The Magic of Metaphor (Paperback)

by Nick Owen (Author) "I know what leading is," said the Young Apprentice, "but what exactly is pacing?..." (more)
Key Phrases: Warrior of the Shadows, Wise One, Young Apprentice (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
The stories were easy to follow, and using the teacher/pupil format to do the speaking is very clever. -- Kathleen Ginn, Rapid Sensory Learning Seminars

Product Description
The Magic of Metaphor presents a collection of stories designed to engage, inspire and transform the listener and the reader. Some of the stories motivate, some are spiritual, and some provide strategies for excellence. All promote positive feelings, encouraging confidence, direction and vision. The stories contained in The Magic of Metaphor focus on values, responsibility, and leadership in all its forms. Specially selected to promote change in people's ideas, attitudes, beliefs, visions and behaviours they act as reframes, challenging and disturbing our existing frames of reference, recharting our accustomed maps of the world, and shifting us away from our limited thinking towards new learning and discovery through the use of effective metaphor. Containing sixteen suggestions (or tips) for effective story telling, advice on organisation, style and story telling skills, and a selection of stories that can be adapted and developed, The Magic of Metaphor is an inspirational sourcebook for counsellors, health workers, psychologists, professional speakers, managers, leaders and NLP practitioners, as well as for teachers, trainers, therapists. Providing tools that assist people in making beneficial changes in their lives, the stories contained in this book will bring pleasure and power to all those that listen to or read them.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Crown House Publishing; illustrated edition edition (July 31, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1899836705
• ISBN-13: 978-1899836703
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #723,189 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars An expensive book at half the price, December 10, 2002

By	Karl (England, Great Britain) - See all my reviews

OK, watch carefully:

I have in my hand a collection of short stories, and an appalling "metaphor" about a magician teaching his apprentice how to tell stories that is about 99% padding -

Now, I cover my hand with this brightly coloured hankerchief -

I mutter the magic words: "Never give a sucker an even break" -

I remove the hankerchief and Presto! a rather expensive book has appeared (expensive for what it is).

If you're interested in how to construct metaphors I'd recommend Kostere & Malatesta's book "Get the Results You Want" (last chapter), and if you want a book of useful/entertaining stories, almost anything by Idries Shah, such as 'Tales of the Dervishes' and 'Learning How to Learn'. They're all significantly cheaper than this book, and much better value for money.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars The telling of Stories., November 4, 2002

By	W. E. Grissom "Bill" (Oregon United States) - See all my reviews

Few books will I buy and then get rid of, but this was one. Metaphors can be so powerful if you know what YOU are doing. This book gives you metaphors but NOT their meaning or usage. You are on your own with this one. If all you are doing is looking for someone else's metaphors to copy then this may work for you.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars took this book to convince me of the value of storytelling, August 19, 2001

By	Edith Howorka (Vienna, Austria) - See all my reviews

I have always loved to tell stories to my children when they were little and when they finally grew older it was this special ritual of story time that I missed a lot. Now I know that story time is not over for me at all. It took Nick Owen's book to convince me of the value and benefits of stories not only for my own inspiration but as a wonderful resource in my field as a teacher and trainer. Although familiar with some of the stories, I was surprised about the new insights I gained through having them presented in this way. More than that, this book has given me the courage to believe that I can be just as good a story teller to adults and furthermore it supplies sufficient tips of how to go about it. They do work, as I found out to my great relief when I first tried them out in a training. Now I am pondering about the question if my almost adult kids might be as responsive as well!