People don’t easily connect to abstract ideas, we connect to other human beings. With that in mind, how can you tell stories about yourself that bring your ideas to life?

To answer that question I’ve invited David Hutchens to join me. David is the CEO of Mythos Global, the home of the storytelling leader program. He is the author of Story Dash: Find, Develop, & Activate Your Most Valuable Business Stories… In Just a Few Hours! David has built his career around storytelling for business.

Our conversation starts with David telling us his story of going from a copywriter at advertising agencies to attending the ASTD Expo with his portfolio seeking an opportunity to write about the things he really cares about – innovation and leadership.

David’s own personal story gives us an immediate connection to his ideas and he shares how others can use his tools like the Taxonomy of Stories and Story Deck to find the stories they should be telling. These tools were crafted through many years of conversation and hearing the stories of business leaders all over the world. David realized many of the stories had common themes and could be organized into categories that would give sales, strategy, innovation, thought leaders, and much more an idea of the story that they need to tell.

While we learn that storytelling is important David also cautions that it isn’t the only tool to use. He shares how his research into highly successful leaders shows that around 30% of communication should be story-based, while the other 70% can be made up of slides, data, didactic lecturing, and other modes of rhetoric and persuasion.

David gives powerful insights and advice into how leaders and entrepreneurs can use storytelling to break through the noise and reach their audience!

Three Key Takeaways:

· Build a team. If you want to go fast go alone. If you want to go far, take people with you.

· Brilliant ideas don't spread on their own. They need advertising.

· Attention is the new precious resource. You have to be thoughtful about how you’ll break through the noise and keep the attention of your audience.

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