The Storytelling Expert: The Architecture of Influence | Matthew Dicks
The Knowledge Project with Shane Parrish
Farnam Street
4.7 • 2.9K Ratings
🗓️ 3 September 2024
⏱️ 119 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Matthew Dicks reveals the sophisticated frameworks behind storytelling mastery—an essential skill for leaders who need to persuade, inspire, and drive change. Far from basic presentation tips, this conversation deconstructs the psychological elements that make stories an instrument of influence.
Learn the strategic principles of narrative architecture that separate forgettable anecdotes from stories that reshape boardrooms, pitch meetings, and executive communications. A masterclass in wielding one of leadership's most powerful but least understood tools.
(00:00:00 Intro
(00:03:28) What makes a good story
(00:06:57) Stories vs anecdotes
(00:08:29) A Story: The Spoon of Power
(00:17:42) The art of story architecture
(00:21:28) Create compelling stories
(00:36:30) Common mistakes & how to fix them
(00:55:01) Strategic Listening
(01:03:32) Can you lie in stories?
(01:05:10) 'And' stories vs. 'but / therefore' stories
(01:10:05) Finding engaging stories in everyday life
(01:20:05) Structuring a story
(01:24:00) Storytelling for an unforgettable brand
(01:31:20) Learn confidence
(01:38:40) Writing vs telling a story
(01:51:53) Teach kids to love writing
(01:55:15) Define success
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | You've probably been telling not so good stories all your life and you've probably heard people who tell amazing stories all the time. |
| 0:09.2 | It turns out that's not actually something that people are born with. |
| 0:13.0 | It's just strategic. |
| 0:15.0 | And if you become a little more strategic, you can be one of those people, right? |
| 0:20.0 | Now we want to know. |
| 0:21.0 | Now we're curious. |
| 0:22.0 | We're not giving anything away. we're not indicating the end, but |
| 0:25.5 | we're finding something that's gonna like appeal to people in a real emotional |
| 0:30.3 | way. We're gonna identify a need they have and if we identify an appropriate |
| 0:33.7 | need then we're going to grab our audience and they're going to the knowledge. Welcome to the Knowledge Project, the Bi- Weekly Podcast exploring the powerful ideas, practical methods, and mental models of others. |
| 1:01.0 | In a world where knowledge is power, this podcast is your toolkit |
| 1:04.8 | for mastering the best of what other people have already figured out. I'm your host, Shane Parish. |
| 1:09.6 | Before we dive in, I have a quick favor to ask. If you're enjoying the show and listening on Apple |
| 1:14.0 | Podcasts, Spotify, or any other platform, please take a moment and hit the follow button now. |
| 1:19.0 | The more followers we have, the better guests we can bring on to share their knowledge with you. Thank you. |
| 1:24.0 | If you want to take your learning the next level, consider joining our membership program at |
| 1:28.6 | FS. blog slash membership. As a member you'll get my personal reflections at the end of every |
| 1:34.5 | episode, early access to episodes, no ads including this, exclusive content, |
| 1:39.9 | hand-edited transcripts and so much more. Check out the link in the show notes for more. |
| 1:45.1 | My guest today is Matthew Dix, who is perhaps the world's best storyteller. |
| 1:49.0 | I'm not kidding. |
| 1:49.8 | He's won nearly every major storytelling competition. |
... |
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