In a Nutshell
In Tell a Great Story, Michael Lewis teaches you how to shape stories—from idea to ending—to captivate readers, listeners, or audiences. The course reveals how to find ideas, build structure, vet characters, and end with impact. If you’ve ever struggled to make your message gripping, this class promises practical techniques drawn from Lewis’s best-selling work.
Who is this Course For?
- Aspiring nonfiction writers or memoirists needing clear story structure.
- Business professionals or speakers who want to engage with narrative in talks or presentations.
- Journalists or content creators dealing with complex topics (finance, policy, data).
- People who want to tell compelling stories in everyday life (interviews, conversations).
What you will Learn
- How to find a story in “boring” or complex material.
- How to develop characters that resonate and carry narrative.
- How to structure narrative from idea through to satisfying ending.
- Techniques to overcome writer’s block and establish productive routines.
- Ways to simplify complexity so ideas are accessible, engaging.
About the Course
Michael Lewis’s Tell a Great Story is about 2 hours and 20 minutes long, divided into three main episodes plus a bonus. The class opens by helping you find what in your life or field could make a story—Lewis emphasizes curiosity, noticing small details, and selecting among possibilities.
One of the strongest features is how Lewis uses real-life examples (from Moneyball, The Big Short, The Premonition) to illustrate how he discovered characters, re-shaped structure, or simplified ideas. The “Start to Finish” episode teaches routines that help maintain momentum and finish well; and there’s also a bonus episode showing storytelling’s emotional power and how to apply narrative outside of books.
Some trade-offs: Because the course is relatively short, some lessons are more inspirational than deeply technical—for example, you won’t get exhaustive feedback on your writing, but you will get mental models, techniques, and mindset shifts. If you already have advanced experience in narrative theory or writing long-form, parts might feel familiar. But for beginners or people who do storytelling intermittently, the clarity and conciseness are strong positives.
The Instructor
Michael Lewis — New York Times bestselling nonfiction author known for Moneyball, The Big Short, The Undoing Project, The Premonition, among others.
Conclusion
Overall, Tell a Great Story is a strong course if you want to level up your ability to communicate with narrative. Its biggest strengths are Michael Lewis’s real-world examples, clear structure, and the passion he brings. I would recommend it especially to beginners or intermediate storytellers, speakers, or content creators who want actionable storytelling tools without getting bogged down in theory. For experts who already craft narrative professionally, it offers good refreshers and insight, though some material may overlap with what they already know.
Master the Art of Storytelling with Michael Lewis
