Want proof that a ‘Hollywood model’ of storytelling is insufficient for business communication? Look no further than the rise and fall of Elizabeth Holmes — which, of course, Hollywood is going to turn into a major motion picture. A comedy directed by Adam McKay, to star [...]
Numbers, on their own, represent quantity, and do not guarantee quality. 100 can be a perfect score on a test, an average IQ, or a bad round of golf. What guarantees quality is the story that provides context for the data. Data and stories are co-constituted. One cannot, does not, exist [...]
Storytelling Twists Dept: The Washington Post ran a story this week about how a celebration of diversity in Rockville, MD, in prosperous, multi-cultured Montgomery County, did not go as city officials planned. City officials decided to festoon their streets with flags representing the native [...]
As a professional storyteller, you are familiar with what it takes to tell an effective story. You have a good grasp of the fundamentals of character, plot, emotional stakes, theme, conflict. Of narrative tension and dynamics. You can rattle off the stages of the Hero’s Journey like a [...]
An attorney friend of ours wrote to us: “I just spent four days at the trial lawyers college using psychodrama techniques to discover story and then being coached in how to tell the story. The coolest stuff. Invigorating truly.” The training included a presentation by renowned Hollywood [...]
The internet has weighed in on Starbucks’ ill-conceived promotion where its baristas were instructed by management to write “Race Together” on coffee cups and strike up conversations about race with their customers. It was an ill-designed promotion for a lot of reasons. Here [...]