The Art of the Tale

Reviewing: The Art of the Tale by Steven James and Tom Morrisey

Spinning yarns is as American as apple pie and ancient as the creation of the worlds. Storytelling is a fabric of every society and is an effective way of communicating knowledge from one generation to another. The Art of the Tale gives back to our generation what is lost in translation, from gathering around a campfire to telling tales handed down from our parents and grandparents to the modern shorthand of texting or social media. The best stories told are those that are remembered for generations, not one day. Steven James and Tom Morrisey take this thought much further and make this book a valuable resource for public speakers and anyone wanting to hone their storytelling skills, whether verbal or written.

James and Morrisey keep their readers on the edge of their seats by practicing what they preach telling their readers stories throughout their book. Reading their book is not work as they keep your attention with their stories (some happy and some not so much) while giving readers valuable lessons on how to be an effective yarn spinner. This is one that I will likely read over a few more times in my lifetime and refer to often as needed. I plan to share this with my colleagues and friends very soon!

This is one of those 5-star reads that gets you hooked on a topic, makes you invest much more time on developing a skill than you initially intended, so that at the end of the day you can stand proud and say “I feel that I mastered this skill!” This is the feeling that I got after finishing Steven James & Tom Morrisey’s book on storytelling entitled “The Art of the Tale”.

Through its 368, readers will discover that the authors went the extra mile to put together this great work which combines examples of his personal experience as a writer with advice on crafting stories. Another aspect that I personally like is that the authors emphasize the idea that we, as human beings, are storytellers by nature:

“You may not get paid to write novels, perform plays, or direct movies - and you may have never thought about it this way before - but as a member of the human race you are already a storyteller.”

I look forward to putting into practice some of the new techniques I learned by reading this book!

Special thanks to NetGalley, HarperCollins Leadership, and the editorial team for giving me the opportunity to review the ARC in audiobook format and to you, my reader, for taking the time to read this honest personal book review.

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Solid, practical info and advice here. Since we're wired for stories, and some of us are not natural story tellers, this offers some great tips. Recommended.

Thanks very much for the free ARC for review!!

One thing for sure, there’s nothing like a good story to make you perk up your ears. Master storytellers in the form of Steven James and Tom Morrisey use their skills to write an extremely readable and even enjoyable tome to show you how to capture and make an impact on your audience. They’ve also given very useful quick outlines at the end of every chapter.

Of particular interest for these times is a chapter on diversity and inclusion.

A keeper for anyone who wants to bring life to any format of presentation. Lots of practical tips and techniques and essential do’s and don’ts.

A hearty 5 stars from me.

I requested this book mainly to help me with branding my own business and telling a story. While this is geared more towards speakers, this still makes a great read for anybody wanting to learn why speakers like Brene Brown or other TED talkers are so compelling to listen to.

The Art of the Tale has lots of personal stories from the author as well as a plethora of tips, explanations and information. This is great for if you wanted to tell better stories at parties or events or it could help if you have a business or an important work event. At each chapter end there is a key points to remember part, which nicely summarizes important information.

I can recommend this to anybody that would like a compact book about how to tell a story. It's not dry at all, promise.

Thank you Netgalley for providing me with a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

A great book if you are looking to refine your speaking skills! Using the idea that a story is much more powerful than telling people what to do, the authors walk you through several tips and tricks to figure out how and when to tell a story (real or fiction, anecdote or actual "Story")

Pick this up and practice (except when they tell you it's better NOT to practice!) and I do believe it will help you reach your audiences a lot better.