.

This is the best business communication books that I have come across since I began teaching at a business school seven years ago. The methods presented are simple but have the potential to profoundly impact communication and working relationships in business organizations. Having tested them out in a wide range of organizational settings, the author has had the opportunity to refine them for maximum impact.

This book will help you on hoe to get your message across in story form. Sharing story with others is how we preserve our cultural heritage not to mention that it’s how we express ourselves to the world.

The best idea that resonates with me on this book is how to present our stories as vividly as possible necessitating to discard the narrator’s interpretation of the situation.

(Review delayed due to chronic sickness)

This is a book one began to warm to, but it does require a more in-depth, more sequential read for best effect, which is perhaps not a surprise when it advocates the use of storytelling as a means to transform how you communicate, ostensibly for business purposes.

The author has developed a method based on the fundamental human instinct of telling a story, refining it through decades of workplace experience, research and observation. While it is an interesting read, with powerful potential in the right situation, I may slightly disagree with the publisher’s blurb that it is a ‘groundbreaking guide’ in itself, but this may be just a trivial difference of interpretation. In any case, if you get on with the book and form a connection, it may be something for you. It is competitively priced and thus worth a check, as the potential reward is high.

In many situations, storytelling can be an engaging activity, but far too many stories appear to be convoluted, inauthentic or overly polished for their task. Maybe this book can help you find the right story and then guide you to developing how you express your memories, experiences and background going forward. The author states that a three-step method, as used by his own consulting company for its clients, can make a difference. It is worth a try, and much of the advice can be utilised even within non-story specific communications too.

My only concern, as a reader, was the story/narrative-type approach of the book itself. It may boil down to style and preference, but I find such books less actionable and inspirational than perhaps more sterile, focussed guides. The story, so to speak, being offered was not dull, but it was a harder slog than one would have liked and perhaps a lesser book, or something not being reviewed, may have been put to the side.

Dependent on your perception and personal take on stories, this may be either a good book in general or an excellent book in focus. It is best to take a look and determine for yourself! At the start of the book were a number of positive comments from various business executives and leaders and, of course, they loved it, but they did give interesting insight into what bits they liked and why, making my guarded concerns more certain to be issues of interpretation and taste, rather than an explicit problem with the book itself.

Powered by Storytelling, written by Murray Nossel and published by McGraw-Hill Education. ISBN 9781260011906. YYYY

Storytelling is a buzzword everywhere from marketing to advertising to IT. Murray Nossel treats in this book the problem of listening in the one on one or one to many storytelling. And the truth is listening is an important part in telling our story. What i liked most about this book that lacks from other books on the same topic that focus mostly on how to inspire creativity is the idea of preparation before telling a story and the support of spontaneity instead of a memorized of the story. I always believed that good storytellers had a sixth sense of captivating the audience but this book showed me that you need more than charisma to connect with an audience be it at a conference or through an ad (be it on TV or online).

3.5 stars

This book offers an interesting approach to business communication. As the title indicates, the format is based on the author's experience with storytelling. A large portion of the book is geared toward teaching the reader how to listen and remove obstacles to listening without judgment or expectation. I agree with the author that listening is an essential element of storytelling. While the delivery was a little drier than I expected for a book on storytelling, readers looking to improve their communication skills might learn something. The prompts and scripts toward the end of the book are helpful, and the examples will show readers how to employ the suggested techniques. While this isn't a groundbreaking approach, I would recommend it to business leaders who want to try something new or clarify their message and interoffice communication skills.

I received an e-copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a good book. The author talk and share some really valuable insights on the importance of making it easy for people to listen to stories. They also help in mining for some interesting stories from within our lives and how best to tell them in a given context...

A very good book, full of interesting information. A great resource for improving or learning about storytelling.
Many thanks to McGraw-Hill Education and Netgalley

Superb book on the power of storytelling! Well recommended for those who need to connect with an audience and get their message across.

This book is not what I expected. Nice stories, but not very helpful.