Stories Trainers Tell: 55 Ready-to-Use Stories to Make Training Stick [Hardcover]

My organization faces two challenges on a daily basis. First, what is the most efficient and effective way to collect, organize, manage and disseminate mountains of information? Second, how do we continue to streamline and simplify our administrative processes to provide more value-added service to our constituents?

The resources Lori and Mary provide through this text have enabled me to communicate more effectively with my staff during our planning and design sessions. The moral of these stories help us keep focused on the expectations and perceptions of our constituent base.

It's a book to be kept on your desk and referred to many times.

So here's a book on the stories trainers tell. Big book, thick. Whew! That's a lot of fluffy, touchy-feely soft stuff! That first impression will disintegrate as you open this wonderful resource. Sure, there's a treasure chest of stories, mostly from experienced trainers and professional speakers who use them regularly to build the effectiveness of their work. If this book were merely a collection of all those stories, it would be a helpful reference...sort of a Chicken Soup for the Trainer's Bookshelf. Fortunately, the authors have a deeper understanding of what communicators need, so they created an incredible tool kit for trainers, speakers, executives, managers, coaches, parents-the list goes on.

Each of the stories is presented with tips on how to use it, questions to enrich the telling, key point options, and follow-up activities. The stories-short, not long-are set apart in the text by the use of helpful shading. So, now we have more value than just a catalog of stories. But, wait! There's more. The book includes an explanation of different kinds of stories, when and how they can be used, with a cross-reference to the 55 stories. Want even more value? The stories are gathered into chapters that organize the resources for easier access: Appreciating Differences, Communications and Feedback, Customer Service, Influence and Motivation, Leadership, Living Our Values, Performance and Coaching, Problem Solving, Teamwork and Collaboration, and Training Fundamentals.

Are you sensing why I'm enthusiastic about this book? We're not done! I've only told you about what's in the back of the book! "Stories Trainers Tell" begins with an invaluable section on the why and how of using stories to enhance and enrich communication. Page after page of tips and insight educates and inspires the reader, deepening understanding to raise the level of professionalism and effectiveness in communication.

The CD-ROM? Pop this tool into your computer and enjoy an MP3 format delivery of audio dramatizations of the stories in the book. Readers can now learn as listeners also, and most of the recordings are authorized for replay to audiences. Playing a recording of someone else telling a story, then facilitating the interpretation and application of what was heard offers a new dimension to the richness of communication, thought stimulation, and movement to action.

Then there's the reading list and the index. So much! You'll be captivated with a cover-to-cover read, entranced by the stories yourself. This book will sit prominently on your shelf as a primary resource for years to come. I half-apologize for the long review, but this book deserves the accolades.

As the global marketing research manager for Invista (the world's largest fibers company with consumer and b2b brands such as Lycra(r) and Stainmaster(r)), I need to convert data to meaning that helps our leadership to make decisions. That is what the stories in Stories Trainers Tell do for me. When our managers understand the opportunities that stories point out in the research, they are better able to act with confidence and communicate with clarity.

While I contributed to the book, I also use what it offers to make me a better communicator. I can communicate the meaning I see in data more effectively when I have a story to help me out.

I recommend that you check out the book for yourself to learn how you can upgrade your thinking and practice no matter what role you are in.