The art of storytelling is getting lost in the era of instant digital communications. But it is a vital skill that has served society well since ancient times and it can be retaught. Murray Nossel, an Oscar-nominated documentary filmmaker, explains why a good narrative has the power to transform businesses in his book, Powered by Storytelling: Excavate, Craft and Present Stories to Transform Business Communication . Nossel also is an executive coach at Columbia Business School and co-founder of Narativ, which teaches storytelling techniques to executives. His clients include Disney, Time Warner and Radisson Hotels. Nossel recently joined the Knowledge at Wharton radio show on SiriusXM  to talk about his book. An edited transcript of the conversation follows. Knowledge at Wharton: Why is storytelling so important? Murray Nossel: Our brains are hard-wired for storytelling. In order to survive, we needed to pass on information important for our survival to our next of kin. We did that through stories.…