The Stories That Connect Us is both a why-to and how-to book on the power of stories in the possibilities of our connections. It is a space where I invite you to join me in exploring questions like:

• Why have stories been the most powerful way of connecting since the beginning of time?

• Is social media eroding or empowering our cultural capacity for narrative?

• What kinds of personal stories have the greatest potential for creating rich connections?

• What are the design elements of well-crafted stories?

• How can we listen to evoke rich meaning from each other's stories?

• How can we build and enrich our portfolio of personal stories?

• Why do stories have more power than statistics in inspiring transformation and change?

Most importantly, use the book as a guide to practice so storycrafting, storytelling, and storylistening can bring a new richness and thrivancy to your life’s connections.

Contents
 

Invitation

The Case for Stories
The golden age of connection
Why we love stories
Once, upon a time
Are we losing our narrative aesthetic?
To live is to connect
The stories we are
Mythographic identities
Quality connections
The 3 dimensions of our connections
Why we connect Intentional connections
The power of the tribe
Alien Nation
The stories that introduce us
Stories that build trust
Stories as tools of change

The Nature of Stories
Stories as myth
The myths we share
No, it was Tuesday
The power of fiction
Stories & our essential uniqueness

StoryCrafting
Every story is hand-crafted
Story typologies
From experience to story
All stories are intentionally constructed
Constructing our stories
Storycrafting intentionality
Our choice of stories
One possible story
Narrative aesthetic
Ebe's Wish (South Africa)
Characters
Context
Complications
Conclusion
Elements of enrichment
Catalyst
Container
Commentary
Companion stories
Sizing stories
The timing of endings
The moral of the story
Start with conclusions
Narrative architecture
Strengthening your stories
What’s not important
Crowded stories
Legacy stories
Our signature stories
Futuring stories
Stories of innocence & engagement
Every discipline, a container of stories
Living new stories

StoryTelling
The principles of storytelling
Storytelling contexts
Honoring our stories
Our inherited stories
Stories that reveal & conceal
Re/minding the brain
Storytelling as dialogue
The clash of stories old & new
Story protectors
Stories that unite & divide
Sharability footprints
The power of old stories
Traditional stories
Gossip Returned stories
OPS
Shameless storytelling
Collecting stories
The magic of practice
The trance of storytelling

StoryListening
The elements of storylistening
If this was my story...
So, what’s your story?
Story as self-discovery
Engaging imagination
Listening/resonance & curiosity
Not listening
Stop me if I’ve told this one ...
Positive deviance
Choosing the stories we hear
Harvesting stories
The magic of reframing
How stories travel Media boosts

The Future of Stories
Our obsession with measurement
The myth of measurement
Personality typing
Statistics
Creating the community we want
The future of connections
The future of belonging connections
The future of learning connections
The future of asset connections
The future of play connections
The future of power connections
The future of narrative
Five things to do

Gratitude

Stories from My Personal Portolfio

7 Short Stories - Set in Sicily, Serbia, New Mexico, Japan, South America, Nepal and Ireland