Stories that Move Mountains

Martin Sykes is a leader in the Enterprise Strategy business at Microsoft Services. The CAST process and Visual Story Map has evolved over 12 years from a personal quest to improve his own communications, to a technique delivered at international conferences, used in workshops with customers in the public and private sectors around the world, and training for people in the Microsoft organization. A. Nicklas Malik is an enterprise strategy architect for Microsoft in the United States and a well-respected leader, speaker, and writer in the field of Enterprise Architecture. Key to his success has been the use of visual stories, a technique he learned from Martin's early training sessions. Nick has used the CAST process in settings ranging from founding a small business to influencing corporate executives.Mark D. West is a graphic designer and educator, with experience developing successful training and graphic design solutions for retail and IT-based clients in the US Pacific Northwest (including Boeing and Microsoft) over the last 15 years. Numerous design colleges and IT-based clients have benefited from his expertise in design to support organizational effectiveness, learning, and results that stick.

"... if you want to influence others to make a decision, improve something or agree to change then this is the book for you." (www.bcs.org, December 2012) "Strong visual presentation which makes it easy to absorb the authors' message... concepts are well explained with clear examples... very good guidance on visual design particularly useful for non-specialists." (HR Zone, February 2013)

• 1 The Power of Stories 2Visual Stories 5Should We Blame the Tools? 6Finding the Right Tool for the Job 6To Be Effective, You Have to Affect People 7Convincing Evidence 102 Cast and the Visual Story Map 12The Visual Story Map 123 Using Cast to Tell Stories 22Use the Visual Story Map 23Learn From Our Experience 24Examples of Using CAST 25Build Your Own Example 25Example 1: Personal Trainer. 26Example 2: City University Hospital 27Tell the Right Story 29Tell the Story Right 294 Why 34The Three Big Whys 35Focusing First on “Why” 36All Motivation is Personal 37Techniques for Discovering Whys 37Five Whys 38Pain Chain 40Outcome Mapping 415 What 48Elements of Change. 50Brainstorming the Changes 52Filter and Focus 536 How 62Traceability and Milestones 64Finding the “How” 65Understanding the Dependencies 68Cum hoc ergo propter hoc 707 What if 76Walking Backward Through the Story 78Alternative Scenarios 80Final Thoughts on the Story Content 898 Who 92Finding the Common Ground 96Creating a Power Map 989 Learning and Decision Styles 108Categorizing Your Audience. 109Preferences, Not Prescriptions 109Learning Styles 110Decision Styles 11210 Structure 122Plot Structure 123Nesting and Embedding (or How to Tell Many Stories at the Same Time) 139Using Reality and Fiction 139Hope’s Story 141Putting All the Parts Together 141In a Hurry? 14311 Character 148The Hero and the Villain 150Character Associations 152Believability 153The Cast of Characters 154Personification 15412 Sense of Urgency 164The Enemies of Change: Complacency and Distraction 165Common Factors Creating a Sense of Urgency 166Success Is a Decision 168Success Is a Commitment 16813 Delivery Plan 174Decisions Take Time 176Planning for Scale 178Hook, Line, and Sinker 179City University Hospital 180Delivery Tips 18614 Design 192Intentional Design 193Many Formats, One Root 196The Infographic 197Ideation 198Composition 200Content Coding 209Writing 21415 Test 222Testing and Rehearsals 223Opening, Closing, and Timing 224Repetition 225Retention 225The Six Key Tests 22616 Cast Example: What a Difference A Day Can Make 23217 Afterword: Improving Your Visual Storytelling 242Practice Makes Perfect 242Use Your Tools 243References 246Index 252