Everyone refers to Steve Jobs as the consummate showman. Not true. He is the consummate storyteller with “showmanship” just one way to accentuate a given story. Paul Theroux, in the recent issue of Newsweek, noted: “… while the computer world gained a supergeek, the literary world might have lost a powerful storyteller.” I don’t know about “the …more
Given Mr. Jobs’s communications acuity, it’s no surprise his resignation letter tells a crisp and understated story. Here’s the text of the letter in its entirety: To the Apple Board of Directors and the Apple Community: I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and …more
“Friday Levity” returns on Thursday (not necessarily back by popular demand). Check out the following photo from a Chinese website selling English language lessons. Always good for models in an advertisement to exude friendliness. The fellow waving “hi” to the reader looks fine. But the girl’s wave is so close to her face it looks like …more
Pete Lewis and I have created a storytelling curriculum that reflects both journalism and PR perspectives. As the first the technology editor for the New York Times (personally registered the nytimes.com domain), Pete has some interesting takes on the media landscape and storytelling. I posted the first part of a Q&A with him last week. Here’s the …more
The Korean newspaper Electronic Times asked me to write a series of columns that looked at business issues through the lens of Silicon Valley. One column emphasized that a successful product launch starts by doing your homework: Foreign tech companies often don’t take the time to do their homework and figure out how their product …more
I’ve known Pete Lewis for some time, going back to his days laying the groundwork for how The New York Times covers technology. After Pete moved to Fortune to practice long-form journalism – or at least a longer form than The NYT – and later took up teaching at Stanford’s J school, I lost touch. …more
Junko Yoshida, EE Times EIC, penned a grab-you-by-the-throat editorial, “To Vendors, Where’s Your Community Spirit?” She makes the point that “engagement” has become the new black, but vendors continue to be conspicuously absent in the EE Times conversation: While the guys with all the money continue to spout the importance of engagement, they seem to …more
Now here’s a headline that causes one to pause: Swedish Man Caught Trying to Split Atoms in Kitchen My idea of a kitchen adventure involves experimenting with Dijon mustard in tuna or trying out the new omelet pan I got for Father’s Day. A laggard in physics, I can say with a straight face …more
Can storytelling build equity in a company’s brand? Better yet, can storytelling differentiate a company? AHALife makes a case for both. I remember Twitter CEO Dick Costolo blogging about the purchase of a product from Moosejaw.com that came with a fresh note: “If you are actually reading this note you should be super happy. First, you …more
