To persuade, you have

to communicate your idea

0:01

in a way that's engaging,

compelling, and relevant

0:03

to others.

0:07

This is where

storytelling comes in.

0:09

In a recent PWC survey,

hundreds of CEOs

0:12

named storytelling as one of

the most important business

0:15

skills of the 21st century.

0:19

Master storytellers know that

facts and numbers by themselves

0:22

don't persuade anybody to think

differently or take action.

0:26

Dan Kahneman won the Nobel

Prize for economics for his work

0:31

on decision making.

0:34

And he said, "Nobody ever made

a decision because of a number."

0:35

The philosopher

Alasdair MacIntyre

0:41

said human beings were

storytelling animals who

0:43

used their stories to

distinguish wrong from right.

0:46

In short, people need

stories to make decisions.

0:50

What this means for

business is that anybody who

0:54

needs to motivate others to

make a decision and act on it,

0:57

CEOs, entrepreneurs,

military leaders,

1:01

anybody who needs to work

with and through others,

1:05

needs to know how

to tell a story.

1:08

Stories are the

basis for action.

1:10

You might be thinking,

but I'm a business person.

1:14

I'm interested in facts.

1:17

Sure, but there

are lots of facts.

1:19

Your job is to get

others to focus

1:22

on the right facts

in the right way

1:24

and to feel excited

about your idea

1:26

for dealing with those facts.

1:28

Effective leaders,

like Steve Jobs,

1:31

use stories to position

facts as a springboard

1:33

to set the stage for

the adventure that's

1:37

about to happen.

1:39

Those leaders set the

scene for a challenge

1:41

and get others engaged right

from the start in tackling it.

1:44

As you develop your

storytelling skills,

1:49

you will turn your listeners

into not only supporters

1:52

of your idea but passionate

advocates who will

1:54

partner with you throughout the

journey from idea to execution.

1:58

So how do you tell a good story?

2:04

There's a lot to learn from

Hollywood, where pitching ideas

2:07

have been honed to a fine art.

2:10

When the well-known director

David Lynch pitched his idea

2:13

to ABC in 1999 for the TV

show Mulholland Drive, he

2:16

and his partner Tony

Krantz told a story.

2:21

They met with the

producer, Steve Tau,

2:25

at his office in Hollywood.

2:27

While Lynch was drinking

coffee, Krantz led off.

2:29

Darkness.

2:33

Distant sounds of

freeway traffic.

2:35

Then the closer sound of a car.

2:37

Its headlights illuminate an

oleander bush and the limbs

2:39

of a eucalyptus tree.

2:44

Then the headlights turn.

2:46

A street sign is

suddenly brightly lit.

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The words on the sign

read Mulholland Drive.

2:50

The car moves under

the sign as it turns,

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and the words fall

again into darkness.

2:56

Krantz pauses, then continues.

3:00

The car is a black

Cadillac limousine.

3:03

The driver stops and pulls a gun

on a beautiful brunette sitting

3:06

behind him.

3:10

Seconds later, another car races

around the corner and slams

3:12

into the limo.

3:16

The woman staggers

out of the wreckage

3:17

and weaves down the

hill into Hollywood.

3:19

Lynch picks up from

here, describing

3:24

how the woman, Rita,

wanders into a parking lot

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and discovers $125,000

in cash in her handbag.

3:30

She's lost her

memory in the crash,

3:36

and does not even

remember who she is.

3:38

Another woman, Betty,

appears at this point

3:41

and takes Rita up

to an apartment.

3:45

The two women start to

piece together the situation

3:47

as in other parts of the

city, police officers

3:50

and two shady-looking

men separately

3:54

start looking for Rita.

3:56

Lynch stopped here

and lit a cigarette.

3:59

He stared at his feet.

4:02

"What happens next?"

4:04

Tau said.

4:05

"You have to buy the pitch for

me to tell you," Lynch replied.

4:06

ABC bought the pitch.

4:11

Usually, a pilot sells for a

few hundred thousand dollars,

4:13

but the Mulholland Drive

pitch fetched $4.5 million.

4:17

After the meeting,

Steve Tau said,

4:23

"It was the best kind of

pitch, the kind where you're

4:26

on the edge of your seat."

4:29

Krantz and Lynch told

a really good story,

4:32

and it paid off to the

tune of $4.5 million.

4:35

Let's step back for a

minute and take a close look

4:40

at how the Mulholland Drive

pitch was constructed.

4:43

Just about all

storytelling frameworks

4:48

go back over 2,000 years

to ancient Greece, back

4:50

to the philosopher Aristotle.

4:54

Aristotle said a story has three

parts, or acts, a beginning,

4:56

a middle, and an end.

5:01

Simple.

5:03

The beginning

creates the context.

5:05

And as the novelist

Kurt Vonnegut said,

5:07

the beginning should

be as close as

5:10

possible to the

end of the story.

5:12

Notice how Krantz

and Lynch begin.

5:14

Right away, you

know you're in LA.

5:17

Two women are trying to figure

out where $125,000 came from.

5:19

And two men are looking

for one of the women.

5:23

In a minute or two, you can

tell where this story is going

5:26

and how it might end.

5:29

You're also eager to hear more.

5:31

All great stories, Star

Wars, Lord of the Rings,

5:34

the Wizard of Oz,

start in this way.

5:38

Luke Skywalker's aunt and uncle

are killed and Luke rockets off

5:40

with Obi Wan.

5:44

Bilbo Baggins leaves his

comfortable life in the Shire

5:46

and heads off on a long journey.

5:50

Dorothy is whisked up

into the sky by a tornado,

5:52

leaving her boring life at

home and finding herself

5:55

far from Kansas among strange

creatures like the Tin

5:58

Man and the Cowardly Lion.

6:02

The middle is about an action

or event that raises a question

6:06

or creates tension.

6:10

In the story that

Krantz and Lynch told,

6:12

there are questions about the

$125,000 and the scary men

6:15

looking for the women.

6:19

In The Lord of the Rings,

you wonder why and where

6:21

Bilbo is going.

6:24

In a similar way,

in The Wizard of Oz

6:26

you wonder how Dorothy will

get back home to Kansas.

6:28

The end of a story

answers the question

6:33

or resolves the tension.

6:35

You can imagine how

the Lynch and Krantz

6:37

story will answer the questions

raised in the beginning.

6:39

In Star Wars, Luke

destroys the Death Star.

6:43

In The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy

kills the wicked witch

6:47

and unmasks the wizard.

6:50

Now, how do you take this

basic beginning, middle, end

6:53

structure and make

it simple enough

6:57

to use it every day at work?

6:59

Think of the way the

movie-making folks at Pixar do.

7:01

They say every successful

film has the same structure.

7:05

Once upon a time, blank.

7:09

Every day, blank.

7:12

One day, blank.

7:14

Because of that, blank.

7:16

Until finally, blank.

7:18

Notice how this simple

template captures the wisdom

7:21

that centuries of storytellers

have passed down to us.

7:24

Beginning, once upon a time.

7:27

Every day, middle.

7:29

One day, because of that.

7:31

End, until finally.

7:33