The Power of Stories, Ceremonies, and Symbols in Your Business

Teamwork Makes the Dream Work

Today, we have two phenomenal women on the Business of Story Podcast.

Nancy Duarte is the Principal of Duarte Inc., the largest design firm in Silicon Valley, not to mention the fifth-ranked women-owned firm.

She is a communication expert who has been featured in Forbes, Fast Company, Fortune, Wired, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Huffington Post, The L.A. Times, CNN and more. Her firm has had a hand in some of the most memorable visual brands in both business and culture.

Patti Sanchez, Duarte Inc.’s Chief Strategy Officer, is also the co-author of Nancy’s latest book, “Illuminate: Ignite Change Through Speeches, Stories, Ceremonies, and Symbols”. This new book reveals how the world’s greatest leaders use powerful communication to move ideas and teams forward.

Patti and Nancy have mastered the art of incorporating story patterns into business communications, and they join the Business of Story Podcast to share their signature toolkit and strategies for creating stories that drive goals and galvanize teams.

In This Episode

Nancy and Patti take us through the five stages of their Venture Scape: dream, leap, fight, climb, arrive
How to use story tension to persuade an audience
Powerful story and communication tools that leaders can use to galvanize employees and customers
Re-dreaming and refusing to be satisfied with the status quo of past successes

Quotes From This Episode

“It’s the job of a leader to light the way through communication that helps people understand where they are and where they need to go, and be confident they can take that next step forward.” —@PattiSan

“When we arrive at a goal, we don’t call it a moment of victory or a moment of celebration. We call it a moment of reflection because you need to reflect on the adventure you just had and capture all the learning. Sometimes you don’t win. Sometimes you lose. I think it’s really important that we acknowledge that, in life and business, not all of our stories have happy endings.” —@NancyDuarte

“Storytelling is a really powerful tool to help people feel in their hearts, as well as understand in their minds, how you want them to change.” —@PattiSan

“How do you keep yourself and your people energized, especially when you’re still far enough away from your end goal that it doesn’t motivate you in and of itself? Again, this is a place where storytelling is not just an important communication tool, but a coping mechanism.” —@PattiSan

“In dark moments we have to remind ourselves that we’re capable, tell stories of past triumphs, tell ourselves that we have it in us to complete this journey.” —@PattiSan