To Persuade People, Tell Them a Story

Turns out that narrative Is a Powerful Way to Get a Message Across.

Paul Smith had 20 minutes to sell the CEO of Procter & Gamble, and his team of managers, on new market-research techniques for which Mr. Smith's department wanted funding. 

As associate director of P&G's PG +0.85% market research, Mr. Smith had spent three weeks assembling a concise pitch with more than 30 PowerPoint slides.

On the day of the meeting, CEO A.G. Lafley entered the room, greeted everybody and turned his back to the screen. He then stared intently at Mr. Smith throughout the entire presentation, not once turning to look at a slide. 

Why children as young as three are sent to boarding school in China

Family ties are hugely important in China, but thousands of Chinese parents are still sending children as young as three away to boarding school. Why do they do it?

Kelly Jiang bounces into her kindergarten classroom, her parents a few steps behind.

"Bye Mum and Dad," the four-year-old trills, with barely a backwards glance.
As her parents wave farewell, she's already happily chatting to her teacher and her classmates.

Japan's amazing lunchboxes

Making a packed lunch for your children to take to school is a chore performed by parents around the world. 
But in Japan, it is not just the taste and healthiness of the meal that is important - but how it looks. 
The country's ancient emphasis on food presentation has been transformed into a trend for character bento - packed lunches made to look like pandas, teddy bears or even real people. 
The BBC's Tokyo correspondent Roland Buerk has been finding out more.



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Reading Books Shortens Prisoners' Sentences In Brazilian Prison

Brazil will offer inmates in its crowded federal penitentiary system a novel way to shorten their sentences: four days less for every book they read.

Inmates in four federal prisons holding some of Brazil's most notorious criminals will be able to read up to 12 works of literature, philosophy, science or classics to trim a maximum 48 days off their sentence each year, the government announced.