My first book about storytelling – The Story Factor – came out in the year 2000. It was listed in the book “The 100 Best Business Books of All Time.” It’s a good book, but I’ve learned a lot since then and Whoever Tells the Best Story Wins is a stripped down how to guide for finding stories to tell immediately – like this afternoon or tomorrow morning.

For one thing, I no longer need to preach about the power of storytelling. There is plenty of science that provides hard proof that storytelling increases retention, activates the kind of emotions that fuel action, and builds trust – an intangible emotional response based on past and present personal experiences OR an experiential story narrated in a way that stimulates the senses well enough to be recorded as if it were a real live personal experience.

Experience may be best teacher. But story is second best!

I’ve also learned that there are endless true statements about storytelling that may be true but tie us into knots by encouraging us to over-think this a simple human instinct to communicate in narrative formats. In the beginning I absorbed it all – the neuroscience, story structure outlines, plot options, and advice on setting, character-development, narrative arc and more. This information took a long time to apply and yes, it did refine my story – but only if it was already a GOOD story.

I also found that a really GOOD story is good even if the person telling it has never even heard of a narrative arc or the classic story structure. None of that stuff helped my clients find more stories to tell. This book outlines six stories you need to tell with a simple guide (and examples) for finding twenty stories from your own memories. After that if you want to worry about plot design, character development, or the top ten elements of good storytelling, all you need to do is google business storytelling.

“Whoever Tells the Best Story Wins” outlines Six Stories you want to tell in business. It all starts with “Who I Am” and “Why I am here” Stories because if you don’t provide these stories, people tend to make up stories about hidden agendas. The other four stories move your listeners to travel new paths of thought and reach new conclusions. “Value in action” Stories provide experiential evidence for what values like integrity, excellence, and commitment mean to you, personally. “Vision” Stories frame a future that shrinks current frustrations into small irritations easily tolerated in light of the end goal. “Teaching” Stories give a vicarious demonstration of new skills or ideas. And finally, you can use an “I know what you are thinking” Story to overcome objections before they happen.

For two decades, Annette has inspired audiences to find and tell powerful stories that spread new ideas, sell products, build leadership, and prompt behavior change. The The Story Factor, named One of the Best 100 Business Books of All Time (Penguin, 2008) and Whoever Tells the Best Story Wins (second edition in 2015) are international classics.