Our infographic that contrasted storytelling with corporate speak seemed to resonate with the outside world. People recognize that gluing together facts and figures makes for dull information. Since publishing the infographic, we’ve seen talk – and chatter in social media channels – evangelizing the value of storytelling in business accelerate. Dare I say, storytelling has …more
I’m always interested in the science behind storytelling. What makes it such an effective part of our social being and communications? This video by Paul Zak is a good watch. It shares his study on the topic, which revealed a change in a person’s blood chemistry before and after hearing a story. The storytelling caused …more
By now, everyone and his dry cleaner has weighed in on how Lance “performed” during his first interview with Oprah. Literally. My dry cleaner knows I’m in the communication business (must be the Façonnable shirts) and asked for my viewpoint on how Lance came across in the interview. My scientific answer in three words — …more
We completed the eighth of our social accelerator sessions before the holiday break as part of our internal training curriculum. When considering which social media tools to deploy in a given campaign, there’s a tendency to focus on functionality and reach. And rightfully so, since those two variables largely determine traction. Still, there’s another useful …more
The word is out that Lance Armstrong will come clean (no pun intended) in an interview with Oprah to air on Thursday. I can imagine the discussion among Team Armstrong debating who would be the “best” interviewer: “Let’s see, 60 Minutes would make a great forum to reach the masses. What about Morley Safer? No, …more
As yet another indication that storytelling is the new black, it’s become a go-to topic for a range of publications. Fast Company provides a good Exhibit A. It’s not exactly science, but the number of mentions of “storytelling” in the publication over the past three years is still revealing: I think we can conclude that …more
With business publications ranging from Fortune to The Economist devoting seemingly endless cover features to China, companies have gotten the memo that it behooves them to establish a China strategy. But what about communications? Is there a China spoke in your 2014 PR plan? I conducted a storytelling workshop for a Fortune 1000 company last …more
It seems every PR person in America has weighed in on the NRA’s press conference last month. No need to rehash this ground with another “What the NRA should have done is …” Instead, I’ve extrapolated from information in the public domain and pieced together how I think the dialogue went down between the NRA’s …more
The grab-bag post returns in 2013, offering a platform for three vignettes. Crafted for easy consumption, here goes – Amazon Continues to Embrace Content Marketing Religion There’s much to be learned from the heavyweight media companies. Like a poker player with most of the chips, they’ve got the war chest to push the boundaries of …more
