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Book Review: Tell To Win

Tell to Win is a book that has absolutely no underlying sports agent theme and is actually not about sports at all.  However, the lessons learned by reading it could certainly be applied by sports agents and all other people who work in the business of sports.

Tell to Win will officially be released for public consumption tomorrow, but I had the opportunity to review an advance copy and I am telling you right now – go buy it.  It is inexpensive and is worth every penny you will spend on it.  Truthfully, I did not realize just how important the art of storytelling was until I started turning the pages.  After reading it, I doubt I will be able to speak to a group of people, or even a single individual, without first thinking of the vital components of a powerful story and figuring out how I will tell it in the best manner possible.

I first caught wind of Tell to Win when I was asked to put together a contest to increase exposure for the book.  We ended up doing a Twitter contest where my followers could enter to win a free copy of Tell to Win by creating a Tweet that included my name and the author’s name.  The Tweet had to include a unique story…all in 140 characters or less.

Speaking of the author, Peter Guber is a very fascinating person.  In fact, Guber’s background may be the tie to sports that I was looking for at the start of this post.   He owns six minor league baseball franchises, owns and is a co-executive of the Golden State Warriors, and has earned approximately 200 Academy Awards during his tenure at the helm of companies such as Columbia, Sony Pictures, Casablanca and Mandalay Entertainment.  That kind of background adds quite a bit of credibility to the words written within his book.

The great thing about Tell to Win is that Guber does not just lay out the formula of how to tell a good story to get the results you are looking for.  Instead, he explains the process through a plethora of stories he has either told or heard from very impressive individuals.  It makes reading the book enjoyable and easy to comprehend.  He sort of proves his point that the art of good storytelling is the best way to make others understand what you are trying to convey.

This is not a quick read.  Take your time to read it slow, fully grasp the important concepts, and attempt to use them to your advantage in your lives.  I used to be guilty of focusing too much on statistics and not enough on the emotion attached to stories.  While stats will continue to encompass a major part of my diatribes, I will certainly incorporate stories effectively, and have already seen positive results from the limited number of times that I have applied Guber’s teachings.  I am very impressed by Tell to Win and I believe that you will be inspired by it too.

By Darren Heitner

Darren Adam Heitner, Esq., is a preeminent sports attorney and the founder of Heitner Legal, P.L.L.C., a Fort Lauderdale-based law firm specializing in sports law, contract negotiations, intellectual property, and arbitration. He earned his Juris Doctor from the University of Florida Levin College of Law in 2010 and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, magna cum laude, from the University of Florida in 2007, where he was named Valedictorian of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Admitted to practice in the state bars of Florida, New York, and the District of Columbia, as well as multiple federal courts, Darren also serves as a certified arbitrator with the American Arbitration Association.

As an adjunct professor, Darren imparts his expertise through teaching Sports Law at the University of Florida Levin College of Law and Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) at the University of Miami School of Law in the Entertainment, Arts, and Sports Law LL.M. program. His scholarly contributions include authoring several books published by the American Bar Association, such as How to Play the Game: What Every Sports Attorney Needs to Know, and numerous articles in prominent publications like Forbes, Inc. Magazine, and Above the Law. His thought leadership in NIL has earned him recognition as one of the foremost experts by The Wall Street Journal, USA TODAY, and On3, and he has been lauded as a “power player in NIL deals” by Action Network and a “top sports trademark attorney” by Sportico.

Darren’s passion for sports law led him to establish Sports Agent Blog on December 31, 2005, initially titled “I Want To Be A Sports Agent.” The platform, created as a New Year’s resolution, has grown into a cornerstone of the sports agency community, offering in-depth analysis of industry trends, legal disputes, and agent-player dynamics. His commitment to the field is further evidenced by his representation of numerous athletes and sports agents, as well as his prior role as an Adjunct Professor at Indiana University Bloomington, where he developed and taught a course on Sport Agency Management from 2011 to 2014.

Darren’s contributions have been recognized with prestigious honors, including the University of Florida’s 40 Under 40 Award, the University of Florida Levin College of Law’s Outstanding Young Alumnus Award, and designation as the best lawyer in Fort Lauderdale by Fort Lauderdale Magazine. He remains an active voice in the sports law community, sharing insights through his weekly NIL newsletter and his X posts, engaging a broad audience on legal developments in sports.

2 replies on “Book Review: Tell To Win”

Thanks for the heads up on the book. I live in a part of the country which holds a national story telling festival and its really great – something I look forward to attending each year. And to your point, story telling has both practical applications in business, but it is also a lost art form. All of our traditions and beliefs were in fact passed down via story telling (verbal or written). And the world needs more talented story tellers (not just stand up comics) who can share a story with passion, compelling visualization, and interesting messages / morals to each story. Thanks again for the article; I plan to pick up the book!

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