Ready, set, fail! Why you need to fail to succeed

Climbing a mountain -- just like running a business -- involves risk, says Rick Ridgeway, an outdoor adventurer and former vice president of environmental initiatives at Patagonia, who advises leaders to have a clear goal, detailed plans on how to achieve it, the right team in place and the tenacity to keep going even when the odds are against you. "You need, in your heart of hearts, to have the confidence in yourself that you're going to pull it off if you just stick with it if you are careful not to take a risk that is too foolish," Ridgeway says.

Put it into practice: In 1980, Ridgeway led an expedition that caused an avalanche, killing his best friend and injuring others, which taught him "to identify the risk just as carefully as you can." Ridgeway says, "It's not about taking a heedless risk, but it's about managing risk so that they even go away."

View failure as a positive step to success rather than a negative part of the process, writes Laura Gassner Otting, who points out that entrepreneurs such as Google co-founder Larry Page and athletes such as tennis star Serena Williams had to learn to fail -- and then try again. "Rather than holding more tightly to the reins, you need to allow space for trying out new things, for failure and feedback," Gassner Otting writes.

Put it into practice: Don't let fear of failure keep you from trying new things or learning new skills. Remember that failure is also "the place where we learn and, grow, innovate and iterate," Gassner Otting writes.

Find a personal angle to your story but avoid getting bogged down in too much detail, writes public speaking coach Nick Morgan, who also advises storytellers to avoid chronological order to maintain suspense. Morgan also offers tips on when to start the story for maximum engagement, as well as how to pepper stories with plenty of conflict to keep audiences interested, adding that "[a]ll the states of mind that most of us prefer to avoid in our real lives are what make stories interesting."

Put it into practice: Storytelling can help inspire, but the most memorable stories include plenty of dirt. "You may want to share your successes with people so that they can emulate you, but what they really want to know is how and when you screwed up," Morgan writes.

C-suite communication leaders need to think strategically about their messaging and learn the language not just of their industry but that of all their stakeholders so they can better connect with them, says Jano Cabrera, the CCO of General Mills and former national spokesperson for the Democratic National Committee. "If you literally can't speak the same language as the person you're there to provide service to, if what they're saying sounds like a foreign language to you, what possible service could you provide?" Cabrera notes.

Akil McLeod Jr., a one-year-old from Phoenix, Ariz., nicknamed "Sonny," is the newest Gerber Baby, winning the 14th annual photo search contest for the chubby-cheeked cherub whose mug will grace the company's products, ads and social media. Sonny fits the role, according to his dad, Akil Sr., who says food is Sonny's jam: "If you want him to be quiet for a little bit, you need a minute, give him a snack, and he will stay put for sure."

When I was giving regular talks at the spiritual community I founded, I used a lot of Nick Morgan's advice on how to weave a good story. Famous radio commentator Paul Harvey had this kind of storytelling gift, telling us "the rest of the story" with his signature lilt in his baritone voice.

One talk sticks in my mind for the effectiveness of revealing critical information late in the story. I had told the tale of how I had wanted reconciliation with my father, who left our family when I was young. I detailed the journey I took to that moment when I finally went to talk to my father.

"As I stood at his grave," I  began, and there were audible gasps in the room. Throughout the entire talk, the audience did not know that my father was dead. He had passed when I was 17, and the only closure I could get was to talk to his headstone. I conveniently left out this one small detail, and the reveal shocked the congregation.

People still tell me that they recall that talk and the impact it had on them. This is the power of telling a story out of chronological order and leaving one significant detail until near the end.

If you want to give a memorable talk that holds your audience's attention to the end, it's worth taking the time to tell your story in its most compelling fashion.

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