Keen On… Peter Guber: "If You Can't Tell It, You Can't Sell It" (TCTV)

“I was born curious,” Peter Guber confessed to me when he came into the TechCrunch studio earlier this month. We should all be so curious. The legendary Guber – whose list of accomplishments as a superstar Hollywood producer (Rain Man, Batman, Midnight Express, Flashdance etc.), broadcaster, university professor, best-selling writer, new media mogul (board member of Demand Media) and sports franchise owner (co-owner of the Golden State Warriors) are probably unrivalled by anyone, either dead or alive – has just written a book explaining both his success and failure as a story teller.

Guber writes about his storied life in Tell To Win: Connect, Persuade, and Triumph with the Hidden Power of Story, a book released tomorrow, but already #1 on Amazon’s best-seller list. Tell To Win is going to be the Tipping Point for storytelling. “If you can’t tell it, you can’t sell it,” he explains. The power to tell a compelling story is, for Guber, hard wired into us and is the difference not only between success and failure but also between happiness and misery.

Guber’s book challenges us to use story to get into “the emotional transportation business.” If you want to learn how to tell a really killer story, you need to listen to the master of storytelling, Peter Guber….

Check back tomorrow for the second half of the Guber conversational express, when the legendary mogul tells us why he is so excited about the digital future of entertainment.

Guber on the story of his life

Guber on the power of storytelling

Guber on the story of the rest of his life

Crunchbase

• PETER GUBER

Person: Peter Guber

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Founder and CEO of Mandalay Entertainment, the visionary multimedia venture spanning movies, TV, sports, and new media, Peter Guber is among the most successful executives in the entertainment and communications industries. Films he personally produced or executive produced, including “Rain Man,” “Batman,” “The Color Purple,” “Midnight Express,” “Gorillas In The Mist,” “The Witches of Eastwick,” “Missing,” and “Flashdance,” have earned more than three billion dollars worldwide and garnered more than fifty Academy Award nominations. Peter Guber is a sought after...

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