Confidence Classic: Captivate Any Audience with These Expert Secrets of Storytelling with Ashley Stahl Top 100 TEDx Speaker

You may not know it yet, but your life is full of stories worth sharing. So argues oral storytelling champion Matthew Dicks in Storyworthy—a guide to discovering, crafting, and sharing great personal stories. Drawing on his experience telling stories on stages around the world and teaching storytelling to diverse groups of people, Dicks offers insights on how to shape ordinary moments into stories that spark profound human connections.

In this guide, we’ll cover Dicks’s ideas in four parts. First, we’ll explain why everyone should learn how to tell their stories. Next, we’ll outline Dicks’s advice on deciding which stories to share. Then, we’ll explain how to combine all the elements of a good story. Finally, we’ll cover Dicks’s tips for memorizing, practicing, and sharing your story on stage. Throughout, we’ll supplement Dicks’s advice with tips from experts on writing, psychology, public speaking, and more.

You want to engage and persuade your audience when you talk about your work, passions, or values. But even when you care deeply about your message, you don’t always connect with your listeners. In his 2018 book Unleash the Power of Storytelling, speechwriter-turned-actor Rob Biesenbach asserts that you can make your message much more compelling by simply telling a story.

Biesenbach explains that stories affect us deeply because they have a unique power to captivate our attention, influence our perception, and shape our emotions. In this guide, we’ll explain how Biesenbach defines a story and explore the fundamental pieces that make up a story. (Hint: It’s not as simple as beginning, middle, and end!) We’ll also compare Biesenbach’s insights to other popular theories about stories and storytelling, and we’ll look at the research on how storytelling affects your brain—and how these effects play out in the real world.

Storytelling is an elusive art—you may have found yourself moved to tears by a story without fully understanding why. This makes writing fiction a tricky endeavor. Is it possible to learn how to capture and communicate this kind of emotional magic? Arguably, yes. The same basic storytelling principles apply no matter what kind of story you want to write—whether it’s a hilarious short film, a heart-wrenching novel, or a chilling horror audio drama.

For this Master Guide, we’ve collected and distilled advice from successful authors and storytelling experts, including Stephen King, Robert McKee, and Lisa Cron. You’ll learn how to structure your story in a way that makes sense to audiences, use your characters to communicate your story’s theme, and convey your unique voice through your storytelling.

Does the thought of speaking in front of an audience make you anxious? You’re not alone: Many people say they fear public speaking even more than death. But public speaking is also one of the most important and widely applicable skills in life, and the good news is, anyone can master it. By learning proven skills and techniques, you can become an effective communicator and confidently deliver your message to an audience.

In Shortform’s Master Guide to public speaking, we’ve compiled leading experts’ insights on how to prepare and deliver your speech. Whether you want to persuade, inform, entertain, or motivate your audience, this guide will walk you through the process of crafting and delivering a powerful speech that captures your audience’s interest.

According to author and lecturer Dale Carnegie, public speaking is the one skill that can bring you more success, opportunity, and fulfillment than any other. In Public Speaking for Success, Carnegie argues that as a skilled speaker, you'll be able to change people's hearts and minds, inspire action, improve your relationships, and advance your career. Most people fear speaking in public, but that’s only natural—and with Carnegie’s time-tested lessons, you can learn to overcome that fear, take the stage, and speak with confidence and poise.

Our guide is based on the updated 2006 edition of Public Speaking for Success (originally published in 1926). We share Carnegie’s essential teachings about why public speaking matters, how to overcome the fear of getting on stage, and how to craft and deliver a memorable speech. In commentary, we’ll explore how speech-giving has changed since Carnegie’s time and compare his ideas to those in two popular books on TED talks.

You want to engage and persuade your audience when you talk about your work, passions, or values. But even when you care deeply about your message, you don’t always connect with your listeners. In his 2018 book Unleash the Power of Storytelling, speechwriter-turned-actor Rob Biesenbach asserts that you can make your message much more compelling by simply telling a story.

Biesenbach explains that stories affect us deeply because they have a unique power to captivate our attention, influence our perception, and shape our emotions. In this guide, we’ll explain how Biesenbach defines a story and explore the fundamental pieces that make up a story. (Hint: It’s not as simple as beginning, middle, and end!) We’ll also compare Biesenbach’s insights to other popular theories about stories and storytelling, and we’ll look at the research on how storytelling affects your brain—and how these effects play out in the real world.

You may not know it yet, but your life is full of stories worth sharing. So argues oral storytelling champion Matthew Dicks in Storyworthy—a guide to discovering, crafting, and sharing great personal stories. Drawing on his experience telling stories on stages around the world and teaching storytelling to diverse groups of people, Dicks offers insights on how to shape ordinary moments into stories that spark profound human connections.

In this guide, we’ll cover Dicks’s ideas in four parts. First, we’ll explain why everyone should learn how to tell their stories. Next, we’ll outline Dicks’s advice on deciding which stories to share. Then, we’ll explain how to combine all the elements of a good story. Finally, we’ll cover Dicks’s tips for memorizing, practicing, and sharing your story on stage. Throughout, we’ll supplement Dicks’s advice with tips from experts on writing, psychology, public speaking, and more.

You want to engage and persuade your audience when you talk about your work, passions, or values. But even when you care deeply about your message, you don’t always connect with your listeners. In his 2018 book Unleash the Power of Storytelling, speechwriter-turned-actor Rob Biesenbach asserts that you can make your message much more compelling by simply telling a story.

Biesenbach explains that stories affect us deeply because they have a unique power to captivate our attention, influence our perception, and shape our emotions. In this guide, we’ll explain how Biesenbach defines a story and explore the fundamental pieces that make up a story. (Hint: It’s not as simple as beginning, middle, and end!) We’ll also compare Biesenbach’s insights to other popular theories about stories and storytelling, and we’ll look at the research on how storytelling affects your brain—and how these effects play out in the real world.

Never underestimate the power of a good story. In Stories That Stick, brand strategist Kindra Hall explains why stories are probably the answer to most of your business problems—from building a brand, to connecting with customers, or creating long-lasting impact. Whether you're an entrepreneur, marketer, or creative professional, this book will inspire you to harness the power of storytelling to communicate more effectively and bridge the gap between you and your audience. Drawing from examples of successful brands, Hall explains how storytelling can transform your marketing strategy and your business.

In this guide, we’ll discuss why stories are so powerful, explain what makes a good story, and introduce four core story models you can start using right away. We’ll also include prompts to help you build a stockpile of compelling stories. We’ll cite examples of companies using effective storytelling in their marketing and compare Hall’s advice with that of other marketing strategists like Daniel Pink (To Sell Is Human) and Seth Godin (All Marketers Are Liars).

A great speech has the power to inspire and change the world, but most people believe that public speaking is an innate talent. As curator for TED since 2002, Chris Anderson knows better—he has seen hundreds of speeches succeed and fail, and he has figured out the secret formula. Published in 2016, TED Talks is a nuts-and-bolts guide to public speaking that takes you from the initial idea to your final bow.

In this guide, we go through Anderson’s advice piece by piece and explain what works in public speaking and what doesn’t. From scripting to wardrobe, and everything in between, we compare his advice to that of other public speaking experts and supplement his ideas with actionable methods.

Does the thought of speaking in front of an audience make you anxious? You’re not alone: Many people say they fear public speaking even more than death. But public speaking is also one of the most important and widely applicable skills in life, and the good news is, anyone can master it. By learning proven skills and techniques, you can become an effective communicator and confidently deliver your message to an audience.

In Shortform’s Master Guide to public speaking, we’ve compiled leading experts’ insights on how to prepare and deliver your speech. Whether you want to persuade, inform, entertain, or motivate your audience, this guide will walk you through the process of crafting and delivering a powerful speech that captures your audience’s interest.

A great speech has the power to inspire and change the world, but most people believe that public speaking is an innate talent. As curator for TED since 2002, Chris Anderson knows better—he has seen hundreds of speeches succeed and fail, and he has figured out the secret formula. Published in 2016, TED Talks is a nuts-and-bolts guide to public speaking that takes you from the initial idea to your final bow.

In this guide, we go through Anderson’s advice piece by piece and explain what works in public speaking and what doesn’t. From scripting to wardrobe, and everything in between, we compare his advice to that of other public speaking experts and supplement his ideas with actionable methods.

Does the thought of speaking in front of an audience make you anxious? You’re not alone: Many people say they fear public speaking even more than death. But public speaking is also one of the most important and widely applicable skills in life, and the good news is, anyone can master it. By learning proven skills and techniques, you can become an effective communicator and confidently deliver your message to an audience.

In Shortform’s Master Guide to public speaking, we’ve compiled leading experts’ insights on how to prepare and deliver your speech. Whether you want to persuade, inform, entertain, or motivate your audience, this guide will walk you through the process of crafting and delivering a powerful speech that captures your audience’s interest.