We’ve discussed this topic before. While professionals coming from a technical orientation gravitate toward the tangible, there’s also a place for storytelling in reaching this audience. That’s why companies like Intel devote considerable resources to putting a “face” on the company. That’s also why the editor-in-chief of EE Times, Junko Yoshida, applies storytelling techniques in her own writing. For exhibit A, …more
There. I’ve said it. Taking liberties with the Hans Christian Andersen emperor story, why do professional communicators continue to worship the message? Every PR agency offers a messaging workshop. Every corporate communications type has spent the requisite two agonizing days in a hotel conference room eating bridge mix while debating the merits of “innovate” over …more
Business needs more storytelling evangelists. They provide a counter balance to the “Corporate Drivel-ites.” Even before picking up the book “Tell to Win,” I’m thinking that Peter Guber serving as the face for the storytelling movement is a good thing. He’s got the street cred, having penned “The Four Truths of Storytelling” for Harvard Business …more
I must have missed the memo. Late last year The Wall Street Journal added a column to its weekend lineup called “Word Craft.” Lest you find the above sentence on the understated side, consider the October “Word Craft” contribution, “Block That Adjective!” by Alexander McCall Smith. If you’re going to pen a column about concise …more
Perhaps 2011 will go down as the “Year of Storytelling.” Peter Guber’s much anticipated book “Tell To Win” officially comes out on March 1 (book review in the works). Plus, I’ve noticed more dialog within the business community on storytelling – more specifically, does it work? That’s really the ultimate question and one that inevitably surfaces when I’m …more
Like most “older” PR professionals, I was raised in the command-and-control era of communications. I remember my first experience observing the senior guys conducting media training for a client. It was all about pummeling the spokesperson into submission to stay on message. While the trainers were having fun – the PR version of running a torture chamber …more
If you’re a communicator or care about communications, the Nieman Journalism Lab should be on your radar. The media property does a terrific job of probing journalism from all directions. A Friday article, Covering a Crisis More Like Molasses than Quicksand, that looks at the challenges for journalists in covering a “never-ending” crisis caught my attention. Think BP …more
It was standing room only at the Agency’s “Playing Field” yesterday to hear Nancy Duarte share her wisdom on how to create a presentation that grabs the audience by the scruff of the neck. Most communicators know Nancy from her breakthrough book, slide:ology. She recently published book No. 2, resonate, which dives into the type of content that …more
It’s easy to fall victim to the status quo. After all, if virtually all companies handle something a certain way, then it must be right … right? Wrong. The crafting of a job description shouldn’t be deadly dull even if companies have standardized on such an approach. This got me thinking. If there’s one large …more
