Research professor Brene Brown begins her speech on TED.com this way:

A couple years ago, an event planner called me because I was going to do a speaking event. And she called, and she said, "I'm really struggling with how to write about you on the little flier." And I thought, "Well, what's the struggle?" And she said, "Well, I saw you speak, and I'm going to call you a researcher, I think, but I'm afraid if I call you a researcher no one will come, because they'll think you're boring and irrelevant." (Laughter)  Okay. And she said, "But the thing I liked about your talk is you're a storyteller. So I think what I'll do is just call you a storyteller." And of course the academic, insecure part of me was like, "You're going to call me a what?" And she said, "I'm going to call you a storyteller." And I was like, "Why not 'magic pixie'?" (Laughter)

Brown goes on to relate the shift in her thinking as she embraced a new title--"researcher-storyteller"--and delivers an inspiring 20-minute speech that uses her personal narrative to explain what she discovered while researching the roots of human connection. She also demonstrates beautifully what countless new books, blogs and articles are proclaiming loudly and frequently: it's time again to take a serious look at the power of narrative.

The ability of story to communicate uniquely is, of course, not news. But some claim we are currently experiencing a "golden age" of story, with storytelling skills being encouraged in MBA and medical training programs, scientific institutions and law schools. The bookshelves of our local and online stores are actually and virtually overflowing with guides on how to use storytelling to enhance your leadership skills, to build community, to alter your life's direction, to leave an oral or written legacy for your family, to win more business and sell your widget.

With such a range of approaches and applications, I thought a quick summary of representative works would be useful. I've organized them according to areas of emphasis.

Story as Business Boon   Brothers Chip and Dan Heath authored the best-selling Made to Stick, a guide to "stickiness," an idea introduced by Malcolm Gladwell in his popular The Tipping Point. The Heaths list six qualities that make ideas stick in the minds of audiences; story is one of them (as it is in Maxwell and Dickman's The Elements of Persuasion: Use Storytelling to Pitch Better, Sell Faster, & Win More Business). Made to Stick is a great example of the "grab and go" applications of story to business communication, with the obligatory mnemonic acronym: Simplicity, Unexpectedness, Concreteness, Credibility, Emotion and Stories. (Where's the last S? Maybe that's the "unexpected" part.) The book is conversational and entertainingly written, and the authors practice what they preach.

Less about story than the title would suggest, Jerry Weissman's Presenting to Win: The Art of Telling Your Story is specifically targeted to business speakers and is a useful overview of what it takes to give a presentation today in competitive Corporate America. His preface alone, in which he tackles the confusing use of PowerPoint as both visual aid and printed handout, is worth the price of admission.

Story as Leadership Tool   Annette Simmons' The Story Factor: Inspiration, Influence, and Persuasion Through the Art of Storytelling also explores the importance of storytelling in business settings, primarily as a management tool. It is one of many works (like Stephen Denning's The Leader's Guide to Storytelling) that focus on increasing the communication effectiveness of business leaders in formal presentations, informal settings, and one-on-one interactions. Her description of six fundamental story-types is useful.

Story as Social Change Agent   Francesca Polletta's It Was Like a Fever: Storytelling in Protest and Politics is a well-researched and insightful text about the role of storytelling in political and social movements, most notably in discourse surrounding the future of the World Trade Center site, and in Congressional speeches of the last 60 years. Polletta rejects the easy assumption that story is magic and stresses the important point that stories can never be considered outside of their context.

Environmental advocacy is the context for The Story Handbook: Language and Storytelling for Land Conservationists, published by the Trust for Public Land. The collection of essays focuses on how stories about people and place "can advance the work of land conservation for creating meaningful change in our culture."

Story as Personal Inquiry  Tristine Rainer's Your Life as Story focuses on autobiography and draws from her experience as a writer of fiction, nonfiction and television scripts. Her approach to finding and shaping the stories from our lived experience is particularly accessible and she offers an engaging literary approach to writing memoir. More reflective is Mandy Aftel's The Story of Your Life: Becoming the Author of Your Experience .

Story as Oscar Winner   No survey of storytelling resources would be complete without mention of Story: Substance, Structure, Style, and the Principles of Screenwriting by Robert McKee, a man whose name is usually prefaced by "storytelling guru." While the text is specifically dedicated to screenwriting, McKee's work is frequently looked to by anyone interested in how story works. It may not be immediately useful for improving everyday communication, but it will certainly change the way you watch movies.

Story as Oral Tradition  Jack Maguire is to traditional storytelling as Robert McKee is to screenwriting. The Power of Personal Storytelling is rooted in the world of oral traditions and takes the reader through the steps necessary to weave engaging stories from personal experience for family storytelling, storytelling at work, and storytelling in the community. Other books that fall into this category are the numerous titles published by August House under their American Storytelling label such as Doug Lipman's Improving your Storytelling, and Ramon Royal Ross' Storyteller.