How to tell better stories | Matthew Dicks (Storyworthy)

Matthew Dicks is a best-selling author, columnist, blogger, podcaster, playwright, and teacher. He wrote my all-time favorite book on storytelling, Storyworthy. He is an elementary school teacher by day and by night teaches storytelling and public speaking to individuals, corporations, universities, religious institutions, and school districts around the world. He’s taught storytelling at Yale, MIT, Harvard, and Purdue, along with Amazon, Salesforce, Slack, Lego, and others. In this conversation, Matthew shares insights and techniques for effective storytelling, including:
• The benefits of good storytelling in business
• The five-second moment and why it’s so important
• Why you should start every story at the end
• How to build a vault of stories that can be deployed in business situations
• Tips on how to be funnier
• His life-changing “Homework for Life” practice
• Advice for dealing with nervousness in public speaking
• The power of saying yes
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Find the transcript and references at: www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/ho...
Where to find Matthew Dicks:
• Website: matthewdicks.com/
• X: / matthewdicks
• LinkedIn: / matthew-dicks-84a95711
• KZbin: / @matthewjohndicks
• Storyworthy: www.storyworthymd.com/
Where to find Lenny:
• Newsletter: www.lennysnewsletter.com
• X: / lennysan
• LinkedIn: / lennyrachitsky
In this episode, we cover:
(00:00) Matthew’s background
(04:27) The five-second moment
(10:29) Knowing the ending
(14:28) The importance of including a transformation
(15:59) The dinner test
(18:19) You can’t tell someone else’s story
(20:24) Vacation stories
(23:14) Adding stakes to the story
(25:12) The power of surprise
(29:20) The benefits of storytelling in business
(32:20) An example of adding stakes
(34:02) Storytelling in the workplace
(44:29) Using personal inventory to make stories relatable
(48:46) Four ways to keep people listening
(50:52) Using humor in business storytelling
(53:09) Advice for adding humor
(58:43) An example of how storytelling helped a biotech company sell product
(1:02:06) Advice for people who don’t want to become storytellers
(1:06:35) The power of “Homework for Life”
(01:15:26) Practical tips for starting Homework for Life
(01:19:28) Dealing with nervousness in public speaking
(01:24:42) Preparing for a talk or presentation
(01:25:24) The power of saying yes
(01:30:55) Lightning round
Production and marketing by penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email [e-mail].
Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.

[@kylesenkbeil9505]

This is the best content for how to be a better story teller on the web! Wonderful episode!

[@susanpratt8706]

I actually found myself laughing out loud at some of the stories Matthew shared. The whole episode was chock full of information that is both relatable and useful. I'm definitely going to check out the new book.

[@silverchairsg]

The greatest example of surprise done well I've ever seen is in the video game Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic 1. It was absolutely brilliant. (Please don't spoil it in the comments thanks.)

[@user-iq3ti1yh6c]

The best stories I have heard in my life - sitting with my friends and pals, people I do not know at fishing (usually, drinking nice drinks :) Artem, Kyiv, 45 years, former CEO and father of 7 kids.

[@torinellis]

I speak often and this was a really good listen. I particularly appreciated Matthew's ability to drive each suggestion deeper with example.

[@AndiSzilagyi]

One of the best episodes! Thank you

[@hc90919]

Wow!! What a great podcast. Thank you Lenny & Matthew! Learned a ton.

[@hitfit310floathletics8]

Great episode, so many good nuggets to apply to life.

[@olumidelonge]

This is a very insightful discussion with actionable takeaways.

[@amyparker6527]

Loved this. Thank you!!

[@reibn22]

Great! It is in my top list of talks about storytelling.

[@MetroSanto]

What are three others?

[@StudentLankaTube]

Storyworthy is a very good book

[@YaseenKhaliiq]

awesome podcast

[@user-pq5sv5fs9u]

That was beautiful

[@user-zf6bp2hh6s]

Good session!

[@YalCutsEdit]

Hi sir do you need a video editor for your short form videos?

[@Sosycute5]

Gaza has a lot of stories to tell 💔🇵🇸💕 may allah save them from land stealers