Playing a quick game of word association with European soccer fans conjures words like hooligans, violence and racism. When my family lived in the UK, my youngest son and I took in a match between West Ham and Liverpool at storied Anfield.The section for the West Ham supporters was literally wired off with police on …more
That’s right. The basis of visual storytelling can come from words. I call these “word visuals.” They’re perfect for PR folks who can struggle with bringing a visual dimension to communications. Words as a design technique play to our strength. These “word visuals” come in four flavors: Clever words that stand on their own: The …more
Why don’t companies care about job descriptions? It makes no sense. Every company claims “people are our most valuable asset.” Every company is fighting competitors for talent. Every company recognizes that first impressions count. Yet, most companies churn out job descriptions that sound like they came from the same HR 101 handbook. The end result …more
Failure. Point to a movie or a book that captivates, and I’ll show you failure. Shrek. Absolutely. Something more high-brow, like the best-selling novel “A Little Life.” Again, failure underpins the story. For it’s the failure — something going horribly awry, the more pain the better — that creates the tension in a story. As …more
I’ve written several posts on how storytelling seems to be MIA when it comes to the humble job description. Even in Silicon Valley where deviating from the status quo is supposed to be the status quo, virtually all companies still borrow from the same HR document called “Deadly Dull Job Descriptions.” It makes no sense. …more
PR under utilizes illustration as a form of visual storytelling. Yet, one could make an argument that no visual form better suits PR. After all, anything is possible with illustration (literally). Still, the idea of engaging with an illustrator can seem daunting — if not downright scary — for those steeped in the world of …more
Many business professionals today accept storytelling as an effective means for communicating … in theory. Whether they actually embrace the act is a different story (retaining my reputation for bad puns). Of course, many books promise to recast you with Ira Glass’s gift for narrative and Jimmy Kimmel’s wit. I wrote about one such a …more
As a storyteller, I often combine sad stories with one another. Mostly with a positive outcome, but often I use stories without a happy ending. Stories where listeners really have to think about what they just learned. Stories where there is no gold at the end of the rainbow. It’s amazing when such stories evoke …more
I’ve known Shawn Callahan for some time. I just had never met him or spoke to him. You see, he runs a management consultancy based in Australia that specializes in the use of storytelling in business. I’ve followed his firm, Anecdote — great name, by the way — from afar. That changed last month when …more
