The Right Story: A Brief Guide to Changing the World by Bernadette Jiwa

Brad Revell -

My Rating of “The Right Story: A Brief Guide to Changing the World” by Bernadette Jiwa: 9 / 10

The older I get the more importance I put into story telling as well as being a better story teller. Whether it is age, being in a sales environment or my longevity in Toastmasters, telling the right story at the right time to the right people in the right way is critical. So much so that Bernadette Jiwa quoted that very line in her book about telling the right story.

I’m a regular reader of Jiwa’s blog and in April last year read her previous book Story Driven (my review is here). I love her niche and the importance it has in today’s society. Recently I read a quote from a professor at the London School of Economics where she said “… yesterday was about muscle, today is about the brain and tomorrow will be about the heart.” To win the heart you must tell the right story.

The Right Story, like most how-tos books, comes with a formula called the The Story Compass. The Story Compass is a tool to help drive powerful and purposeful storytelling. The four areas outlined are Attention, Action, Connection and Persuasion. The Story Compass also aligns on the what, where, who, when, why and how in your story.

The book is an extremely quick read. So much so I started and finished this book on a flight from London Heathrow to Oslo (1.5 hour flight). Want a formula for telling better stories? The Right Story is worth the investment in order to start you on the right path!

Three key takeaways from the book:

  1. We become better communicators when we understand three things: what we believe to be true, what we want our audience to know, and what the people we hope to influence are open to hearing at that moment.
  2. You cannot change a mind without winning a heart.
  3. Good storytellers and great communicators seek to understand before being understood. Read (and heard) this one before but worth mentioning again.