Storytelling Grab Bag: Yom Kippur Prayer Book And The New York Knicks

Certain storytelling topics catch my attention, but don’t carry enough substance to warrant a standalone post.

I’ve finally figured out how to weigh in on these topics.

Introducing the “Storytelling Grab Bag,” a forum for discussing two to three topics in the same post.

Storytelling Techniques at Yom Kippur Services

All religions depend on storytelling.

Whether the orator is a rabbi, minister or priest, the storytelling goes a long way in determining the resonance of a sermon.

But I didn’t expect to see storytelling techniques applied to the Yom Kippur prayer book.

One quick example –

The service was addressing the concept of each individual tapping his/her own potential when these words appeared:

“Not that You expect the impossible. You don’t ask me to replicate the greatness of Moses.”

First, I liked the conversational tone, a technique that eludes most prayer books.

Two, I’ve got to believe most of the congregation like myself immediately conjured an image of Charlton Heston in “The Ten Commandments” with the reminder that it’s not about keeping up with the Joneses or the Hestons (thankfully).

Promoting the New York Knicks

After discussing how PR needs to evolve to stay relevant last week, I came across a supporting point of view from Howard Jacobs who heads marketing for the MSG Sports unit of the Madison Square Garden.

In an interview with The New York Times, Jacobs shared:

“… how do you reignite the deeply passionate relationship that existed between the City of New York and the Knicks?” — is “so clearly not an ‘advertising exercise’” but rather requires “a multidisciplinary approach, part strategy, part storytelling, part brand creation, part technology, part design.”

Naturally, I gravitated toward two words, multidisciplinary and storytelling.