The botched Xmas pageant that launched my speaking career
The microphone greeted me like an angry goose craning its head from atop the wood podium. Beyond it, stark silhouettes of parents in a dark and sweaty St. Brendan’s gymnasium…
A double shot of brand storytelling at Creative Mornings in Scottsdale
I recently spoke at our local Creative Mornings, the monthly breakfast lecture series hosted in cities around the nation. The theme was “Reuse in Creativity.” No, it wasn’t a celebration of plagiarism.…
Facebook memes and their message to brand storytellers
Seven years ago, I committed myself to understanding story structure and how we can use storytelling to nudge the world in any direction we choose. I’ve studied what Hollywood knows…
What chief sustainability officers can learn from screenwriting
(The following article appeared today on the Sustainable Brands website.) If all the world’s a stage, according to Bill Shakespeare, then one needs to look no further than the c-suite…
The only story your child needs to hear before every bike ride
Share this rhyme with every mother and father you know who is teaching their child how to ride a bike. It’ll stick with them for the rest of their lives,…
Hell on wheels: How a disabled traveler turned a bad hotel experience in San Francisco into a business
Toward the end of my storytelling workshop at Seed Spot, an incubator for early stage social entrepreneurs in Phoenix, AZ, Brett Heising rolled in. Literally. Brett is confined to a…
Are your presentations flicking them off or turning them on?
When given the honor to command an audience, most presenters default to binary facts, figures, features and benefits. The trouble is that your audience’s light switch of interest can just…
“Miraculous and horrifying” – The largest glacier calving ever caught on film
This glacier has retreated 9 miles in the past 10 years, more than it had retreated in the previous 100 years. Watch as a section larger than the tip of…
What brands can learn from our hero’s journey with Sonos
I wrote a post following the Super Bowl that deconstructed the Audi “Prom” spot to show you how effectively its creators used the universal path of the hero’s journey to…
