Peter Guber - Tell to Win: Connect, Persuade, and Triumph With the Hidden Power of Story

ALSO BY PETER GUBER

Shoot Out: Surviving Fame and
(Mis) Fortune in Hollywood

Inside the Deep

Copyright 2011 by Peter Guber

All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Crown Business, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
www.crownpublishing.com

CROWN BUSINESS is a trademark and CROWN and the Rising Sun colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Guber, Peter.
Tell to win: connect, persuade, and triumph with the hidden power of story / Peter Guber.1st ed.
p. cm.
1. Success in business. 2. Storytelling. 3. Entrepreneurship. 4. Creative ability in business. I. Title.
HF5386.G797 2010
658.45dc22
2010019828

eISBN: 978-0-307-58797-8

Jacket design by David Tran

v3.1

CONTENTS

THE END

LET ME GIVE AWAY THE ENDING OF THIS BOOK

Theres treasure to be discovered, and its inside you. Built into your DNA is humanitys ten-thousand-plus years of telling and listening to oral stories. This veneration of story is a force so powerful and enduring that it has shaped cultures, religions, whole civilizations. Now, through telling to win, you can harness this force to achieve your most cherished goals.

It was by telling many purposeful stories, face-to-face, over the course of a long careersometimes unconsciouslythat I discovered this secret to success. In this book my mission is to be your catalyst, coach, and champion, passing along tools and techniques gleaned not just from my own experiences, but from soliciting the wisdom of people I consider master tellers. I will take you backward and forward through my career and demonstrate how, properly used, these skills have the potential to immediately change your life.

For too long the business world has ignored or belittled the power of oral narrative, preferring soulless PowerPoint slides, facts, figures, and data. But as the noise level of modern life has become a cacophony, the ability to tell a purposeful story that can truly be heard is increasingly in demand. Moreover, in this age of acute economic uncertainty and rapid technological change, its not the 0s and 1s of the digital revolution, but rather the oohs and aahs of telling to win that offer the best chance of overcoming fear or compelling listeners to act on behalf of a worthy goal.

As I look back on my four decades in business, I see that persuading customers, employees, shareholders, media, and partners through telling to win has been my single biggest competitive advantage. And I dedicate this book to making it yours.

VOICES

Oscar Goodman , mayor of Las Vegas

Richard Bangs , founding member of the executive team of Expedia.com

Robert Rosen , professor and former dean, UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television

Dr. Dan Siegel , neuroscientist, codirector of UCLAs Mindsight Institute

Susan Feniger , restaurateur, Border Grill, Ciudad, and Street, and costar of the Food Networks Too Hot Tamales

Stacey Snider , cochairman and CEO, DreamWorks Studios

Michael Jackson , iconic entertainer

Charles Collier , president and general manager AMC Network

Steve Denning , consultant, former director of knowledge management at the World Bank, and author of The Leaders Guide to Storytelling

Magic Johnson , NBA all-star, chairman and CEO of Magic Johnson Enterprises

Ken Lombard , president and partner, Capri Capital Partners; formerly cofounder and partner/president, Johnson Development Corp., and past president of Starbucks Entertainment

Chad Hurley , CEO and cofounder, YouTube

Chris Anderson , editor in chief, Wired magazine, and author of Free and The Long Tail

Gentry Lee , chief engineer, solar system exploration, Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Dr. Marco Iacobani , professor, Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, and director, Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Lab, Ahmanson-Lovelace Brain Mapping Center, David Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA

Michael Wesch , associate professor of cultural anthropology, Kansas State University; U.S. professor of the year 2008; and National Geographic emerging explorer 2009

Richard Rosenblatt , chairman, CEO, and cofounder, Demand Media, and former chairman, MySpace.com

Wolfgang Puck , restaurateur, Spago, Cut, and Chinois; entrepreneur; and chef

Norma Kamali , president, owner, and designer, OMO (On My Own)

King Bhumibol Adulyadej , king of Thailand

Norio Ohga , former CEO, Sony Corporation

Deepak Chopra, MD , best-selling author, endocrinologist, and founder of the Chopra Center for Wellbeing

John Paul Dejoria , cofounder, chairman, and CEO, John Paul Mitchell Systems; cofounder and chairman, Patrn Spirits Company; and cofounder and chairman, John Paul Pet

Gene Simmons , rock legend, KISS

Alice Walker , Pulitzer Prizewinning author, The Color Purple

Scott Sanders , president and CEO, Scott Sanders Productions, and coproducer, Tony Awardwinning musical The Color Purple

Larry King , host, Larry King Live

David Begelman , former chairman, Columbia Pictures

William D. Simon (Bill) , global managing partner, media and entertainment, Korn/Ferry International

Teri Schwartz , dean, UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television

Lynda Resnick , vice chairman, Roll International, and co-owner and marketing entrepreneur behind Teleflora, POM Wonderful, FIJI Water, Wonderful Pistachios, and Cuties

Pat Riley , NBA Championship coach and president, Miami Heat