The battle between New England and Los Angeles in the 2019 Super Bowl didn’t exactly turn out to be a humdinger (old-school adjective fits the style of play). I found the ads to be a letdown as well. Maybe it was an unrealistic expectation, but I was hoping to watch 60 seconds of storytelling that …more
Breaking the Top 10 storytelling posts for 2018 into two parts, I published the first part last Monday. Here’s the second part, reflecting the diverse dimensions to today’s communications industry. 6. Nine Actions That Torpedo Global PR More companies invest in global PR than ever before. Yet, the missteps from 1990s are still with …more
“Best” is such a subjective word. One person’s “best” is another person’s “meh.” Sometimes, the word carries zero meaning as in “You’re the best.” With the New Year philosophizing out of the way, we can skip to the posts that kicked the hardest as determined by me — not the Google Analytics. 1. Tim …more
I wrote a couple weeks ago about how word choice can lift a narrative. Forget the classic story arc for a moment. Even one word or phrase can warm up the copy or jar the reader with a bolt of incongruence. But nothing tests the ability to harmonize words in tight quarters like …more
Nothing says storytelling like the “F” word. Point to a movie or book or TV show that captivates, and I’ll show you failure. I’m currently watching “Better Call Saul.” The man goes from untangling drug lords from their legal difficulties to shaping dough at Cinnabon, the classic story arc with the requisite failure. . …more
Journalists, particularly those at Tier-1 media properties, are the best non-fiction storytellers on the planet. They toil in a Darwinian world in which clicks correlate to economic health. If they don’t produce content that triggers clicks, they’re going to eventually hear words to the effect, “You’re not a fit here.” With this in mind, it’s …more
I’m tardy in pulling together a curated list of the best posts in H1 of this year. I suppose the big one-oh distracted me. As always, I start with the caveat that these posts don’t necessarily represent the most popular posts — the ones that got most clicks. It’s me, not the Google Analytics dashboard, …more
As a student of business writing, I don’t turn to obituaries for inspiration (probably a good thing). The typical obit adheres to a formula that goes something like this: He or she passed away Source of fame Key achievements Surviving family There’s a reason that newspapers assign the “obit beat” to newly hired college grads. …more
Your title might be PR manager, keeper of the blog, content developer or the classic copywriter. It doesn’t matter. All of us need to get the visual storytelling religion. The increasing amount of information accessed on mobile means shortened attention spans. And people want an entertainment dimension to their information, even in the business sphere …more
