On other hand, veteran who trained me didn’t spend much time with presentations or scripts. He simply told stories about clients who spared their loved ones great pain by getting proper coverage. Just as importantly, he talked about troubles suffered by people who did not have coverage. And, he sold a lot.

Which takes us to subject of purpose-driven story telling. I've bumped up against idea of it as a strategic communication skill several times recently, so maybe it's time to discuss it here.

For starters, let's distinguish between stories by talkers who believe world wants to know what they think about everything under sun, and stories told with express purpose of advancing an objective. Let's call latter 'strategic stories' (and you know what we call other kind).

You can use strategic stories to help your cause or project by figuring out, in advance, what you'll say and why you'll say it. In other words, before you make your speech or presentation, identify stories you'll use, and know why you'll use them.

First off, as most US, Japanese and European investors are most heavily into listed stocks and bonds, these will be ones most under pressure. One trend that is expected to offset this withdrawal of funds is increase in savings from Chinese and Indian middle classes. Will these new investors take place of retiring ones? Time will only tell, but this instability should cause institutional investors to think twice about staying in most common equities.