Interview with Piyush Ghosal,The Author of Stop Telling Start Showing

Piyush Ghosal is a seasoned Human Resource Professional and an avid enthusiast in public speaking. He is also an active member of the International Toastmasters club – a speaker association and participated in a number of speech contests. Owing to his experience and interest in public speaking, Piyush has also been mentoring and coaching people to improve their public speaking skills and excel in their respective fields. He holds a Master’s in Labour Laws from The University of Pune and a Diploma in Human Resource Development. Professionally, Piyush has over 15 years of experience in various facets of human resources including learning and development and is a Corporate communication Trainer. Currently, he is heading to the Human Resource Department of an IT Company and resides with his wife and daughter in Pune.

Ravi: What’s your favorite short story?

Piyush Ghosal: The Castaway by Rabindra Nath Tagore

Ravi: The Best piece of writing advice?

Piyush: When writing initially, free yourself from restrictions of writing format and/or language, just focus on your feelings and pen down whatever thought comes to your mind. Later you will have all the time to format your writing.

Ravi: Where do you write?

Piyush: I prefer google docs

Ravi: Where do you get your ideas?

Piyush: From my experiences, by observing other people and readings books

Ravi: Does writing energize or exhaust you?

Piyush: Writing energizes me, I always prefer writing early morning.

Ravi: How long on average does it take you to write a book?

Piyush: About 45 to 60 days

Ravi: If you had to do something differently as a child or teenager to become a better writer as an adult, what would you do?

Piyush: Perhaps I should have done a course on creative writing and studied/worked in theaters.

Ravi: What is your favorite childhood book?

Piyush: Classic English detective stories of Sherlock Holmes

Ravi: What are your favorite literary journals?

Piyush: I do not read any literary journals, but I do read a lot of articles and journals on Human resource and Leadership

Ravi: What one thing would you give up to become a better writer?

Piyush: I want to give up my job to get into full-time writing, but perhaps I am not yet ready to leave my job to get into full time writing J

Ravi: What was your hardest scene to write?

Piyush: Sometimes it becomes hard to pen down the exact feeling or thoughts into words

Ravi: Do you Google yourself?

Piyush: Yes, at times, but only out of curiosity to find out who are the other people with my name and what do they do for a living.

Ravi: Do you hide any secrets in your books that only a few people will find?

Piyush: Not really, my book is a reflection of my thoughts and feelings

Ravi: Do you read your book reviews? How do you deal with bad or good ones?

Piyush: By God’s grace, whatever reviews I have received till now for my book are encouraging, however, I take all reviews positively and try to imbibe the suggestions in the form of critical reviews

Ravi: Have you read anything that made you think differently about fiction?

Piyush: I used to read a lot of fiction novels until I read “ The Alchemist”, the book changed my perception towards reading a nonfiction self-help book. Although the book is in the form of a fiction story, the learnings are no less than any self-helpI nonfiction book.

Ravi: What did you edit out of this book?

Piyush: My perception of others.

Ravi: How many hours a day do you write?

Piyush: I try to devote at least 15 mins of time in writing, preferably early morning. If not anything, I write my experience of the previous day in the form of dairy.

Ravi: How long were you a part-time writer before you became a full-time one?

Piyush: I used to write articles and speeches for my speech contests for good 4-5 years

(if you want to call that as part-time writing).

Ravi: What kind of research do you do, and how long do you spend researching before beginning a book?

Piyush: Well I typically spend a week reading and speaking with people before developing a plot for an article or speech. For this book, I already had the plot in my mind, for research I used my experience of speech contests toastmasters speeches, books on public speaking.

Ravi: What’s the best way to market your books?

Piyush: Well I must admit, I am not that good in marketing, for my book I took the help of social media and reached out to my colleagues and friends. But I believe, word of mouth and reviews published in social media from other authors/publishers and/or influential people who read my book will be the best marketing for my book.

Ravi: How many unpublished and half-finished books do you have?

Piyush: None at the moment after writing this book, as of now I am more into article and blog writing.

Ravi: How did publishing your first book change your process of writing?

Piyush: Well, it encouraged me to write more frequently and regularly

Ravi: If you could tell your younger writing self anything, what would it be?

Piyush: Be passionate and original about what you write

Ravi: What other authors are you friends with, and how do they help you become a better writer?

Piyush: I have some author friends, actually they are more into article and speech writing than book writing, but they have always encouraged me to write a book on public speaking.

Ravi: Do you try more to be original or to deliver to readers what they want?

Piyush: Well, I first select a topic that is relevant to my audience and readers, and then try to be original by writing my own thought on the topic.

Ravi: What advice do you have for writers?

Piyush: Don’t write just for the sake of writing, develop an idea or concept do as much research about it as possible, and then write it out in the paper

Ravi: What are the most important magazines for writers to subscribe to?

Piyush: More than a magazine, taking help from an author coach will help, especially if you are a first time writer.

Ravi: Tell me about your recent book to our Ravi Reads Blog Readers?

Piyush:

When you tell a story you spark a connection, but when you show a story you spark an emotion

Storytelling is inspiring but Storyshowing is transforming. When a story is shown, it invokes the emotional string of the listener and connects him to the speaker emotionally. By showing a story, the speaker not only inspires and motivates the listener but also changes his thinking that leads him to take action. This book challenges the traditional method of storytelling and comes up with the concept of Storyshowing that opens a new gateway of using stories to share our message and climb the stairs of success both in personal and professional life.

Inside the book, you will find the answer to the following questions

• How to use personal experiences and events to craft inspiring stories

• How to authentically connect with your audience and call them for action

• How to unlock the key to success by becoming an influential communicator

If you want your stories to transform people and call for action, then stop telling and start showing

To Know more about Piyush's Stop Telling Start Showing check out this link

Thanks to Piyush for agreeing to this interview! If you know of an author who’d like to be featured in an interview (or you are an author who would like to be featured), feel free to email me at the address on my contact page.