Christianity Today 2021 Book Award Winner: Apologetics & Evangelism Telling a Better Story clears a path to a more effective, empathetic apologetics for today—both for experienced apologists and those new to sharing their faith with others. Today's Christians often view the practice of defending their faith as pushy or unnecessary. Won't it just be taken for proselytizing? Don't many unbelievers find it offensive? Many Christians have shifted to a strategy of hoping that our lives will show Christ to our neighbors—and, while this is certainly good, it's no substitute to actively telling people about Christ. In Telling a Better Story, author Joshua Chatraw presents a new and refreshing way to engage in apologetics that will help you tell the story of Christ in a holistic, culturally-contextual manner that—while being respectful—helps unbelievers imagine a more complete happiness and a better meaning to life. Telling a Better Story will give you the tools to: Understand the cultural stories that surround us. Recognize how these secular stories have shaped the way many people think. Learn how to tell God's story in a fresh way that allows today's younger generations to see it as a more meaningful and more hopeful story than the scripts around it. Finally, you'll also learn how to deal with the perennial issues and common objections to Christianity.

A five-time Moth GrandSLAM winner and bestselling novelist shows how to tell a great story — and why doing so matters. Whether we realize it or not, we are always telling stories. On a first date or job interview, at a sales presentation or therapy appointment, with family or friends, we are constantly narrating events and interpreting emotions and actions. In this compelling book, storyteller extraordinaire Matthew Dicks presents wonderfully straightforward and engaging tips and techniques for constructing, telling, and polishing stories that will hold the attention of your audience (no matter how big or small). He shows that anyone can learn to be an appealing storyteller, that everyone has something “storyworthy” to express, and, perhaps most important, that the act of creating and telling a tale is a powerful way of understanding and enhancing your own life.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The definitive guide to telling an unforgettable story in any setting, drawing on twenty-five years of experience from the storytelling experts at The Moth “From toasts to eulogies, from job interviews to social events, this book will help you with ideas, structure, delivery and more.”—CNN LONGLISTED FOR THE PORCHLIGHT BUSINESS BOOK AWARD Over the past twenty-five years, the directors of The Moth have worked with people from all walks of life—including astronauts, hairdressers, rock stars, a retired pickpocket, high school students, and Nobel Prize winners—to develop true personal stories that have moved and delighted live audiences and listeners of The Moth’s Peabody Award–winning radio hour and podcast. A leader in the modern storytelling movement, The Moth inspires thousands of people around the globe to share their stories each year. Now, with How to Tell a Story, The Moth will help you learn how to uncover and craft your own unique stories, like Moth storytellers Mike Birbiglia, Rosanne Cash, Neil Gaiman, Elizabeth Gilbert, Padma Lakshmi, Darryl “DMC” McDaniels, Tig Notaro, Boots Riley, Betty Reid Soskin, John Turturro, and more. Whether your goal is to make it to the Moth stage, deliver the perfect wedding toast, wow clients at a business dinner, give a moving eulogy, ace a job interview, be a hit at parties, change the world, or simply connect more deeply to those around you, stories are essential. Sharing secrets of The Moth’s time-honed process and using examples from beloved storytellers, a team of Moth directors will show you how to • mine your memories for your best stories • explore structures that will boost the impact of your story • deliver your stories with confidence • tailor your stories for any occasion Filled with empowering, easy-to-follow tips for crafting stories that forge lasting bonds with friends, family, and colleagues alike, this book will help you connect authentically with the world around you and unleash the power of story in your life.

Winner of the 2003 Trillium Book Award "Stories are wondrous things," award-winning author and scholar Thomas King declares in his 2003 CBC Massey Lectures. "And they are dangerous." Beginning with a traditional Native oral story, King weaves his way through literature and history, religion and politics, popular culture and social protest, gracefully elucidating North America's relationship with its Native peoples. Native culture has deep ties to storytelling, and yet no other North American culture has been the subject of more erroneous stories. The Indian of fact, as King says, bears little resemblance to the literary Indian, the dying Indian, the construct so powerfully and often destructively projected by White North America. With keen perception and wit, King illustrates that stories are the key to, and only hope for, human understanding. He compels us to listen well.

How well do you know His story? By the time a Christian reaches young adulthood, he is likely to be quite familiar with every major story in the Bible, but not from having studied them in any particular order. Ask an average Bible student to arrange certain characters and events chronologically, and the results are telling. Telling God’s Story looks closely at the Bible from its beginning in Genesis to its conclusion in Revelation. By approaching Scripture as one purposefully flowing narrative, emphasizing the inter-connectedness of the text, veteran college professors Preben Vang and Terry G. Carter reinforce the Bible’s greatest teachings and help readers in their own ability to share God’s story effectively with others. Ideal for classroom settings, this second edition of Telling God's Story now features all supporting charts, photographs, and illustrations in full color!

The compelling, groundbreaking guide to creative writing that reveals how the brain responds to storytelling Stories shape who we are. They drive us to act out our dreams and ambitions and mold our beliefs. Storytelling is an essential part of what makes us human. So, how do master storytellers compel us? In The Science of Storytelling, award-winning writer and acclaimed teacher of creative writing Will Storr applies dazzling psychological research and cutting-edge neuroscience to our myths and archetypes to show how we can write better stories, revealing, among other things, how storytellers—and also our brains—create worlds by being attuned to moments of unexpected change. Will Storr’s superbly chosen examples range from Harry Potter to Jane Austen to Alice Walker, Greek drama to Russian novels to Native American folk tales, King Lear to Breaking Bad to children’s stories. With sections such as “The Dramatic Question,” “Creating a World,” and “Plot, Endings, and Meaning,” as well as a practical, step-by-step appendix dedicated to “The Sacred Flaw Approach,” The Science of Storytelling reveals just what makes stories work, placing it alongside such creative writing classics as John Yorke’s Into the Woods: A Five-Act Journey into Story and Lajos Egri’s The Art of Dramatic Writing. Enlightening and empowering, The Science of Storytelling is destined to become an invaluable resource for writers of all stripes, whether novelist, screenwriter, playwright, or writer of creative or traditional nonfiction.

What if you could live an authentic life of such lasting significance that your story would be celebrated in places and times you can’t even imagine? What if you had the courage to “step out before knowing how it all turns out?” This hands-on field guide packs in true stories and practical tips for living a life of authentic faith in God, the kind that gets out of the boat and leaves a lasting legacy. Author Bill Blankschaen’s winsome voice meets you where you are in your life journey and calls you to something more, to a grander, more meaningful life grounded in biblical truth. With real-life stories and Scripture, Blankschaen shows you how authentic faith - Gives focus to your life, - Opens your eyes to possibilities, - Produces the courage to answer the call, - Moves you to move mountains, and - Empowers you to keep moving forward when facing problems. Life is short. Take control of your story. Start now. Experience A Story Worth Telling for a faith that changes everything.

In this remarkable New York Times bestseller, Joel Osteen offers unique insights and encouragement that will help readers overcome every obstacle in their lives.

The Storytelling Almanac is a tool that will improve your skills as a story creator. Regardless of the industry you work in, the mediums you employ, or the audience you create for, this book will help you begin to understand the underlying psychology beneath the differing elements of story. Offering a unique story lesson for each week of the year, timely examples are provided, and challenging exercises end each chapter. Bonus sections on the seasons of storytelling and improving your pitching are also included. With special emphasis on character, myth, and structure, The Storytelling Almanac can work as a linear guide for telling a better story, a reference guide for specific challenges that storytellers face, or simply a guide that allows readers to follow their interests in the world of story. Using techniques perfected over more than twenty years of consulting and classroom workshopping, the principles in this book are more than just theory. They are tried and true, based on the universal human experience, and embraced by successful storytellers around the world.

"In Between the Listening and the Telling, Mark Yaconelli leads readers into an enchanting meditation on the power of storytelling. From personal meaning-making to school shootings, climate change, and immigration justice, stories help us connect to out human longings and deep scurrents of hope."--Provided by publisher.