Happy World Storytelling Day!

World Storytelling Day is an annual celebration that encourages people to tell and listen to stories. It is a day that brings people together through the power of storytelling.

According to Wikipedia, "World Storytelling Day is a global celebration of the art of oral storytelling. It is celebrated every year on the March equinox, on or near March 20. On World Storytelling Day, as many people as possible tell and listen to stories in as many languages and at as many places as possible, during the same day and night. 

World Storytelling Day has its roots in a national day for storytelling in Sweden, circa 1991. At that time, an event was organized for March 20 in Sweden called "All storytellers day." At the same time, in Mexico and other Latin American countries, March 20 was already celebrated as the National Day of Storytellers. In 2002, the event spread from Sweden to Norway, Denmark, Finland, and Estonia. In 2003, the idea spread to Canada and other countries, and the event became known internationally as World Storytelling Day. Starting around 2004, France participated. In 2008, the Netherlands took part in World Storytelling Day. And by 2009, there were World Storytelling Day events in Europe, Asia, Africa, North America, South America, and Australia."

According to ThereIsADayforThat, "On this day, oral storytellers around the world are busy inspiring audiences, and creating community, by telling classical tales, local stories, glorious, horrendous, happy, challenging, spooky, romantic, and dramatic epic stories. Some wrapped in music, some staged, and others intimate - but every story is told in a unique and compelling way, by a storyteller whose heart is full of great tales to bridge our divides and remind us what it is to be human."

The theme for 2026 is "Light in the Dark." This phrase has three meanings:

(1) a situation when you're in trouble and danger, struggling to escape - this happens a lot in stories.

(2) it could mean profound or meaningful water, perhaps, the waters of life or healing that are also found in stories.

(3) it could mean water that goes down in some way, for instance, a well or river.

Do you know the "3 C's of Storytelling?" They generally refer to CHARACTER, CONFLICT, and CONCLUSION, highlighting the need for relatable people, a central struggle, and a satisfying resolution.

And do you know the golden rule of storytelling? The widely accepted "golden rule of storytelling" is  to SHOW, DON'T TELL, meaning to immerse the audience by using sensory details, actions, and dialogue to let them EXPERIENCE the story, rather than explaining events or emotions. Instead of saying a character is sad, an author describes slumped shoulders, tear-filled eyes, and a quiet voice, allowing readers to interpret and feel the emotion themselves, making the narrative more engaging and powerful.

Some memorable stories to read out loud today would be "Horton Hears a Who!" by Dr. Seuss, "The Giving Tree" by Shel Silverstein, and "Where the Sidewalk Ends" by Shel Silverstein.

SHARE THIS: Today a reader, tomorrow a leader. #WorldStorytellingDay #DebbieLaskeysBlog

And since many of the world's most successful business leaders point to reading as an important life skill and hobby, author Paul Smith wrote a book entitled, "The 10 Stories Great Leaders Tell."

When asked WHY Paul wrote the book, he explained, "Over the last decade, I’ve conducted in-depth, one-on-one interviews with over 300 CEOs, executives, and leaders across dozens of industries and in 25 countries around the world. And I’ve consulted or trained literally thousands more. These 10 leadership stories were chosen because they are the ones my executive clients most frequently ask for help in crafting, cover the most important territory of ideas about which a leader should have an opinion and exert some influence in the organization, and will be useful to leaders in just about any functional discipline, including general management, sales, marketing, finance, operations, human resources, information technology, engineering, etc."

Without further ado and with much applause to Paul, here are THE 10 STORIES GREAT LEADERS TELL:

(1) Where we came from (our founding story)

(2) Why we can't stay here (a case-for-change story)

(3) Where we're going (a vision story)

(4) How we're going to get there (a strategy story)

(5) What we believe in (a corporate-values story)

(6) Who we serve (a customer story)

(7) What we do for our customers (a sales story)

(8) How we're different from our competitors (a marketing story)

(9) Why I lead the way I do (a leadership-philosophy story)

(10) Why you should want to work here (a recruiting story)

SHARE THIS: Every great leader is a great storyteller. And, the first and most important part of being a great storyteller is knowing what stories to tell. ~Paul Smith via Eric Jacobson #WorldStorytellingDay #DebbieLaskeysBlog

Do you have a favorite story to read or share with others today? Chime in and share.

Image Credit: Piktochart.

Meet Paul Smith here:

https://leadwithastory.com/meet-paul-smith/

Check out Eric Jacobson's review of Paul's book:

https://ericjacobsononmanagement.blogspot.com/2019/12/best-new-leadership-book-of-2019.html