Stories Mean Business - Nick Warren
1,464 episodes - English - Latest episode: 3 months ago -One idea a day from a geek business builder.
After 1,000 episodes, the jury is in – this is the world's slackest podcast. 5-minutes a day on story, strategy or whatever's yanked my chain. No guests. No ads. No apologies.
This is me thinking out loud, putting things together, going down dead ends and making mistakes.
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www.StoriesMeanBusiness.com/podcast
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Episodes
745: Tell Them You Love Them
September 26, 2021 06:47 - 6 minutes - 6.01 MBA year ago, I saw my Dad for the last time. And today, we're taking our youngest to start her university career. In both cases, I was lucky. I had the time and space to get myself ready for the loss, and enjoy them while they were around. 2,000 years ago, Epictetus, the slave and stoic philisopher, wrote: At the times when you are delighted with a thing, place before yourself the contrary appearances. What harm is it while you are kissing your child to say with a lisping voice, “To-morro...
744: Take It To The Gutter
September 25, 2021 04:00 - 7 minutes - 7.33 MBAfter yesterday's universes, today we focus down on something much smaller ... the gap between frames in a comic. 25 years ago Scott McCloud introduced me to the idea of the audience – the reader – as a critical part of the storytelling process. This is about contrast and closure (a different kind of closure). It feels like I'm circling an insight here, but I'll get it... Episode home: https://StoriesMeanBusiness.com/podcast/744:-Take-It-To-The-Gutter
743: Netflix Gets A Mythology
September 24, 2021 04:00 - 5 minutes - 4.91 MBAs a kid, Roald Dahl was my favourite author. From James and the Giant Peach and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, to the heady grown up mysteries of Henry Sugar. Yesterday, Netflix announced an extension to the deal they struck with the Dahl estate in 2018. Back then they paid (a reported) $100 million for the rights to selected titles. Now they've decided to spend some real money, and it's easy to see why... Episode home: https://StoriesMeanBusiness.com/podcast/743:-Netflix-Gets-A-Myt...
742: Controlling the Middle
September 23, 2021 04:00 - 4 minutes - 3.98 MBWhen you control the middle of the squash court, or the middle of the chess board, or the device that people read emails on, or the way your story is told ... you have a lot of power. Episode home: https://StoriesMeanBusiness.com/podcast/742:-Controlling-the-Middle
741: The Psychology of Pandemics
September 22, 2021 04:00 - 4 minutes - 4.2 MBWe like to think we are special, but as Steven Taylor knows, we are all powered by the same stories. Taylor published a book – The Psychology of Pandemics – a couple of months before COVID was first seen in China. He predicted the empty shelves, the backlash against masks, the conspiracy theories and more. Because it all happened before, in 1918, with the Spanish Flu. This is why stories are so powerful. Technology changes all the time, but the fundemental forces that drive us – the stor...
740: Separation, Initiation & Return
September 21, 2021 04:00 - 4 minutes - 4.2 MBAlthough the full Hero's Journey has 17 stages, the "Nuclear Unit" of the Monomyth is – according to Joseph Campbell, "a magnification of a formula represents by the Rites of Passage: Separation–initiation-return." As I've said before on this podcast: The world changes, which forces the hero to change, so she can in turn change the world. David Kudler, Campell's long time editor, wrote a fascinating piece on this in which he clarified the importance of this nuclear unit, and its implicati...
739: An excerpt from A Little Happier
September 20, 2021 04:00 - 7 minutes - 6.57 MBNone of this is real 😉
738: The Story Slope
September 19, 2021 04:00 - 4 minutes - 4.2 MBOne of the things I've added to my Origin Story Course is this concept of your story as a slope. Ideally, it should look like this:  But in reality, it often starts by looking like this:  I LOVED THEM, or B) I NEED SUPPORT. This kind of technique can be powerful, but if we take it too far the fallacy becomes obvious....
733: The Plato quote I don't use
September 14, 2021 04:00 - 6 minutes - 6.2 MBPlato said, "He who tells the stories rules society." At least, the internet thinks he did. It certainly sounds like something Plato might have said in The Republic, but here's the thing ... he never actually said it. At least ... I can't find the source anywhere. "Why does this matter?", you might ask. "It's a perfect quote for you. Who would know?" Actually, I know you'd never say that because you understand the persuasive power of ethos, and why that requires a long-term perspective. ...
731: Shang Chi and the Legend of the Brown Bear
September 12, 2021 04:00 - 6 minutes - 6.46 MBShang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is everything you'd expect from a Marvel movie: fast, funny and full of action. I loved it, but I also understand that it lacks what most Marvel movies lack ... a sense of consequence and emotional weight. Which is why the end isn't that memorable. But – in classic SMB style – let's contrast it with something else, from Captain Beaky and his Band. P.S. Here's the full text of the poem I mentioned. NEARLY FOUR by Jeremy Lloyd A teddy bear sits ...
730: Are You the Trigger?
September 11, 2021 04:00 - 4 minutes - 4.61 MBYesterday, I mentioned the Trigger or Inciting Incident – the thring that throws the hero's life out of balance. In business, our customer is the hero, and we either cause or react to ... that trigger. If you have a 'painkiller' business, you offer a solution to a pain that your prospect already has. To put it another way, if your prospect has a bleeding neck, metaphorically speaking, they'll be very motivated to buy a solution. Marketing in that case is usually about making that pain as ...
729: Building Progressive Engagement
September 10, 2021 04:00 - 6 minutes - 5.82 MBWell-told stories start when something happens. That something knocks the hero's life out of balance, and they are forced to take action ... usually something small... to get it back on track. But the small action backfires, triggers a BIGGER REACTION, and things get worse. More tension. LESS BALANCE ... and the need to take an even BIGGER ACTION. So it goes, building and building, until the end. Likewise in the journey of our prospect, we want to start with small actions, and increase th...
728: Sun Tzu on Power and Timing
September 09, 2021 04:00 - 4 minutes - 3.87 MBIn the 1990's – like every aspiring entrepreneur – I bought The Art Of War by Sun Tzu. It was book that was more purchased than read and more read than understood. But I did read it, and one of the lessons I remember dealt with power and timing. Tzu used a lovely metaphor of a falcon. Its power comes from it's height, but the ability to break the back of it's prey comes from timing. Back in Podcast 709, I talked about my major victory securing this fantastic guest for my 1,000th episode ...
727: 21 Years Ago
September 08, 2021 04:00 - 6 minutes - 5.57 MBShakespeare says that there are seasons to life. For me, the longest and most powerful season started 21 years ago today. Our son was born. I joked to my wife that 'kids' were a 20 year project, then we'll do something else. It was a joke, but in truth the ultimate goal of any good parent is to make themselves redundant ... or perhaps it's better to say ... make their child strong and self-sufficient. Jack has grown from a blue-eyed baby into a strong, caring, hardworking man who's funny...
726: Intrinsic versus Extrinsic Rewards
September 07, 2021 04:00 - 4 minutes - 4.04 MBPsychologists recognise two types of rewards, Extrinsic and Intrinsic. Extrinsic are your basic external status markers – salary, bonuses, promotions etc. Intrinsic rewards are tied into increasing self-efficacy (e.g. getting better at something) and trigger the neural reward system, which in turn reinforces the activity through positive emotions. This podcast touches on how I'm using intrinsic rewards in the early days of my course. Episode home: https://StoriesMeanBusiness.com/podcast...
725: Inductive and Abductive Logic
September 06, 2021 04:00 - 6 minutes - 5.58 MBI know you folk can't get enough of this logic stuff ... so here it is ... Inductive and Abductive logic. With some Sherlock and Nassim Nicholas Taleb thrown in! Episode home: https://StoriesMeanBusiness.com/podcast/725:-Inductive-and-Abductive-Logic
724: Enthymemes
September 05, 2021 04:00 - 6 minutes - 5.63 MBAristotle's formal logic goes something like this, if you'll forgive the self-promotion. Nick always speaks the truth. These words are spoken by Nick. Therefore, these words must be true. This tortuous construction is called a Syllogism, but the bit in the middle is usually implied/redundant, so smart persuaders skip it bit to create the slightly sexier Enthymemes. Yeah, you're right ... the name's not sexier at all ... but the results can be, and they have a relation to stories. Episo...
723: Story is Ethos
September 04, 2021 04:00 - 7 minutes - 7.28 MBWhen we tell a story of standing, substance and authority, we are leveraging the second of Aristotles three forms of rhetoric – Ethos. This is the force I used to build (and sell) my first business, and the force I'm using at this very moment. Ethos can magnify the value of everything you say and do ... or it can tear it down. Episode home: https://StoriesMeanBusiness.com/podcast/723:-Story-is-Ethos
722: Tribal Language
September 03, 2021 04:00 - 6 minutes - 6 MBA teacher once described my relationship with English as 'Shakespearean, but not in the good way'. Of course she was talking about my wild and creative use of spelling. When I shared this with a friend yesterday, he responded with this list of fantastic words that Shakespeare created. It's a gold mine. But he also got me thinking about the tribal language that successful leaders build around their ideas and concepts. Check out the podcast for more. Episode home: https://StoriesMeanBusi...
721: Behaviourist Testing
September 02, 2021 04:00 - 6 minutes - 5.88 MBI'm talking thinking a lot about testing this week, but I learned awhile ago it is easy to jump to the wrong conclusions. We can see what people do – their behaviour – but it's hard to understand why they do it. There is never enough data. In this podcast, I explain why I'm a behaviourist when it comes to testing. Episode home: https://StoriesMeanBusiness.com/podcast/721-Behaviourist-Testing
720: Dramatic Irony
September 01, 2021 04:00 - 6 minutes - 6.45 MBWe've been watching Godless, which was written and directed by Scott Frank. If you recognise the name, he's the scriptwriter of Out of Sight (1998) and writer/director of The Queen's Gambit. That's quite a pedigree. One thing Frank does really well is Dramatic Irony, and although I started this episode believing it didn;t have much value in business storytelling, I ended with an insight I'll using in my teaching, training and consultancy. A great example of how valuable this podcast has ...
719: Will You Wear Out Or Rust Out?
August 31, 2021 04:00 - 3 minutes - 3.17 MBFamily day. Just us, you and Theodore Roosevelt.
718: Testing Kicks Off Today
August 30, 2021 04:00 - 7 minutes - 6.85 MBMy MinimumViableStory (Beta) starts testing today. Very excited.
717: Pattern Interrupts
August 29, 2021 04:00 - 6 minutes - 5.62 MBWe been watching Godless at home, which is the perfect reason to talk about pattern interrupts.
716: Genius or terrible?
August 28, 2021 04:00 - 5 minutes - 5.26 MBPodcast notes: As I type this, I've just completed the second draft of my Minimum Viable Story course. It's at the stage where I've stopped seeing any wood or any trees – which means it's ready for the Beta Testers. Because I've reached that stage when I can't tell whether it's genius or terrible... Episode home: https://storiesmeanbusiness.com/716: Genius-or-terrible/
716-Genius or terrible?
August 28, 2021 04:00 - 5 minutes - 7.77 MBPodcast notes: As I type this, I've just completed the second draft of my Minimum Viable Story course. It's at the stage where I've stopped seeing any wood or any trees – which means it's ready for the Beta Testers. Because I've reached that stage when I can't tell whether it's genius or terrible... Episode home: https://storiesmeanbusiness.com/https://storiesmeanbusiness.com/716-Genius-or-terrible/
715: John Swartzwelder's Trick
August 27, 2021 04:00 - 5 minutes - 4.98 MBAbsolutely love this from John Swartzwelder's recent interview with the New Yorker. "But I do have a trick that makes things easier for me. Since writing is very hard and rewriting is comparatively easy and rather fun, I always write my scripts all the way through as fast as I can, the first day, if possible, putting in crap jokes and pattern dialogue—“Homer, I don’t want you to do that.” “Then I won’t do it.” Then the next day, when I get up, the script’s been written. It’s lousy, but it’s...
714: Building a body of proof
August 26, 2021 04:00 - 7 minutes - 6.52 MBShow notes: Yesterday, I was a guest on Hannah Power's podcast. She and I met in 2019, and that meeting was one of my triggers to start creating content (including this podcast). During the interview, she asked me the how it was that I'd kept going when so many people grind to a halt. In some ways its a tough question to answer, but in others it's easy. I think of myself as someone who finishes things. That's the 'story' I tell myself, but it's not just a story. I can look back over t...
713: Becoming real
August 25, 2021 04:00 - 4 minutes - 4.01 MBSide notes for this podcast: In some ways, todays world feels like the world we all experienced as 3 or 4 year-olds, before we understood the people around us were ... shock horror ... people like us. With hopes and dreams and tempers. The world is like that now, with most of the people who come across our path little more than wraiths. A comment. A like. A spam email. There's a real person behind that, but we take away only the barest hint or shadow. Our job, as storytellers, is to be...
712: They don't know what you know
August 24, 2021 04:00 - 4 minutes - 4.11 MBSide notes for this podcast: The people you are selling to don't know what you know. They don't know that you are a good person, that you understand what you are talking about, that the testimonials you claim are ... really are true – or that you'll be there for them when things get hard. They also don't know whether the results you promise will be true for them, or what it will mean for their lives if they are. Lastly, they don't know if a better offer or opportunity will come along tom...
711: Leveraging The System
August 23, 2021 04:00 - 6 minutes - 6.47 MBIn 2008, Derren Brown created a thought provoking TV special called The System. In some ways, it changed the way I thought about the path to success. We all crave the shortcut, but there is a longer more certain path. Episode home: https://StoriesMeanBusiness.com/podcast/711-Leveraging-the-System See also: https://derrenbrown.co.uk/shows/the-system/
710: When the wind is at your back
August 22, 2021 04:00 - 3 minutes - 3.4 MBSometimes, it feels like there are two types of activities in the world. I’m 50 now, and I know which ones I prefer.
709: Level 3 Works!
August 21, 2021 04:00 - 3 minutes - 2.91 MBSuper quick podcast because I'm under a heap of deadlines. Big exciting news is that I've booked an awesome guest for the 1,000th podcast – yep, the one that won't come around until early June 2022. (That's forward planning for you.) I'm not saying who it is until the interview is done, but I'm really excited. But most of all I'm excited because this proves that Level 3 works! The best way to tell a better story is to BE a better story. I've no doubt that my guest gets hundreds of reques...
708: Not just a gatekeeper
August 20, 2021 04:00 - 8 minutes - 7.57 MBOur Cognitive Unconscious processes around 11 million pieces of information every second, but it's more than just a gatekeeper. There are fascinating experiments that show how even subconscious cues affect our interpretation of events AND decision-making. This is huge, because the stories we tell about ourselves will not only affect the way people perceive us, but the way they perceive what we subsequently do ... AND the offers we make. Episode home: https://StoriesMeanBusiness.com/podca...
707: From simplicity to depth
August 19, 2021 04:00 - 4 minutes - 4.33 MBMaki Kaji died yesterday. You may not know his name, but he was the man who took a simple game called Number Place ... and renamed it Sudoku! He's the reason that it exploded on to the scene 20 years ago, that and the games beautiful progression of Simplicity > Depth. This is the signature of great writing, great stories and great businesses. From a simple seed grows something amazing. Episode home: https://StoriesMeanBusiness.com/podcast/707-From-simplicity-to-depth
706: Bad Fucking Language
August 18, 2021 04:00 - 8 minutes - 7.63 MBI used to think that swearing was just lazy language, but I was wrong. Swear words can improve our tolerance to pain, bind us closer to our friends and co-workers and ... sometimes ... just be exactly the word we need. Episode Homepage at: https://StoriesMeanBusiness.com/podcast/706-Bad-Fucking-Language See also: https://storiesmeanbusiness.com/bad-language/ https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/science-swearing-profanity-curse-emma-byrne
705: Spotlights and lanterns
August 17, 2021 04:00 - 7 minutes - 6.81 MBPsychologists talk about two types of consciousness – spotlight and lantern. I have a different chair for each. Can you get what they are for? Check out the podcast to find out. Show homepage at: https://StoriesMeanBusiness.com/podcast/705-Spotlights-and-lanterns
704: Niche like an Ant
August 16, 2021 04:00 - 5 minutes - 4.73 MBWe can learn a lot from biology, not least the brutal reality of competition. In nature, when two species compete for the same resources, one of them will either be driven extinct or be forced to adapt. In other words, niching works well, as long as you have no direct competitors. Ants, like humans, have proven to be flexible, adaptable and agile. They're everywhere except Antarctica, and are estimated to comprise up to 25% of the planets animal biomass. There are over 20,000 species, an...
703: Mentor, method, mechanism
August 15, 2021 04:00 - 5 minutes - 4.73 MBI've talked a lot about the two stories that matter – the one the prospect tells about their life (if they buy what you are selling) ... and the one they tell themselves about you, and your ability to deliver on your promises. Until now, these have been two overlapping circles in my head. But this week, I got clearer about the relationship. In his Storybrand structure, Donald Miller makes it clear that businesses should position themselves in the mentor role of the client story ... which ...
702: Homeostasis and the Ordinary World
August 14, 2021 04:00 - 5 minutes - 4.73 MBHomeostasis is one of the key concepts in biology – the idea that organisms and ecosystems work to stay in balance. (This is VERY similar to [[Robert Fritz]]'s idea that Tension Seeks Resolution.) We're no different. When your body temperature drops, your Hypothalamus sends the muscles an instruction to shiver. That's homeostasis in action. And it isn't just the unconscious, biological stuff. Despite our constant desire for change it's striking how little change there actually is. At leas...
701: The Conflict Loop
August 13, 2021 04:00 - 5 minutes - 4.73 MBThis is about the 7th time that I've tried recording this podcast, and in the end I'm changing the subject completely. I've had an insight this morning. You know the type of thing, when the difference between knowing something and REALLY GETTING IT, clicks in. This is really going to help me with the upcoming course, so I'm sharing it here in case it helps you too. Show notes at: https://StoriesMeanBusiness.com/podcast/701-The-Conflict-Loop See also:https://storiesmeanbusiness.com/teachi...
700: Abbey SMASHED it!
August 12, 2021 04:00 - 5 minutes - 4.73 MBA lovely treat for my 700th episode. I get to brag about my daughter, Abbey, who absolutely smashed her exam results – despite awful Aspergers-related insomnia over the last 18 months. Remember the last time you had less than three hours sleep. How did you feel? What about if it happened every night? As I've said before, it's a fantastic thing to be inspired by your kids. Abbey fought through and achieved: Drama: A Classics: A English Language and Literature: A★ Wendy and I are so pr...
699: Flashbacks to Episode 1
August 11, 2021 04:00 - 4 minutes - 4.57 MBToday is A-level results day in the UK, and I’m sitting with the tension I felt right back in episode one of the podcast, waiting for my daughter to get her results. This is sitting with tension. Let’s do it.
698: Spider stories
August 10, 2021 04:00 - 5 minutes - 4.73 MBYesterday, I needed to clear up the studio where I worked. It was long overdue for an up and down vacuums ... especially the beams on the ceiling. And that meant tackling the spiders! My Dad always hated spiders, but that's not the problem I have. I hate hurting anything, to cleaning up is always a laborious job of carefully collecting the spiders and giving them new homes outside. And this is all because of the power of story. When I was a kid, my favourite author was Roald Dahl, and I ...
697: What are your misbeliefs?
August 09, 2021 04:00 - 5 minutes - 4.73 MBIn her fantastic books on story, Lisa Cron, talks about misbeliefs – the psychological flaw in a character that stops them becoming the person they need to be. For her – and for me – the subtext of the story... the way the protagonist changes is the part that really delivers. One of my misbeliefs, for example, was that I didn't have the ability to keep-my-arse-in-the-chair and write a novel. I fought and killed that misbelief in 2016, and CHANGED as a result. What misbelief – although ri...