Tell to Win

Connect, Persuade, and Triumph with the Hidden Power of Story

By: Peter Guber

Narrated by: Patrick Egan

Length: 10 hrs and 48 mins

Publisher's summary

Today everyone - whether they know it or not - is in the emotional transportation business. More and more, success is won by creating compelling stories that have the power to move partners, shareholders, customers, and employees to action. Simply put, if you can’t tell it, you can’t sell it. And this book tells you how to do both.

Historically, stories have always been igniters of action, moving people to do things. But only recently has it become clear that purposeful stories - those created with a specific mission in mind - are absolutely essential in persuading others to support a vision, dream, or cause.

Peter Guber, whose executive and entrepreneurial accomplishments have made him a success in multiple industries, has long relied on purposeful story telling to motivate, win over, shape, engage, and sell. Indeed, what began as knack for telling stories as an entertainment industry executive has, through years of perspiration and inspiration, evolved into a set of principles that anyone can use to achieve their goals.

In Tell to Win, Guber shows how to move beyond soulless Power Point slides, facts, and figures to create purposeful stories that can serve as powerful calls to action.

Among his techniques:

• Capture your audience’s attention first, fast, and foremost
• Motivate your listeners by demonstrating authenticity
• Build your tell around “what’s in it for them”
• Change passive listeners into active participants
• Use “state-of-the-heart” technology online and offline to make sure audience commitment remains strong

To validate the power of telling purposeful stories, Guber includes in this book a remarkably diverse number of “voices” - master tellers with whom he’s shared experiences. They include YouTube founder Chad Hurley, NBA champion Pat Riley, clothing designer Normal Kamali, “Mission to Mars” scientist Gentry Lee, Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank, former South African president Nelson Mandela, magician David Copperfield, film director Steven Spielberg, novelist Nora Roberts, rock legend Gene Simmons, and physician and author Deepak Chopra.

After listening to this extraordinary mix of voices, you’ll know how to craft, deliver - and own - a story that is truly compelling, one capable of turning others into viral advocates for your goal.

©2011 Peter Gruber (P)2011 Random House

Critic reviews

“In Tell to Win, Peter Guber demonstrates that telling purposeful stories is the best way to persuade, motivate and convince who you want to do what you need.” (Bill Clinton)

“ Tell to Win gives great insight into why good storytelling skills are essential for a successful leader. It’s both an engaging read and a great practical guide on how to listen, prepare and marshal facts to tell the right kind of story to the right audience.” (Robert A. Iger, President and Chief Executive Officer, The Walt Disney Company)

“Peter Guber has a deep understanding of the lure of story and its capacity to transform…Inhale this book so that you may breathe energy and purpose into the lives of others." (Muhammad Yunus, Winner of the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize, author of Banker to the Poor)

A compelling and enjoyable listen

I started to read TTW but got sidetracked halfway through. I was delighted to come across the audiobook one Saturday as I was looking for something to listen to while I did housework. I thoroughly enjoyed the content and the presentation.

Essential

An absolutely essential book for anyone who wants to succeed in life. This man is an absolute genius who generously distills his remarkable life experiences into actionable scaffolding for success within any paradigm.

good information, too long, lots of name dropping

I thought this book was interesting, but it was too long. It could have been written in about half the amount of pages. There was lots of name dropping so lots of recognition and relatability. Information provided is worthwhile but from a contacts not very many people could find you so I think.

I never knew how influential he was

This book makes me want to constantly tell stories when I’m dealing with my potential clients

Brilliant book on Influence

Written in such a way that I learned how to transfer everyday situations to compelling stories with rich lessons.

Full of good material - but hard work at times

Peter Guber is a remarkable, talented, dynamo of a business man in the world of mainstream media. His experience in the world of big-time entertainment and media is mind boggling.

This is worth listening to just to hear some of his stories and about the people he's rubbed shoulders with, projects he's run and films he's made.

It's jam packed with valuable insights and if you need to become more persuasive then you should definitely get it.

That said - especially given his pedigree - I couldn't help feeling that the book was quite hard work at times. In some parts it comes across as a text book. You get his message loud and clear. But there are areas where he lost my attention - somehow his style is less than engaging at times. I put this down to the fact that he's a 'suit' in the entertainment business, rather than a front line creative talent. His use of language is heavily dosed with the language of business: 'incentivise', 'objectives', bottom line', or similar. I often found him sounding more like an American business consultant talking to a marketing conference with a powerpoint slides and pie charts than a man who personally has what it takes to ignite a room with passion and purpose through the power of story telling.

There was nothing wrong with the quality of the reading, but perhaps the book should have been abridged for audio - rather than simply read. Either that, or it would benefit from an overhaul by a different editor.

Don't get me wrong, it is a valuable work for anyone who needs to be improve their powers of persuasion. I've actually bought two hard copies. One for myself, and one for someone whom I also think would benefit from some of his experience. Just don't expect an easy listen. I'd be surprised if the book becomes a best seller in its current form.

A good book 3 hour book compressed into 10 hours

A good 3 hour book compressed into 10 hours.
the book was too wordy. he could have used more description of the strategy.

Great book

Great resorces and examples on how to become memorable storyteller. I've learned so much on how I will from now on present my business.

Ugh, not even good

Wow! I tried to avoid the reviews because the book was highly recommended by someone I respect. It turns out the reviews were right. The author name drops so much that I got really bored listening to it. Some of the stories are good but they are long and they don't really reinforce the points he is trying to make. Long book that focuses mainly on reinforcing the coolness factor of Peter Guber. Yeah, yeah yeah you are cool and you met a lot of people and some of those stories are cool. But, that doesn't help me much. One example, the A-ha from the last chapter - Technology is great but instead of State of the Art make sure to use State of the Heart. "Stick a dull pencil in my eye".

Game Changer

This book has forever altered the way I see and utilize the art of story telling. Whether we realize it or not, it is the stories we carry, live by and strategically tell to others which ultimately makes us successful personally and professionally. Phenomenal book.