Carmine Gallo

On a cool February morning, the reader opened up a book and read the following. “In the summer of 2011 Pete and his mom, Nancy, were sitting at the dinner table…” A few days later, he picked up the same book, opened to another chapter, and read, “On a cold January day in 1961 Fred Schultz broke his ankle while working his job as a diaper service deliveryman.” A few days later, he opened the book once again and read “On his twenty-fifth birthday Adam decided to create a life story show more worth telling.” The reader read chapter after chapter and began to wonder, “Jeez, isn’t there a way to talk about storytelling without starting every one of the 37 chapters with a story?” Apparently, there was not.

That person was Mike, and those chapter openings provided him with the basis for the beginning of his book review of The Storyteller’s Secret.

Let me get this out of my system immediately. Yes, this is a book about the power of story and its role in successful presentations and successfully getting your message across. And, yes, the power of story has to be emphasized to make that point. But, after about story fifteen I wanted to scream “I get it! I get it! Start with a story that resonate. Now, isn’t there any other way you can start a chapter?”

Good. I feel better now. Moving right along, let me say that, aside from this problem (and the author’s occasional minor bouts of self-promotion) this is an excellent book.

Yes, it tells a lot of stories, but those stories are shared with a purpose. Each exhibits how any speaker can better engage with the audience. Some of the points made by the author may be obvious to some speakers – those who already have some success. But the book provides excellent reinforcement to those points.

And, based on the experience I have had sitting through hours of butt-numbing presentations, a whole lot of people need to be taught the most basic of points the author is making. (Point number 1 – care about the information you are sharing, and make it look like you care.)

There are a lot of good nuggets within this book and lot of good broad ideas. Personally, it has caused me to rethink how I make all my presentations, and it is the basis for some of the training I will do with others on their presentation skills.

But for anyone who has any point they want to make – presentation, report, meeting, anything – this book will help you focus your message, help persuade your audience, and just make you better. show less

Having spent five years in medical school, I tend to see the world through data - through facts and figures and not stories. My reading this book proves that I am still interested in the power of stories. Gallo uncorks the power of a narrative through a bunch of stories (some religious, some business-oriented, some humanitarian, all moving).

Each chapter provides a report of one person's life experiences. Skillfully, Gallo starts the report with the person's first name - a move that provides show more a degree of anonymity for a well-known figure - and the naked tale with an eye towards a lesson. Then an analysis follows with a more philosophical and rhetorical parsing of the event. Finally, the lesson is summed up in one paragraph - a "secret" of the storyteller. Repeat this about 37 times, and you have a 250-page book that provides easy, interesting reading and the honing of a skill.

Almost every human will know some of the people biographied in this book. Almost no one will know them all. Stories from figures such as Steve Jobs, Al Gore, Pope Francis, and Sheryl Sandberg are combined with those from lesser-known figures such as Steve Wynn, Chris Hadfield, Kat Cole, and Amy Purdy to provide a nicely interlaced metanarrative. This metanarrative dishes up the thesis that behind every great or moving happening is a great story - and thus, a great storyteller. That point is quite well proven in this book. The everyday is mixed up with the mighty, with recurring spectacular results.

I aspire to tell stories more effectively. Although I doubt I will ever reach Churchill's level of impact or excitement, I can work on my family, friends, and co-workers more effectively. This book equips me to do that better, and I am fortunate to have read it. I often focus on the philosophical side of life, but this book brings out the (often lost) art of rhetoric. Ideas without communication are indeed worthless. show less

Felt like a very long infomercial for TED, but it did make me think about ways to improve my presentations.

After the umpteenth mention of the word "passion" in the first chapter alone, I was ready to call it quits. An excess of clichéd biz-speak and one too many iWorshipful mentions of Steve Jobs are examples of how Talk Like TED behaves more like an infomercial for TED than an actual how-to guide for better presentations.