Carmine Gallo : The Storyteller's Secret (Interview)

credit: gallocommunications.com

"Ask yourself, “What makes my heart sing?” Your passion is not a passing interest or even a hobby. A passion is something that is intensely meaningful and core to your identity. Once you identify what your passion is, can you say it influences your daily activities? Can you incorporate it into what you do professionally? Your true passion should be the subject of your communications and will serve to truly inspire your audience." —Carmine Gallo from Talk Like TED

A while back, a listener of the podcast wrote me asking about what I thought was the single most useful skill he could work on developing if he wanted to make dramatic changes to improve himself in life, both personally and professionally... Wanna know what my answer was?—To learn the skill of effectively communicating your ideas to other people.

The reason I think this is such an important thing to learn is because a large part of how successful we’ll be—both in life and in business—depends upon taking what we’ve got stored in our heads and hearts, and figuring out how to put that into the heads and hearts of other people.

And if that’s a skill you’d like to learn more about, then you’re in luck, because today I'm joined by Carmine Gallo, who’s made a career out of helping people share their story in the most inspiring and empowering way possible. He's the author of a string of best-selling books, including the wildly popular, Talk Like TED (awesome book - see summary here).

Today, Carmine is here to talk with us about his new book, The Storyteller's Secret, which is all about the science of crafting compelling stories that can help you inspire, instruct, and drive positive change in your career, your business,—even your life. Click below to start listening now.

EP130: CARMINE GALLO • PLAY BELOW • LISTEN ON ITUNES

Questions + topics covered in this interview

Why do you think stories so effective at helping people get their ideas across effectively?
Why it's important for people to find “what makes their heart sing” — can you talk a little bit about how someone can tap into that within the context of storytelling?
What are the most important elements of a powerful story?
What's one (or more) of the biggest mistakes most people make with storytelling?
What are some of the most effective ways to START a story? (Eg. Quote? A story about myself? A story about a noteworthy person?)
What's typically more effective when storytelling:
- A) to Make a point--and then tell a story (ex: "Today I'd like to share a story with you about...") or,
- B) to Tell a story--and then make a point (ex: immediately diving straight into the story and allowing your main point(s) to unravel as you tell the story?)
Why is it important to talk about your struggle? (plus, what to do if you're wondering, "But what if I don't have a crazy struggle-to-success story?")
Change your story, change your life — Becoming aware of the story you tell yourself.
What are some good ways to end a story?