• Can you tell something about yourself?
I started working for myself after working with corporates for about 11 years when I started my own venture, I became a storyteller and founder of Katha Pachisi – the story bank. This is a story consulting company where we work with educators and corporate professionals to make their narratives compelling and polish them as magnificent speakers at their workplace by harnessing the power of stories and tools of storytelling.
• How is your book different than others?
Connect through storytelling not only provides details of the world of stories but delves further to give deep insights on how to deploy tools of storytelling to communicate effectively at the workplace. In today’s attention-deficit world, to ensure effective communication in the business and to make training more impactful, “Storytelling” as a communication strategy can really help. More importantly, ideas need to be packaged & communicated in a way that motivates people to take action. This book is also helpful for educators and aspiring storytellers as it is fully equipped with tools that help to engage the listeners through leveraging the power of storytelling.
• Where do you get your information or ideas for your books?
Ideas came from different experiences I had during the training sessions and workshops that I have conducted as a storyteller and story coach. Also, as a communication coach, I keep reading articles and watch TED talks and interviews of magnificent speakers which develop my understandings of my core subject of storytelling. Working with educators and curating workshops on business communication for corporate professionals helped me to pen down the real challenges while communicating which are faced in the working environment, also how I have addressed them by coming up with workable solutions and techniques to be engaging and memorable makes this book useful for readers.
• What was one of the most surprising things you learned in creating your book?
Firstly, that I can actually write a book!! The most surprising thing while creating this book is that if one actually creates a blueprint for one’s book and writes consistently then coming up with a book is not at all a difficult task. Most importantly working with different people from different fields while working on the book gave enriching experiences towards diverse working platforms.
• What is your work schedule like when you’re writing?
Being a mom and a start-up founder and a corporate trainer, along with my daily schedule of creating content and conducting workshops finding time for my book was indeed challenging. But coming up with a blueprint of my book prior to writing the book helped me to dedicate 30 minutes in the early morning and 30 minutes during the night which helped me to write with a consistent pace.
• What do you think makes a good story?
A good story comes from our beliefs, our value system, and our life experiences. As a storyteller I believe that we don’t find stories, in fact, stories find us! We feel connected to stories that resonate deeply with us.
• What advice do you have for writers?
Read a lot, fiction and non-fiction both, watch interviews and TED Talks. Plan your writing time and at least write 30 minutes every day as a routine. Use simple language and write about the topic you are most passionate about as then only one would be able to connect with the readers.
