• "Let me tell you what happened when we launched this new software."
• "Here's what I learned this weekend about camping without the proper equipment."
• "Let me tell you what happened as I was driving to work this morning."

• "We tried that years ago, and here's why it didn't work."
• "Next time let's remember what we learned from this experiment."

• "The doctor told me about another of his patients who faced the same diagnosis."

   Stories are our primary tools of learning and teaching, the repositories of our lore and legends.  They bring order into our confusing world.   Think about how many times a day you use stories to pass along data, insights, memories or common-sense advice. 

   Over time stories become the mile markers of our lives.  High school, our first job?  We all can tell tales of what we learned, and didn't.  Tragedy, illness, death?  Stories archive the memories and lessons.

    Stories are more than a sequence of words; they are moving images we can see and feel, transforming us from passive listeners to active characters in the narrative.

   What's more, because we've been telling stories all our lives, we're very good at it, even when we're a bit windy.

   After decades of coaching writers and editors, I hold onto one simple truth: Good writing, especially in businesses, is nothing more than telling stories well.  That's why teaching people in business how to write well is so easy.  Everyone knows how to tell a good story, so it's not a big step to help them learn to write that story.

   Want to improve writing in your company?  If you'd like to learn more about how better writing can improve your company's performance, send me an e-mail.  I'd love to talk about how I can help.