The secret of storytelling : How come no one told me that

Hello Friends,

Storytelling is an art. It might seem easy at times but to deliver it effectively can be a daunting task. In our daily life we read lot of things through books, articles, eBooks, blog and various other sources. But if you notice carefully the readings which stay with us for a long period or influence us in a positive manner are the ones with simple storytelling. How amazing it seems at times that we prefer picking up readings which come up with detailed explanation of concepts with lot of supporting images, documents, examples and what not. But we get attached to the ones which explain the concepts with simplicity. In our today's book review I am going to talk about one recently released masterpiece which shows how simple yet effective storytelling can be.

Introduction

How come no one told me that .....is it a question ? No, it's the title of the book. Such a simple title, yet leaves a lasting impression on the readers' mind about what lies underneath. If I would have to explain this book in a single word simplicity would be the right one. Overall content, design, use of words and stories, style of narration everything else is so simple about this book except for one aspect and that is the immense learning associated with every story. Yes the learnings are definitely the ones which are quite deep and can stay with us for lifelong if practiced properly.

A storyteller of repute

Author of the book, Prakash Iyer needs no introduction. He is a storyteller of substantial repute who keeps engaging with his audience regularly through social media. A motivational speaker as well as certified leadership coach, Iyer loves to share his learnings from a career span of more than three decades in various corporate roles. One of his regular video series on youtube named Chai with Pi which again focuses on simple life lessons is a treat to follow. You can learn more about him on prakashiyer.com

Lessons worth repeating

Before diving deep into the content let me set the expectations right for you. Do not pick this book with a hope that you will learn something that you haven't anywhere else. You will get to read certain habits or patterns which you would have read many a times in past. But what this book will help you to do is probably changing your perception about certain situations in life. Lot of times we face situations which seem so common that we do not bother to think over them and prefer to go ahead with already set perception. But there can be a different angle to it which we never noticed or ignored even after noticing. Lessons explained in this book are similar in nature. They might seem quite familiar to you but the author's way of looking at them is what makes this such a delightful read.

There are ten different aspects have been explained in the book taken from both personal as well as professional life . All the categories are designed with some exceptional stories written in extremely simple language. Overall there are about sixty small stories narrated with deep learnings. Best part about the stories is they range from sports, daily life incidents, corporate culture, journeys of eminent personalities and what not. Combining appropriate stories from a varied range to depict right sort of lessons hidden in them is never easy. Probably that supports my opening statement of this post. But an author of Prakash Iyer's stature can do it with ease as he has been doing it for years.

More stories & more learnings

Simple stories with deep learnings is an usual trend with Iyer. His previous works The habit of winning and The secret of leadership have also exhibited quite a similar pattern( Click here for my review of The secret of leadership). Being a cricket enthusiast Iyer loves to quote lot of incidents from the cricketing arena but surprisingly found very less cricketing incidents in his current work. Most of us being cricket lovers get that feel good factor while reading something inspirational from our favourite cricketers' lives. Isn't it?? Though equally interesting stories from other spheres of life do fill that void.

Every chapter concludes with a re-emphasize on the underneath lesson. Kudos to the author for his choice of stories. It leaves the reader amazed at his observation power. His observation power travels from a car key to socks & shoes, boatman, advice of a dentist & captain of a ship and further. The lessons narrated are equally important for our personal and professional growth. I have come across lot of books which require a certain level of maturity or targeted at a particular age group. But let me tell you like his previous books this one also can be enjoyed irrespective of your age or profession. The lessons are narrated with an intension of creating a better version of ourselves. It's a great opportunity to come across some of the learnings from his own professional experience.

Reader wants more

Dil maange more.... a tagline easily associated with Indians. We always expect something more be it ordering food from our favourite restaurant, watching our favourite cricketer scoring a century or shopping during festive season. As readers our expectation of something more from our favourite authors also is not a bad thing I guess. I would love to read some lessons from our fight against Covid-19. I believe someone like Iyer can definitely find a lesson or two from the devastating pandemic that we all experienced in last couple of years. Few more stories emphasizing the importance of our personal relationships or work life balance could have been an icing on the cake as these are some of the very important aspects of our lives.

A lifelong companion

If you are a book lover you always don't need a reason to grab a certain book. This book gives you a reason to read. As the author says frequently I try and share simple stories & lessons that can help each of us become just a bit better and this book reflects exactly the same thought. I am sure once you read it you would love to come back at it again and again. After reading the book you need not to ask anybody How come No One Told Me That.

Image credit: amazon.in

Personal Recommendation( Self/Leadership Development)