A continual challenge for preparedness and response leaders is communicating their story. Dr. Murray Nossel, author of Powered by Storytelling: Excavate, Craft, and Present Stories to Transform Business Communication, shares insights and examples from his 30 years of helping individuals and organizations become better story tellers. Hint: It starts with listening and emerges from “the inside out.” This is NOT about media strategy. It is a lively exploration how to communicate more effectively and authentically with internal and external audiences.
Welcome to the latest edition of Leader ReadyCast. I am your host, Eric McNulty. My guest today is Dr. Murray Nossel and our topic is storytelling. One of the more frequent concerns that I hear from NPLI participants is that the media fails to “tell our story.” Whether in the aftermath of a human or manmade disaster, it seems that government responders are cast as inefficient, inept, and at times uncaring. That doesn’t reflect the people that I know and so when I saw Dr. Nossel’s book, Powered by Storytelling, I knew he would have valuable insights to share.
Dr. Nossel has been helping organizations craft and present stories for more than 30 years. His firm is Narativ (one R, no E) and its clients include everyone from The Walt Disney Company to UNICEF. He is an Oscar-nominated documentary film maker and a co-star of the storytelling performance, Two Men Talking that has been on stage in Edinburgh, London, and New York. He’s a fascinating individual with a lot to teach us about stories and why they are so important.