Ravishankar Iyer’s Post

Hi folks, here is the fifty-ninth edition of my weekly newsletter (3-2-1 by Story Rules) where I share six examples of good storytelling.

One fascinating aspect of life in the US is the reliance on structure, order and planning. Take cities for example. Nature is free-flowing and does not follow rigid patterns. But try telling that to San Francisco's original city planners. They applied the tried-and-tested grid pattern from other US cities in a comprehensive and rigid manner, such that they built ramrod straight roads (intersecting with other straight roads at right angles) even over the steepest of hills. (see the images - and zoom in to check out the slope!) And so, San Francisco's famous cable car trundles at steep angles, cars are always parked with their hand-brakes on and houses might be having extra triangular-shaped spaces underneath the floors, given the slopes on which they are built. All because of the preference for clear order and structure. Mind you - the US didn't invent grid-based planning for cities. Our very own Indus Valley civilisation had them thousands of years ago, and various urban settlements across history have used some form of grid-based layouts. But it's cities in the US which have embraced the grid plan most whole-heartedly (conquering nature to the maximum extent possible!). Apart from this, I also saw examples of planning and a systems orientation in various other places. For instance, a food-court-type restaurant in the Yosemite Valley had a beautiful system for the entire ordering-to-exit process with minimal human intervention. Ordering happened through user-friendly screens and you received a coupon with a token number. Then once you picked up your food, all accompaniments such as plates, spoons, forks, condiments, and water were stored in separate clearly marked containers. But what was perhaps most impressive was the disposal system. Customers were expected to clear up after eating and had at least 8 separate containers for different types of cutlery, plates and trays. It was all very user-friendly with almost no need to ask a restaurant attendant for help. I was impressed with the extent of planning and systems thinking. Structure is a critical skill in storytelling - the ability to bucket ideas into the right groups and share them in an organised way is critical for audience understanding. Perhaps it is no wonder that frameworks like the Pyramid Principle (a story structuring tool) emerged from the US given their orientation to order. What are some examples of order and structure that you have seen in the US? #USAStories

How you would explain Moore's Law to a child? Moore's law is the observation that the number of transistors on an integrated circuit will double every two years with minimal rise in cost. At the Intel Museum in Santa Clara, there was a cool exhibit which presented Moore's law in terms that even a young child would understand. It did so by asking - 'How high can you jump on a skateboard?' If you can jump 1.5 feet today (a small stool), in two years you'll be jumping 3 feet (about the height of a goat). In 10 years it would be almost 50 feet (about 5 elephants). And in 20 years, about 1600 feet - that is like a superhero jumping over an office building! And with that simple visual metaphor, the Museum team had made something as technical as Moore's Law relatable to everyone... and made everyone realise the incredible nature of an achievement that most would take for granted. When presenting technical information make it relatable to the audience. #USAStories (This is one among a series of posts I am writing about my observations on storytelling during my visit to the US)

How do you show the complexity of a computer chip? And that too to a child? The Intel Museum at Santa Clara does a great job. Computer chips - something we rely on almost every moment of our life - are incredibly complex pieces of technology. At the Intel Museum, they had a display screen about 4-feet tall, with an image of a 1.2-centimeter chip. But here's the cool part. The image was zoomable. As you zoomed into the screen, it kept showing increasing levels of detail (and complexity). And then, to make the numbers relatable, the display compared the dimensions at each level to everyday items that we can connect with (to the extent possible!). For instance: - 12 mm was compared with the width of a pencil - 4.6 mm to the width of the pupil of an eye - 0.19 mm to the width of human hair and so on. It's a fascinating display that boggles your mind - HOW are they able to fit in so much in such a small space?! It's also a great example of storytelling - of how to make small numbers relatable. Prof. Chip Heath - who wrote the superb book 'Making Numbers Count' - would approve. #USAStories

Hi folks, here is the fifty-eighth edition of my weekly newsletter (3-2-1 by Story Rules) where I share six examples of good storytelling.

It was 2014. I was in a prison building. And I was mesmerised by what I was hearing. Alcatraz is a small island offshore from San Francisco, USA. For several decades it was the most (in)famous prison in the world. Although situated just 2 kms. from the city, escape was nearly impossible given the cold water temperatures and the strong currents. The penitentiary inspired several Hollywood movies like 'The Rock', 'Escape from Alcatraz', and 'Birdman of Alcatraz'. The iconic prison was shut down in 1963, however, and Alcatraz became a tourist destination. But think about it - what special experience can a set of dull prison cells offer fun-seeking tourists? "Here's cell no. 27. Here's cell no. 28, which, by the way, is identical. And here's the cafeteria." Yawn. But that's where the storytelling genius of Alcatraz's award-winning audio-tour came in. On that clear October day in 2014, as we got embarked from the ferry, we were offered an audio playback device with headphones. And, as the audio-tour took us around the island prison through several points, we were transported to a different era. The tour featured interviews with the actual prisoners and prison guards, giving listeners a ringside view of how life would have been in the now-empty prison cells. Anecdotes about famous prisoners, crazy escape attempts, and even the mundane realities of daily prison life made the place come alive in my imagination. In fact, this experience was one of the inspirations for 'CaptivaTour' the audio-guides startup that I co-founded with a couple of batchmates. (We eventually had to shut it down though!) :( Anyway, the point of this post is a different one. This whole month, I am in the US on vacation, visiting relatives and exploring different places in this fascinating country. And of course, as is my wont, I'll be viewing everything from a storytelling lens. So, over the course of this month (and later), I will be sharing stories from the US. Stories of my observations on US culture. Stories about quintessentially US elements. Stories about aspects that locals might take for granted but an outsider like me would find fascinating. Join me for the ride! #USAStories

Hi folks, here is the fifty-seventh edition of my weekly newsletter (3-2-1 by Story Rules) where I share six examples of good storytelling.

Please register for this unique virtual event where you will get to watch 12 outstanding non-profits tell their story in just 5 minutes. You'll learn something from every organisation. And you'll come away inspired. 25-April-2024, 5.30 PM IST

HR leaders and executives - I'm thrilled to launch my new e-course: 'Effective Storytelling with Data for HR'! In about 3 hours (or the time it takes you to watch a Bollywood movie), you can massively level up your data storytelling skills and get better outcomes at work. *Why this course* If you are in any mid-senior level leadership role in HR, you know one thing - high-stakes communication events matter. These could be functional reviews, stakeholder meetings, or new initiative presentations. If done well, they can drive a ton of impact. But in today's world of exploding data sets and plummeting attention spans, you realise one thing: it's not enough just to present information. You need to tell a story with your data. This e-Course is the second-best way to learn how to do that. For the best way, I would recommend my in-person workshop! However given that many HR professionals may not be able to attend the workshop but would still want to learn this critical skill, I created this self-paced e-Course. *What the course includes* This e-course covers the core concepts I teach in my workshops - woven around the 'ABCD' Data Storytelling framework: - Align with your Audience - Build the Story Narrative - Choose the right Charts - Deliver with Impact THE BIG DIFFERENTIATOR - CASE STUDY APPLICATION What differentiates this course is that I've taken these concepts and applied it to a realistic, data-heavy HR Case Study (on attrition analysis). You'll get access to the Case Study Excel file. So in the course, you will get a complete demonstration of the storytelling principles on the case, and a ringside view of the entire journey - from analysed data to narrative crafting to the final presentation creation and delivery. Step-by-step, with every element shown using screen-share. You essentially get to learn by doing and watching me demonstrate the skill at the nuts-and-bolts level. Apart from lifetime access to the course content, you will also get detailed Course-takeaway PDFs. But here's what you *really* get after taking 'ESD for HR': - A feeling of pride in your data presentations - Praise from your boss and senior stakeholders - Requests from colleagues for help with their decks! :) Here are some quick details - Duration: Between 2-4 hours depending on what speed you watch the videos! I recommend at least 1.5X, making it a 3-hour watch. Of course, there would be additional time for your practice etc. - Fees: As against my regular self-paced course which is priced at Rs. 4,990, this course is priced at an inaugural fee of just Rs. 1,990 - Corporate orders: If you'd like to purchase bulk licences for your team, drop me an email (details in the Course Page) and let's discuss For more details, you can visit the course page on Thinkific - https://lnkd.in/ddbqh86D

My 7 favourite quotes by/about Danny Kahneman: (RIP legend) Source: From 'The Undoing Project' by Michael Lewis, a book that offers a fascinating portrait into the lives Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky - two of the greatest psychologists who ever lived 1. On genius doubting itself: “His defining emotion is doubt, and it’s very useful. Because it makes him go deeper and deeper and deeper.” - One of Danny's students 2. On the ability to seek truth everywhere with an open mind: “When someone says something, don’t ask yourself if it is true. Ask what it might be true of.” - Daniel Kahneman 3. On finding general patterns: "The difference between Danny and the next 9,99,999 psychologists is his ability to find the phenomenon and then explain it in a way that applies to other situations" Dale Griffin, Psychologist 4. On reversion to the mean: “Because we tend to reward others when they do well and punish them when they do badly, and because there is regression to the mean... we are statistically punished for rewarding others and rewarded for punishing them.” - Danny Kahneman 5. On bias in thinking: "There is much evidence showing that, once an uncertain situation has been perceived or interpreted in a particular fashion, it is quite difficult to view it in any other way" - Danny Kahneman 6. On the need for narrative: “No one ever made a decision because of a number. They need a story.” - Danny Kahneman 7. On being one's own opponent: "Danny almost found it easier to imagine himself in his opponent’s shoes than in his own. In some strange way Danny contained within himself his own opponent. He didn’t need another." - Michael Lewis