 So should I have to start again or what? Yes, you can. Okay, cool, cool. So I'm again starting up. Okay, so hi, hi, people, hi, beautiful people hope you all are doing good. And yes, this is Anupam Pandey your host, your moderator for today's event. And yes, a community manager at Ruksh Ecosystem Foundation. I welcome you. So telling you quickly about Ruksh Ecosystem Foundation, it is an innovation, incubation, mentoring, maker and entrepreneurship ecosystem. We are a think tank that facilitates economies and institutions to implement and innovation ecosystem and support global goals for a sustainable future. And yesterday's talk show will revolve around stories and startups. So before starting, I would like to mention something I read on internet few days back. It was like the most powerful person in the world is the storyteller. The storyteller sets the vision, values and agenda of an entire generation that is to come. Humans are not ideally set up to understand logic. They are ideally set up to understand stories. So with this, it's time to kickstart the event. And I would like to welcome our today's guest, Ms. Anu Sachdev. She is a change enabler, social and behavior change communication practitioner storyteller and co founder and director at the change designers LLP. She has international experience and expertise in design, production, implementation and extensive monitoring and evaluation for social change programs. She is a lady with lots of ambitions, confidence, abilities and of course stories. Stories related to anything and everything. Her source of motivation includes her work, desire to change the world and yes, tea if I'm not wrong. So I'm glad that I got this opportunity to welcome you and host you. So very happy to have you here Anu. Thank you for making time. That is such a warm welcome and thank you for mentioning Chai because if it wasn't for Chai, I don't think I would be a storyteller myself. I just kind of assumed because you are a Jamian. So I just kind of assumed because people in Jamia, most of them like tea a lot. So if you're calling me a Jamian, you'll have to call me a Jamian teacher because I'm a, yeah, I teach it. My bad, yes. Well, thank you so much for having me today. I think you've chosen a very interesting topic to engage on conversations on. As people, you know, we talk about technologies and products, but we don't really necessarily talk about what's personal and personal are the stories, the emotion. Definitely, definitely. So okay, with this, I can, yeah, thank you for making time. Thank you for joining in and yes, with this, let's get started with our talk show. I hope the audience is ready and dear audience, don't think lonely here because this is not a one-on-one interaction going on. So you are also a part of it. And if you want to mention anything, if you want to share your views, if you have any questions around stories or are new such Dave. So just mention it in the chat section. And yes, if you don't like to type a lot, then no worries. Just raise your hand. I'll unmute you and you are free to speak. Simple. Okay. So we can start now, I guess. All right. So yes, Anu, we know that you're a storyteller and you have co-founded the chain's designers. We all know this by seeing your profile. But what is not there is about the journey of starting as a storyteller. We know the what part of it. I would like to know how part of it. Tell us more about your journey of being a storyteller and starting the chain's designers. Well, I grew up in a very story rich environment. My nani, my dadi, all my grandparents were very savvy on stories. So every morning they would sit down on chai and tell me about things, you know, about coming from Pakistan to India during partition, about the 1975 emergency during Indira Gandhi's time. And you know, I used to think, wow, like I would get transported myself to those places where there was so much conflict, but then they got out of it as heroes. And then they made a life here in New Delhi. And while I was growing up, I probably never noticed it. And then, you know, I went to a girl's college where we gossiped a lot. So everything, you know, if you know what gossiping is, it's a lot about stories. Definitely. I think the bigger change happened in me when I started to really see stories as not just a mechanism to, you know, become a brand or become a speaker or have a career, but to really understand what others were trying to say. And the best way I think I did it was through listening. So I tried and listened to as many people as I could. And in the former years of my career, I traveled around the world, lived in different countries, and just tried and understood people's emotions. And every time I would do that, something in me sparked. So this is at the age of 24. Okay, I had a very fancy job in New York City. And if you know where New York is, and if you have seen it, if you know where Manhattan is, I used to be a Manhattan girl with my high heels. And my office was right in front of the United Nations headquarters. So every day, from morning to evening, I would sit there and do these calls, right, these Skype calls back then, do my teams around the world in Africa and Latin America, in Asia, and tell them how to change the world. You know, and every single day I'm like telling them, do this, go do, tell people this and go, you know, implement this tool and use this show. And but nothing really was changing. And, you know, I thought my efforts were going in vain, and I checked with my managers. And I said, I don't think I'm doing well enough, because nothing is changing in the world. And, you know, they said, no, no, you're doing fine. And, you know, to my time there, my frustration also grew. I started to realize that sitting in an air-conditioned room in a glass building in New York City is not going to change the world. So and at that point, you ask yourself the question, if this is not going to change the world, then what is? Well, being in the world, listening to people's stories is going to change the world. Telling people's stories is going to change the world. And so I came back to India and I said, I'm going to use what I have in me as a person, as a human, to share, to communicate as my tool for changing the world. And that's where the change designers took work. And over the years, we've become a design-led communication for social change organization, where we use stories at the core of what we aim to do, how we aim to transform social enterprises, startups, budding organizations to become who they are. Wow, amazing, amazing beginning. And yes, I also want to change the world. I also want to do my bit to change the world. And let's see if I'm doing it or not. So yeah. Okay. And yes, with this, like, I, like, we had a discussion a few days back about Misfits 2020, if you remember, yeah. So during Misfits 2020, that was to the audience, Misfits 2020 was a global pitch event that happened across 15 cities of South Asia. And yes, during Misfits 2020, I heard a lot of startups pitching their ideas, but there were people who haven't told any story around it, like they just told about the product, their services and other important things, marketing, market revenue and other important things. Maybe they don't value of stories, they may not know how to tell stories. So a quick question here is why a story? And why now? Why? If good stories are so important, then why don't most startups tell them? That's a very good question. So, you know, sometimes I ask myself this question. When someone asks me, what do I do? Or, you know, when someone asks you, what do you do? What is your first response? No, instantly, I'm a community manager. I am a founder. Or, you know, I do this, but I never take the time to tell the other person what it is to experience what I do. So how do you describe that experience? And that's the story, right? The story, a story is made for people to connect with each other on an emotional level, at an experiential level. It's made to connect the right side of our brain, which is away from logic sometimes. So the good and the bad, the hero and the villain. And it allows us to make sense of the world, right? So there are people who overcomplicate things and tell things in so difficult manner that the person who's trying to get to know them will absolutely shut down and say, I don't want to know more. And then there are people who have the creative power or use their creative intelligence to showcase how people experience their services. So I guess, so why a story? It allows you to connect. Why now? Because, you know, markets are changing. There is a saturation of new technology and products happening. So what makes you stand out is that story. How do you grasp the attention of people is that story. And a lot of times I think startups are usually busy in building their product in their technology or raising funds or setting capacity in the team. That story sort of take a back seat. And sometimes we are also overconscious of the story we are telling to the customer. But we have to remember that's not the only stakeholder in our ecosystem. Customer is not the only person or funder is not the only person. Sometimes telling your stories to your employees and the team is also as important. So although everyone knows that stories are a very good way of marketing, but we just don't invest the time. Definitely. So as you said, as you just mentioned, that stories are so important. And if you are telling good stories, then yes, people will spare time to listen to you. People will spare time to okay, who is he actually? Or who is she? They will be eager to know about you, your product, your services, your brand, whatever you are basically. So here, like with this, my next question would be, what kind of story should we tell as a startup founder? How will the story resonate with the audience? What kind of stories? That's a very good question. I asked that question to myself a whole lot. So one that so many responses to this question, but I'll start with the first. Share your story. Share it wherever possible. Share it how many times is possible. And share it with as many people as possible, your family, your friends, your different kinds of stakeholders, your customers. And that's the first step. Second is share your journey, not just, you know, this is what I'm doing, this is what I'm developing, but where do you come from? What do you bring along? What's the value you're adding? And I think those are the kind of stories that people are also looking for. Who are these people behind these products? Who are these people behind these big companies? Who are these people who are trying to solve the everyday problems of the world? People want to know you. People want to connect with you at a personal level. And how do you resonate that story with your audience? Understand what does your audience need? You can't tell the same story to everyone. The story you tell your customer is different versus the story you tell to your funder. It's absolutely different. But for whichever audience that you're focusing on, understand their need and their conflict. Identify those potential points of change. And then tell your story. You know, we end up just rambling for hours about who we are, what we do in like 50 slides. But a few days ago, I was talking to this group in Japan and they asked me, can you describe yourself in one minute and your entire life in one minute? Try and do that with yourself. Try and do that with different stakeholders you speak to. Ask your mother to sit in front of you and say that story. It really works, actually. Or do a shower rehearsal, if you like. But share. And the other way to over time resonate with people is to seek feedback. Ask the people you're telling your story to. How do they feel about it? What's stuck with them? Was it your emotion? Was it your body language? Was it your eyes? What is it that they really love about it? Absolutely. Even I, right away after this session, I would also prepare a vision board where I would be mentioning my entire life or entire journey till now in one minute, where I can just tell about who I am actually in one minute. So I would request audience, please do that. This is something amazing. This is something really amazing. They are not a job kind of thing that, okay, I have to do this. I have to create some story about my startup. No, no, take it as something, okay, no, no, I can make stories. Just think about your problem maybe, because again, whenever you think about your problem, keep problem, then maybe you can create some stories revolving around your problem, your startup, your brand, your services or your product. So go for it. And yes, so another question can be like how to prepare a brand for business storytelling success. Also here, like with this question, whenever you answer this question after that, I would like to know about the Shanno's story here. So I was going through one of your interviews and I read it there on the internet about Shanno, that how she measures her success. So we would love to hear that again. Actually, I would like to start this question with that. So if you happen to know the work of the change designers or know me at all, if you have the interest of knowing me at all, I work a lot with women entrepreneurs in the rural areas. And this is a couple years ago, we were working with rural women entrepreneurs in finding out what is it that they do that makes them successful. So let me put this in context, only 13% above of India's women are entrepreneurs. Approximately 85% of them fail, because you know, they don't have the education, the financial background, the support, the skill. So what happens is that women business starts and then closes. So we wanted to find out not what makes women entrepreneurs fail, but what makes them succeed. And one of the very interesting women entrepreneurs we found is Shanno. And Shanno does something really cool with her business because she has a small general store in the middle of the village. And Shanno says, you know, my business has been going on for 10 years. I don't know what's the problem with other women. So we asked her, what do you do? And she didn't really have an answer. And after hours and hours of trying to find out what is it that she does, you know, we said, okay, let's take a picture of you. And she probably goes and stands in front of a board outside her business, which says Shanno's shop or Shanno's tail ring center or something like that. And as I'm clicking that picture, I'm trying to look through that lens of the camera and I'm like focusing on her. I noticed the board. And I say, what, Shanno, you know, I've seen other shops of women where it is Kapoorz and Sharma's shop, Jamma Tadi store. Then how is it that your board has your name on it? And she says the following. So she created a Google map location, if you will, out of her shop in the middle of the village. Because now people don't just refer to her shop as a shop, but as a meeting point. It gives her agency, it gives her the confidence to keep running, even when she is in losses. Because it has her name on the board. And that's how she brands it. As simple as that sounds, but profound effect on the life of this woman and her family. And for what she exemplifies as an entrepreneur. So see within your organization. See what stories that you are telling your stakeholders. See what others in your organization are telling others. So a lot of the times, you're telling a story, but your employees and your team are communicating stories that you also have not heard before. Ask your customer what story are they telling others. And that's the way to use stories for businesses. We have worked with businesses across the country and across the world, where we have worked on their stories and given their business 100% boom. Just by listening to what do people have to say, making them more self aware of how they communicate in highlighting that conflict, that heroic act of change through that story. And that's where the success is. I think I have one more story if you like from the same study, which I'm happy to share the journal article also of. So that is a 75 year old woman. Her name is Habbar. And this is in a village approximately 100 kilometers away from Banaras. And she is considered as the most successful woman entrepreneur. She basically has a subjiki lady. And you would ask, what are you doing? What is it that she is doing that makes her successful and not others? Basically, when she goes into the village, she parks her lady outside her cart outside, and then she walks into the village. She goes from house to house, just letting people know that she has arrived. And as she is going, they are asking people, is your daughter-in-law's daughter-in-law's daughter-in-law married? So she is also asking, so she is connecting with the customer. And in the middle of it, somewhere, she would drop a gossip. Like she would say, oh, I've got something from the other village. And suddenly that fire would spread. And I've seen this happen. So now as she's walking towards her cart back, these women are following her in line. It's like a backpiper effect. The rats are following. And unlike any other vegetable vendor, this vegetable cart is full of women around the cart. And she has them, has their full attention. And she has not spent a single penny on that story. She has not spent any time on that, building that story. And she has gained the full attention of all her customers in no time. So successful business strategies don't require you to do elaborate stories, but stories that are simple. Stories that make the complex simple. The stories that connect people. The stories of the non-obvious. So, yeah, I mean, a successful business strategy can have so many, you know, you can read books on it. But if you really want to see it in action, endear the right place to do it. Definitely, definitely. Okay, so, yeah, the second story was amazing, related to gossiping and all. So, yeah. That's what I learned. Great. I would like to know, like, is Shanno Ki Dukan is in Delhi or where? It's in Delhi? No, it's in the most rural part of UP. It's probably like 100, 200 kilometers away from Allahabad. It's in a really, really remote village. Okay, all right. So, like, you guys do such kind of research or, okay, so it would be great if you just add me, like, wherever possible in any of your volunteering programs, maybe if you need some volunteer. I would love to go, like, my, I have a huge crush regarding this social thing, social world kind of thing. So, yeah, I would like to go there. Yeah. Sure. Okay, now, now we know that yes, stories are important. We should follow stories. And again, there are tons of stories if we just Google it, Google about it or whatever change designers is doing or whatever you are doing. So, yeah, now I know what part of stories now I know, okay, this is very important. But what type of content should be a part of storytelling plan? What? What should I present? I have to make a story. Suppose I have a brand. I am suppose, let's say I am a startup founder. I have started something. I have to create a story. I very well know that yes, this is important. I have to create some story, which will be revolving around my plan, my brand. But what type of content should I include? It should be like, whether it should be maybe, should it be emotional, humorous, emotional like Shenno's stories or humorous like that gossiping girl, lady. Okay, so what type of content should be there? So, there's no one particular answer to that question. But there's definitely some points that you can take into account while building your strategy for stories. One is, identify the most important aspect of your system that you think are changing some reality. If you're a startup, for example, what change are you bringing? What's the vision that that you have? You can start there. I think the first thing that you can do is ask yourself the story. I want to tell myself 10 years hence, you know, I've been in existence for 10 years. What's the story? I should be telling myself. Second is, how can you define those abstract concepts of change into solid elements? So, for example, we were working with health tech startup in India and they were having issues in translating their work into stories. So, what was happening was every time their marketing professional would meet with a potential customer, that person wouldn't know what to say. So, you know, they would jumble it all up. So, what we had to do was in order to make a coherent story of what that marketing professional would tell the customer, we had to break down the most important elements of change in the system. So, for example, one of the elements was that their customer would save on time. The second was they would save on money. And the third, which was the biggest important advantage was that they would have access to a doctor from the city, a specialized doctor. So, instead of saying, oh, we are this organization and we do this and that and this, we really broke it down into a very simple story which allowed every marketing professional in that system to talk to the customer. So, create that hook. Create what is going to capture the attention, whether it's your brand image, whether it's your founder, whether you want to show off your product, what is going to capture your audience's attention. One thing I really like to focus on when I'm crafting stories is, and this is something that's not very conventional, you may not find it in books, but what will bring people together? How do you connect, not just you and the customer, but how do you also connect people together? And that's something that we also did miss while we are talking about stories and we talk about storytelling, but we don't tell enough stories. And the last point is ask yourself, your team, your customers, again and again, what is inspiring and what's motivating? Sometimes the actions we take and what our motivations are may not be our customer's motivation, may not be our employee's motivation. So, tap into all of those points to create the larger story of your system and within that you can have smaller stories for stakeholders. Great, absolutely, we can follow this and yes, you said it right that it's not always about work, it's not always about making profits, but it's always about building relationships and that's the main thing actually, building relationships. Even if you are not making profits, even if the connection is not so much lucrative to you, but yes, you are still in profit because you have maybe made a friend, you have made a new connection there. So, yeah, so again, okay, that's great, that's that whatever you shared, that was informative. And now, see, creating content takes work and a good amount of time. Okay, so what talent is needed there and how will it be sourced our cost for the writers, designers, video production professionals, we need manageable given or we need manageable given our current budget or will we need additional funds for just for storytelling or just for making videos around it or making posters around it. So, how to manage the funds around it, any additional benefits or anything? It's a really good point, actually, some organizations will tell you that most of our budget goes into stories and some will tell you none of our budget goes into stories because we really understand our customer. Again, you know, cost for writers, designers, all of this is subjective. I think the main element of hard work is identifying what is the story you want to tell. You know, these days, hiring and getting people on board is not that difficult, but having the right kind of people help you identify the stories you want to tell is very important. So, for example, we were working with a group that works with artisans across India. And, you know, they, for the first six months, they kept saying, oh, we want to strategize, you know, we want to change what artisans do in India and we want to change what happens across the world. But they had not spoken to any of the artisans themselves. So, sometimes you have to invest in those techniques more than in hiring of designers and videographers. Once you have identified what is the need of your particular organization and your system, then you can make the budgetary decisions. And that's my professional advice to most startups and organizations that I work with that don't just think about, oh, we will make a video and it will solve our problems. Yeah, we will make a blog and it will solve the problems. Some people also, you know, will come and tell you, you know, you should have Facebook and Instagram and LinkedIn and this and people start populating it without a coherent story being told. So, invest first in identifying the story, in carving that story, and then invest in the, you know, in the manpower unit or the womanpower unit behind it. Great. Yes, we can definitely go by, like, by that way also. So, storytelling actually connects us, helps us make sense of the world and communicates our values and beliefs, right. So, a good story makes us think and feel and speaks to us in ways that numbers, data, and presentation slides simply can't, as you clearly mentioned it. So, with this, like, now I know, okay, stories are important. What part of stories I know, how can we, what type of content I can add as a storyteller or what type of content should I use as a startup founder? Now I know all this. So, see, just a quick question here. How will I, how will we ensure that our stories meet our standards of quality and consistency before they are published? How would I know, like, who would be giving feedback for it or do I have to share, like, share a Google form with people that, okay, just give me a quick feedback. Is it good? Can I present it in some sales pitch event? Is it good or bad or what? Because, see, during, even during Misfits 2020, people were there, people, there were people who have utilized their time and who have told stories. There were people, there were startups who have told stories. But then again, we haven't provided them, like, few of them selected, got selected for the final round, few of them, they didn't get selected for it. But, and we didn't provide any feedback to them that, okay, this was something that, actually, that was lacking in your story. We just told, okay, there's some, maybe you should have added a slide related to marketing revenue or kind of, or any kind of thing, or maybe just have a specific problem. You don't have a specific solution around it. We didn't give any feedback around the storytelling part. So, how would I know, okay, I have prepared a story and, and it's, it's presentable. How would I know? Okay, so that's a very good, you know, point to raise. One, how do I know what's a good story, right? And two, how do I give feedback on them? So, let's talk about the first aspect first, right? What's a good story? A good story is a narrative, which will have a specific start, a middle and an end, right? Where in it will have characters, it will have setting, you know, an environment, a conflict where you're trying to fight something. Imagine a Bollywood movie right now, you know, there'll be a rising action. You are thinking about what are the possible solutions. You will have a climax and some sort of a resolution, some sort of a half moment that would come out of it. I think that's one thing that storytellers often miss, because they focus so much on content and they focus so much on, you know, meat, as you, as you would have heard that word, they forget that journey is a very important and a story is a journey in very simple terms, right? So first, narrative. Second, clarify what is it that you stand for? In essence, what I mean is a lot of the times be as brands tell, I don't like this, I am not for this, I don't want this, you know, I am not going to do this, right? This is what we end up doing. But ask yourself, your team, your customers, what is it that you stand for? So I'll give you a tiny story here, it's a Mother Teresa story. So in 1917, when the Vietnam War was going on, Mother Teresa went to Washington DC and as she lands in Washington DC, thousands of people are outside the airport to welcome Mother Teresa. And, you know, as she exits the airport, this tiny little figure is asked by a journalist, Ma, tomorrow we're having a march against the Vietnam War. Will you march with us? And, you know, there's dead silence. She doesn't say anything. And the journalist is getting anxious and people are like, why isn't she answering? She ought to, right? She should march with us. And you would agree she should march with them. It's against war. And he asks again, Ma, tomorrow we're having a march against war. Will you come with us? And she says, no, my child, I will not. And she continues to say, my child, if you have the march against the Vietnam War, I will not join. But if you want, and if you decide if you want to march for peace, I will be the first to lead. And she, you know, clarifies it and says, I am for peace. I'm not against war. And so as entrepreneurs, as founders, as directors, as people who are selling new products and technologies, we ought to define what's the driving force behind what we do. If we intend to make something bigger than ourselves, I'll be ready to take on that challenge. I'll be ready to set up a new norm in the society. And the third most important thing, in my opinion, right, my professional opinion, and personal mostly is values. What's the character of your own self and the traits of the company that define it? Companies values are not just about, oh my God, we are going to do this and that. But do you embody empathy? Do you embody humanness? Do you embody behaviors that connect people? For example, we're working with a startup, and you know, and they're storytelling right now. And one of the questions we asked, what are the values of your organization? And so they said, empathy and efficiency. Makes sense. So you ask, how do you empathize? And the wonderful person you're working with, she said, we always have lunch together. And that might seem insignificant to a lot of us. A lot of storytellers might say that doesn't do anything. But if you see it from a connection perspective, it changes the way their product functions in the market. Because their team is on the same page every single day. Whether it is just by sharing food. So yes, narrative, what do you stand for? And what are the values that define what is it that you're trying to achieve? Wow, absolutely. So that that lunch part was amazing. And the work from home has just, okay, yeah, I hope I'm audible. Okay, so yes, as you clearly mentioned, and now we all know that yes, storytelling is a powerful business tool and a skill that every business building a powerful and lasting brand should master at. So like, you have been telling stories, and we have been listening stories, people have been telling stories for as long as we have been human. Okay, so they are an absolutely essential part of our day to day communications, the stories, kahaniya. Okay, and yes, so and yes, when done well, when the storytelling part is done well, storytelling can do wonders for a business, such as turn a brand into a legacy, create a robust marketing strategy, generate profit and win the loyalty and affection of audiences to name just a few. Okay, so with this, I would like to now know, as an entrepreneur, what has surprised you about being an entrepreneur, and a storyteller? Okay, this is something, oh, wow. So what really has surprised you? You know, I have a, there's this author called Chinua Jeebe, she's an African author, Nigerian author, and she wrote a book called Things Fall Apart. If you ever have the time to read it, it's a wonderful story that she described, Things Fall Apart. And in that Chinua Jeebe says, if the story of the hunter hunting, sorry, the story of the hunting was told from the perspective of the lion, story would be very different. If the story of the hunting was told from the perspective of the lion, the story would be very different. So this is the learning that I tell myself of every day. Sometimes what happens is we tell ourselves a story so much that it sticks in our heart and mind, and we just keep repeating it. We forget to listen, forget to use the sense of ours, which connects the heart and the mind. And as an entrepreneur, as a storyteller, I've realized that it's not just that my story is important. Every story is important. Within a system, my customer's story is important. It's important to know how is my employee or my team sharing that story important. I also tend to see that a lot of people who don't know about the work we do, how do they perceive who we are? So every perspective has become an open world for me as a storyteller, as an entrepreneur. I look for that difference. Instead of looking for similarity and patterns everywhere, as we're all hardwired too, I look for differences. I look for scatter plots, if you will. I look for a sky full of stars, because there are so many ways in which you can tell one single story. It's amazing. And those who don't believe in this magic will never find it. So stories can do magic in terms of seeing which part of the system works and how can we amplify it. Two, we can hope that changes within the system will happen that will encourage the brand to grow. And the third is stories can also help us redesign our products and services. So sometimes if you're listening to the customer-teller story, then the customer might give you an insight which you had not thought about your product, and then you can shift your strategy accordingly. So in business, it's not just that we have made a product and we need a story to sell it. But we need a story to grow and modify it. And that story, you have to create a system for sharing of those stories effectively within your organization, within your system. So like the healthcare startup that I was talking about, by just working on their story, unka monthly revenue went from two lakhs to ten lakhs, just by that. So if you're talking about revenues and profits, product wohin rahe, log wohin rahe, technology wohin rahe, but some newski story ko tweak katya, and that changed entire game for them. So yeah, stories are magic. Definitely, definitely. So yes, and yes, storytelling in business is often regarded as a buzzword, but it's far, far from it. So storytelling as you clearly said that you mentioned in your previous question, someone is joining. So as you clearly mentioned that yes, storytelling in business is just like storytelling in film, theater, literature and communication. So it's an integral part of our lives. Very sure about it now. And also, I would like to hear request to our audience if they have any questions, if they have any queries, or if they have any stories to tell or if they have any, like, any views to share, then please, please do shoot all your questions, shoot all your views in the chat section. And also, if you want to speak and not to type, then just raise your hand, I'll unmute you. Anyone from the audience? Okay, I'm still waiting for the audiences reply. And but yes, like if I talk about, you just said that empathy and efficiency. So I can say there that like, employees are the brain and the heart of the business. So the success of the business is dependent on the quality of its talent. And storytelling helps you nurture that talent. Right. So even I also like to create stories. If you know, like, it's just maybe a beginning of my journey. So I like to write few poems around it. I have a page on Instagram. I am a little marketing. So I write few poems around it. And I would definitely send all my poems or a few of my poems on WhatsApp or on mail to you. Definitely. I like, your views would definitely matter a lot on it or your feedback. How is my storytelling? So any talent is attracted to the company as an entity with its history, values and mission. So and what better way to share that than through stories? So the ultimate medium for communication is the story, tell stories, share stories, listen to stories, and then create your like, if there's no stories, then make stories. Create your own stories. Don't wait before accident or incident, then I can only create some stories. Okay, so I started this journey. Create stories. Simple. So when I started, I was a 21 year old when I first heard this story and I think it's a story that really changed and actually shaped who I am. And for the last 10 years I'm holding on to this and I'm sure some of you have actually heard it. A 70 year old man is sitting on his armchair today. It's his birthday. And that 70 year old man is thinking to himself, what did I do in my entire life? What did I achieve? And he now is thinking back that when I was 20 years old, I wanted to change the world. I said, heck, I'm going to go out there. I'm going to change the world. And I traveled the world. I saw people. I met this person and that person. I worked with this organization and that and 10 years past and at the age of 30, I said, damn it, the world is a very big place to change. I don't think I can do that. Or I'm going to change my country. Like I'm going to stay in India and at the age of 30, I'm now saying I'm going to work with this company and this NGO and this startup and this social enterprise. And I'm going to go to this state and this village and I'm going to change the country. And 10 years hence, I realized, oh, my country is too big of a place for me to change alone. So now I am going to focus on my city. At the age of 40, I'm saying I'm going to change my city because this is where I'm born and brought up. This is where I grew up. I could change it. Why not? And this person starts to go around, work with organizations again, you know, start to talk to people, do educational campaigns, put posters around and does everything he can for 10 years, only to realize at the age of 50, my God, the city is too big of a place to change. I can't do it. So he says, I'm going to focus on my neighborhood. I'm going to change my neighborhood because, you know, these are the people I grew up with. I know which who lives there. I know everyone, everyone knows me. This should be easy, right? Butter on bread. And he does everything. He does community meetings. He forms organizations. He develops technologies. He, you know, develops products, wants to build a movement. And 10 years later, he realizes nothing has changed in his neighborhood. So I, this 60-year-old man is like these people, too difficult to change. So now I'm going to change my family. You know, I'm only going to focus on changing my family. And he says, these are people like these are my people, of course they'll listen to me. Why won't they? And so he, and for those of us who know family, know they're the most difficult people to change. So 10 years past at the age of 70, he's thinking, what if, just what if, at the age of 20, I would have flipped it. What if I would have started with myself? What if I would have changed myself? Maybe by the age of 30, I would have affected some change in my family. Maybe by the age of 50, my neighborhood and city would have been different. Maybe by the age of 60, my country would have changed. And who knows? By the age of 70, maybe the world would have been a different place to be. Maybe there is value in beginning with oneself. Maybe there is value in sharing your story that you've been keeping with you for so long. Maybe there is a reason for, you know, for which we say, try different ways of doing the same thing. And maybe we'll all be able to change the world. Maybe we can always go back and start with small or we can initiate and start with small. There is like, people always actually misunderstood creativity and changing the world as, okay, I have to do something big. I have to do something big. No, start small. Take small initiative. Maybe change yourself first. Maybe a few of your habits. Try to bring change around you, the people around you and then move the city then to the world. And yes, you are there. You are you. So definitely, definitely telling stories is one of the most powerful means that leaders have to influence, teach and inspire. And what makes storytelling so effective for learning? Like for starters, storytelling forges connections among people and between people and ideas. So stories, actually, yes, convey the culture as we have discussed. It conveys the culture, history and values that unite people. All right. So storytelling, like, just to give just to conclude it, I can say that yes, storytelling brings language learning alive and creates a participatory and immersive experience that allows young learners to enjoy hearing the language in a dynamic, sometimes stylistic and entertaining way. So yeah, this was all about it. And I am done with my questions. And I am glad that I got some amazing answers with some beautiful stories. So and I'm lucky to hear all those stories from you directly from you. Thank you for having me again. Thank you. And yes, so today was of course very informative and amazing. Any closing thought from your side would be an add on for this talk show? Yes. I think stories are not just about what is the product or the service that you're developing. It is also about this experience you're developing. So think about the story that others will tell once they have received your product. Once they have experienced your service, what is it that they will tell others? And that's the story you want to really build. Definitely, definitely. Thank you so much. And yes, thank you Anu for joining in and making this talk show exceptional. Thank you for making time from your busy schedule for this, for the talk show. And thank you for making me feel actually, because I used to love stories a lot. But now I know what is the real importance of it. Now I can also create stories. Now I also have to build relationships, a lot of relationships. I also aim to build, I also aim to meet some Shanno or something or some lady, that gossiping lady. I also aim to meet such people so that I can also relate to them. I can also create stories around it. All right, so yes. And yeah, thank you, dear audience for joining in and gracing the event. And if you have any questions around it, I'll share my mail ID with you. Just you can shoot your questions to my mail ID. I'll pass it to Anu Sachdev. And she would she would definitely love to answer all all your questions. And yes, so and yes, we at Vruksha are organizing such events every week. So stay connected and do connect with us on social media platforms to get updates for our further events. And thank you, Lubna, for attending it. Yeah, so with this, yes, so with this, I would like to end this event here. And again, thanks a lot for your presence. Thanks a lot, Anu, for being here for attending this and telling such amazing stories. Thank you so much. Okay, guys. Thank you. Thank you, everyone. Yeah. So okay, guys, with this, I would like to end the session. So stay positive and test negative. All right. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Yeah, glad to meet you. Thank you. Bye bye. Bye, everyone. Bye, everyone.