Never Be Boring Again

by Doug Stevenson

Book Overview

A powerful story -- well told -- is your secret to connecting with clients, colleagues and customers. With Doug Stevenson's Story Theater Method, you can become a "magnetic" speaker with the power to... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0971344094
• ISBN13: 9780971344099
• Release Date: January 2004
• Publisher: Cornelia Press
• Length: 330 Pages
• Weight: 1.28 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Inspire Your Audience

"To be nobody but yourself - in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else- means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight, and never stop fighting. ~E. E. Cummings Doug Stevenson is the creator of the Story Theater Method. As a master storytelling coach, he teaches the secrets of telling compelling stories and also explains how to add humor and fun to your presentation. The quotes in this book are especially intriguing, especially the one by Virginia Satir. In just a few sentences, she explains how communication skills can determine the quality of your life. How do you choose a story? Where can you find stories? What are the seven types of stories? What can you say that your listeners won't expect? Doug Stevenson teaches you how to entertain all while getting your message across. I remember the first time I gave a speech and said a line that caused the entire audience to laugh. It was shocking to me when it happened, it made my day and it was something I never forgot. While I am much more of an introvert, that extrovert moment in my life was definitely due to the fact that I said something the audience didn't expect. This book will teach you all the essential skills for communicating with an audience and they will learn while they laugh. ~The Rebecca Review

Power-Up Your Presentations

People love stories. That's why the 'Chicken Soup for the Soul' books are so popular. But even better than reading a great story is the experience of seeing and hearing a story performed by a skilled story teller.Doug Stevenson knows how to make a story come to life, and in 'Never Be Boring Again,' he shows you how you can do it, too. He makes the process (almost!) painless, even if you are not a natural story teller.This is not a book about how to give a speech. It is a detailed how-to about making powerful connections with your audience through vivid and engaging stories. And it's not just 'rah-rah.' Doug walks you through the nine steps of story structure to help you craft stories that will engage listeners and get your point across. He shows how to incorporate The Phrase That Pays-a message that your listeners will remember and take with them. Then, Doug helps you use your body, voice and emotions to deliver a presentation that will hold the attention of any audience.If you have ever watched a gifted speaker hold an audience in the palm of his hand, and wanted to know how you could do that, too, this is the book you have been waiting for. Don't wait any longer. Put Doug Stevenson's powerful Story Theater Method to work for you.Cathy StuckerAuthor, Speaker and Consultant

Highly Recommended

Doug Stevenson's book "Never Be Boring Again" makes a pretty bold claim. One thing that I learned in my childhood is if you are going to make a bold claim you had better be able to back it up because someone will call you on it. Then again you can get away with making a claim like that when you can back it up and Doug Stevenson does exactly that. If you've done much public speaking at all you know that it is easy to tell if you have an audience eating out of your hand or if you are losing them. The problem is finding a way to consistently keep your audience interested.This is the same problem that has been around forever in the theater industry. How do you get your audience involved in the story? Well, actually that is the answer. People get involved in stories. Lists of numbers are useless unless they can be converted to an illustration that points out their effect. Using his "Story Theater Method" as the base on which to build, Stevenson takes the reader on a trip into the world of preparing powerful, effective presentations that lead people to action. Stories involve the audience and once it is involved the audience will pay attention. When the audience pays attention they remember the phrases you use and your "phrase that pays" has the effect you desire. I had the opportunity over the last few weeks to try a presentation to various groups. So, I tried to redo part of it using the techniques in the book. The bottom line was that a great deal more of the people remembered much more of the presentation in the group where the techniques were used. They also asked more and better questions because they had been listening throughout the presentation."Never Be Boring Again" deserves the highest recommendation that I can give and should be required reading for anyone who is not a hermit because we are always speaking to an audience, even if it is just one person.

This Book Brought Me Business!

Wow! "Never Be Boring Again" gave me an easy-to-follow process that impacted my business immediately. I used the Story Theater Method for a brief business presentation. Each speaker only had 15 minutes so I created a "Phrase That Pays" using Doug's method and made sure I repeated it often as the key benefit of using my services. Plus, I used Doug's technique of stepping in and out of story for extra impact. Within 48 hours of my presentation, I signed 9 new clients. "Never Be Boring Again" gave me the tools to stand out in a crowd and be remembered -- several of my clients still use the original "phrase that pays."