Anecdotally Speaking

This week on Anecdotally Speaking, Mark shares the story of an unlikely hero, Cliff Young, who may already be familiar to you. Mark discusses how conventional thinking can stop you from seeing a whole realm of possibilities, especially when it comes to performance.

Mark has asked for feedback from our international listeners as to how you feel this Australian story would fare in your workplace. Would people understand the lessons even though this story is quite Australian? Leave your feedback in the comments below or send us an email at [email protected].

Starting next week, from the 8th of June 2020, we’re delivering online public Storytelling for Leaders and Story-Powered Sales workshops. If you have always wanted to attend one of our courses, now is the time! Visit our events page for more information.

In this week’s episode, Shawn shares a story he read in Entrepreneur Magazine, which delves into Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson and, his wife, Dany Garcia’s change in strategy after a particular experience with a fan.

Our free Response Story webinar is coming up tomorrow, the 27th of May, at 8:00 am and 5:00 pm (AEST). Head to our website to register!

After having to adapt quickly when COVID-19 hit, Mark and Shawn share how they have adapted their training programs for virtual delivery, and how they are already seeing the programs being well-received with highly engaged participants.

Mark shares a story he heard on The Tim Ferriss Show whilst doing research for another podcast interview. The story gives insight into how one simple mindset change can influence how you move forward in work and life. If you haven’t yet listened to The Tim Ferriss Show podcast, the guys highly recommend it!

We also have an upcoming event that you may be interested in. Shawn will be hosting a free Response Story webinar on the 27 May 2020 at 8am and 5pm (AEST). Head to our website anecdote.com for more information.

In this week’s podcast, Shawn and Mark explore how a simple miscommunication between Henry Kissinger and Winston Lord created an emotive and powerful story worth retelling.

Shawn wastes no time and gets straight into this week’s story, allowing for a thorough discussion on how to make it even better. He gives the story one of the highest ratings he has even given on Anecdotally Speaking, so this one needs to be added to your story bank!

Let us know on social media, using #anecdotallyspeaking, when you add one of the stories shared on Anecdotally Speaking to your story bank!

In this week’s episode, Mark shares a story from Chip and Dan Heath’s Power of Moments: Why Certain Experiences Have Extraordinary Impact, which explores a group of high school students’ invaluable experience delving into the ‘Golding trial’ curated by their teachers.

Shawn and Mark explore how by creating meaningful and remembered learning experiences influenced by your teams’ interests, you will encourage the retelling of memorable moments and new learning initiatives.

After a short hiatus during the Coronavirus pandemic, Shawn and Mark are back in our ears! In this new climate, we are trialling recording via Zoom, so hopefully the audio quality hasn’t taken too much of a hit!

In this episode, the guys take a different approach to the normal story sharing structure we see in Anecdotally Speaking by including numerous personal stories surrounding the Coronavirus, and explaining how they can be implemented and shared in a business sense to demonstrate social proof.

Mark also shares a historic story that relates to what we are facing and how, with a few tweaks, it could be the perfect story to share in your workplace.

We're changing things up this week, with Shawn sharing a parable instead of a story. The parable features in Dan Heath’s upcoming book, Upstream, and suggests we should tackle issues at their source. We are fans of the Heath brothers, Chip and Dan Heath, and particularly their book, Made to Stick, and its chapter on business storytelling.

Happy New Year! Anecdotally Speaking is back for 2020. To kick off the year, Andy Billings joins Shawn and Mark on the podcast.

Andy, Vice President of Profitable Creativity at Electronic Arts (EA), shares a story about a senior VP who worked from a different desk, alongside a different team, every month. Andy is a huge fan of storytelling, and he tells this story in impeccable timing!

2019 is drawing to a close. But before we close the office for the holiday period, we have another Anecdotally Speaking Special Edition to share with you! 

Some weeks ago, Mark was lucky enough to spend an hour with John Sculley, the former CEO of Apple Inc. and former President of Pepsi-Cola, and interview him for our podcast. John shared five stories with Mark. Each story relays an experience that shaped John as a businessman, entrepreneur, and investor, and highlights the role insight can play in the success of a business.

We thoroughly enjoyed creating this episode and hope you enjoy listening to it!

Seasons greetings for the holiday period. Anecdotally Speaking will be back with more stories that you can add to your story repertoire in January 2020.

This week, we’re sharing a story that we often use in our workshops. The story follows Rob McEwen during his time working as CEO at Goldcorp Inc. Rob went against the advice of his colleagues when he launched the Goldcorp Challenge and made the company’s data freely accessible around the world. But, it proved to be the best decision he could have made at the time.

You can tell this story to illustrate several business points, but many people find it difficult to tell. So, Shawn and Mark share some tips to have us telling it effectively.

Don't forget to keep an eye out for our next episode! Who do you think our special guest is? We're sharing some clues on our LinkedIn page!