The Magic of Metaphor: 77 Stories for Teachers, Trainers & Thinkers: 77 Stories for Teachers, Trainers and Thinkers

"Why should Teachers, Trainers and Thinkers have all the fun?
I purchased this book having attended and been stimulated by one of the author's "Communicating with Influence" courses.
The course very quickly swept away my preconceptions and the book did likewise. Instead of studiously wiling away the daily commute for a couple of days I actually found myself spending a significant majority of the time reflecting on the stories, their meanings for me and their subsequent uses.
Those lucky enough to have experienced (a carefully chosen word) Nick's storytelling first hand will find the collection particularly evocative whilst for new readers a rich multisensory experience awaits."
~ Written on 2005-01-07

"This book had a lovely twist in that it is a story in itself, and that the metaphorical stories are woven into the story. All of us seek a teacher who will inspire us and encourage us to fulfil our potential, so using the teacher/pupil to do the speaking throughout the book and leading into the metaphorical stories is very clever.

I found the stories very easy to follow, and some exceptionally humorous, which immediately raised my own spirits. I have already begun to share some of the stories found within this book on my seminars and seen others ‘get the insight’ or have their spirits raised too.

One of the strengths of this book is that it contains short anecdotal stories as well as the more long winded versions. Thereby catering for different lengths of presentations. The sub-sections are useful in that cover different aspects of leadership which is paramount to the world of self-actualisation.

Again, my personal recommendation would be that this is a book sold in audio format alongside the book, so that the reader is listening to the audio and reading at the same time. This would make a big impact in the learning of the principles that is integral to each story.

The author has also done well to recommend different ways of using the stories within different situations, which enables trainers, teachers and therapists to understand how they can adapt the stories to suit their clients needs. I also like the fact that the author understands that importance of acknowledging sources where possible. Very often people forget to acknowledge their sources and as a result many people believe that the information being shared has only just been discovered, where in fact it has existed for millennia, and the magic is when each of us is able to bring that higher truth interpretation to the ears and hearts of others that inspires, touches and motivates them to take up a call to action."
~ Written on 2003-04-16

"I am an English teacher in Vienna and this book is one of the best I've ever read because all those stories are great fun to read and also perfect for teaching students in English (older ones of course!) - they really like these stories and start thinking without being told to do so - which is quite amazing and certainly one of the aims of the author. Highly recommendable!"
~ Written on 2001-12-08

"1. Book review by Jim Wingate - The Magic of Metaphor: 77 stories for Teachers, Trainers and Thinkers by Nick Owen.

This is a very useful book for teachers of English. You can use it privately as an entertaining read for your own self-development. You can publicly apply the wisdom and challenges of the stories in your teaching. You can publicly tell the stories as they are (or read them aloud or adapt or translate them) as rich, deep, stimulus material for your learners. And you can give the stories as text for your learners' self-development and their responses in groups."
~ Written on 2001-09-15

"I use the stories in this book as introductions to training sessions, refelections on the day and as a way of preparing myself for meetings. The stories are rich, varied in length and all have profound messages which can be adapted for many uses. A fantastic resource for any trainer, manager, parent or teacher."
~ Written on 2001-09-14