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Believe Me: Why Your Vision, Brand, and Leadership Need a Bigger Story
If you're an innovator or change-maker, this book sheds new light on how to shift perceptions and get others to believe in what you're doing. BELIEVE ME introduces you to 15 storytelling axioms that will change how you think about your work. Axioms like: People don't really buy your product, solution, or idea, they buy the stories that are attached to it. Each axiom is supported by examples and inspired quotes from recognized luminaries, including Barack Obama, Gloria Steinem, Seth Godin, Tom Peters, and Joseph Campbell. "Believe Me will help you become the leader you need to be...This manifesto makes an inspired case for the future beyond just branding and the role of storytelling in the business equation." - Kevin Roberts, Worldwide CEO, Saatchi & Saatchi, Author, The Lovemarks Effect: Winning in the Consumer Revolution "Right on cue, from the moment I started to read Believe Me, I found myself following Michael's words and realized how much this short but powerful book was going to influence me, my organization and all our partners involved in social entrepreneurship. Margolis' bottom of page advice gave me plenty of practical ways to re-evaluate the power of my professional and personal narratives. I can't wait to re-read this manifesto and begin developing new and more effective stories." - Beverly Schwartz, Vice President, Global Marketing, Ashoka "In Believe Me, Margolis describes the many factors reshaping the rules of business. If you want to excel as a leader of tomorrow, storytelling is a core thinking skill you can't afford to miss. This short little manifesto is an awesome and provocative addition to any business school curriculum." - Paul Dillon, Manager, Learning Strategies, Schulich Executive Education Centre, York University (Toronto, Canada) For additional reviews or a free excerpt visit http://www.believemethebook.com
88 pages, Paperback
First published October 13, 2009
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
February 27, 2018
Everything and...nothing
I’m working in storytelling field myself. I must admit that the big theories about storytelling are obviously there but the flow of the book might be unbearable sometimes. You get lost in the story...damn it
I’m working in storytelling field myself. I must admit that the big theories about storytelling are obviously there but the flow of the book might be unbearable sometimes. You get lost in the story...damn it
September 4, 2020
Pretty basic, but some good quotes.
March 30, 2014
Back into the archives for today’s book review. Believe Me by Michael Margolis is his 2009 storytelling manifesto. I know – 2009, and it’s now the end of 2014. I’m very slow getting to this. I even got it in May. Holidays are a great time for catching up, and luckily stories have been around a lot longer than brands have been using storytelling as a tactic. See, I’m hundreds of years late.
What’s Believe Me About?
This book is Michael’s 88-page overview on why storytelling is important for your brand. It’s divided into three parts, starting with How Ideas Become Reality, and then Engaging the Status Quo and ending with Finding Relevance. Michael says it’s a book that can be read directly through or pick and choose the chapters, as needed. Since it’s only 88 pages, you can read it through. I’m also not sure how you could find the bits you want; Prophesy and Evolution aren’t really intuitive chapter headings.
What I found Believe Me most useful for is presenting the case for storytelling in your content. It’s full of quotes, examples and stats reinforcing the argument. The end of each chapter has a call-out box with questions to help you apply the information immediately to your brand; very useful. The Love counts poked their head in during this book. They were just little snippets of brilliance (that sounds bad; it’s a good book). My favorite “love” is “Every experience is stored in the mind with a story attached to it.” Yes, that means our customers are applying storytelling to their interactions with us, so we need to join the party.
One issue that I had (intentional past tense) was that Believe Me is a tad bitsy and skims the surface of topics. I wanted to know more about why telling stories of the status quo is effective and how to orient others into the story. In the epilogue, Michael explains that Believe Me is the first of several books on storytelling. Oh, yes there is a manifesto.
Who Is Believe Me For?
This was a tad tricky to define, but not in a bad way. This just has something for everyone, be it a stat or anecdote to help you build a case for storytelling. I just can’t segment the audience any tighter than “marketers”. Michael even says it in the dedication: “To the change-makers and innovators with the courage to swim in the deep end of the pool.” I suppose that’s even more broad than my marketers.
Believe Me is a quick, cheap buy on Kindle, and definitely recommended as a starting point.
Originally published on http://tapdancingspiders.com/2014/12/...
What’s Believe Me About?
This book is Michael’s 88-page overview on why storytelling is important for your brand. It’s divided into three parts, starting with How Ideas Become Reality, and then Engaging the Status Quo and ending with Finding Relevance. Michael says it’s a book that can be read directly through or pick and choose the chapters, as needed. Since it’s only 88 pages, you can read it through. I’m also not sure how you could find the bits you want; Prophesy and Evolution aren’t really intuitive chapter headings.
What I found Believe Me most useful for is presenting the case for storytelling in your content. It’s full of quotes, examples and stats reinforcing the argument. The end of each chapter has a call-out box with questions to help you apply the information immediately to your brand; very useful. The Love counts poked their head in during this book. They were just little snippets of brilliance (that sounds bad; it’s a good book). My favorite “love” is “Every experience is stored in the mind with a story attached to it.” Yes, that means our customers are applying storytelling to their interactions with us, so we need to join the party.
One issue that I had (intentional past tense) was that Believe Me is a tad bitsy and skims the surface of topics. I wanted to know more about why telling stories of the status quo is effective and how to orient others into the story. In the epilogue, Michael explains that Believe Me is the first of several books on storytelling. Oh, yes there is a manifesto.
Who Is Believe Me For?
This was a tad tricky to define, but not in a bad way. This just has something for everyone, be it a stat or anecdote to help you build a case for storytelling. I just can’t segment the audience any tighter than “marketers”. Michael even says it in the dedication: “To the change-makers and innovators with the courage to swim in the deep end of the pool.” I suppose that’s even more broad than my marketers.
Believe Me is a quick, cheap buy on Kindle, and definitely recommended as a starting point.
Originally published on http://tapdancingspiders.com/2014/12/...
December 28, 2014
I recently heard Michael speak on the importance of story and wanted the message to sink in more so I picked up Believe Me which he calls a story telling manifesto.
What I liked most about reading it was the recap in the back of the book that hits on the key elements of the story and asks questions to help you explore them.
Very much in line with something that Jason Cohen of WPengine & asmartbear said in a recent post about the practice of New Year's Resolutions.
'Maybe asking good questions of yourself is a better way to lift your eyes to the horizon of possibilities for [the new year]. What good questions have you not taken the time to ask?' - Jason Cohen blog.asmartbear.com
The book and Michael's talk definitely have me thinking more about the importance of being able to tell your story but also what's important to the person receiving the story not just what's important from my own perspective.
What I liked most about reading it was the recap in the back of the book that hits on the key elements of the story and asks questions to help you explore them.
Very much in line with something that Jason Cohen of WPengine & asmartbear said in a recent post about the practice of New Year's Resolutions.
'Maybe asking good questions of yourself is a better way to lift your eyes to the horizon of possibilities for [the new year]. What good questions have you not taken the time to ask?' - Jason Cohen blog.asmartbear.com
The book and Michael's talk definitely have me thinking more about the importance of being able to tell your story but also what's important to the person receiving the story not just what's important from my own perspective.
August 1, 2012
This book, if you can can it a book, had a couple basic points in it, but wasn't worth the hour it took me to read it. The tagline is "a storytelling manifesto for change-markers and innovators" and I think it comes up drastically short.
The basic premise that people learn and share by telling and listening to stories is something that we need to understand in the business world. Making It Stick and a lot of other books out there carry the same message - only they explain why and help you craft a story to yourself.
Also, I didn't like that at the end of the book I was solicited to call him and pay the author for private coaching sessions - it seems skeevy to me somehow.
The basic premise that people learn and share by telling and listening to stories is something that we need to understand in the business world. Making It Stick and a lot of other books out there carry the same message - only they explain why and help you craft a story to yourself.
Also, I didn't like that at the end of the book I was solicited to call him and pay the author for private coaching sessions - it seems skeevy to me somehow.
July 28, 2012
We read this as a precursor to a storytelling workshop. Did a good job of persuading that storytelling is important, but lacked more of what I was expecting around being an effective storyteller. Guess we get that from the workshop! To be fair, I have not had time to explore the free online resources included with purchase of the book. They may go into more detail.
November 14, 2012
Nice collection of storytelling axioms, but lacking in tools for effective storytelling. Good book to read if you need to be encouraged on why to tell (better) stories.
December 22, 2014
Excellent manifesto!
May 2, 2018
Super basic.
February 28, 2019
Brief but thought-provoking
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews