Here’s my second grab bag this year. I use these posts to cobble together three takes that don’t have enough depth to stand on their own. Steinbeck Writing Tips for Business Communications While John Steinbeck offers six tips to assist aspiring novelists, there were a couple worth highlighting for communicators: Write freely and as rapidly …more
The couple looked so happy after the big day. Now as the “sausage making” behind the Omnicom/Publicis merger makes its way to public view, you might want to close your eyes. It’s not pretty. The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that “battles over power and position” threaten to torpedo the merger. Sounds like the …more
/p> Such storytelling isn’t easy to find. When organizations and consultants go through branding exercises and come to be part of associating words with their brands, they rarely highlight “cold” or “heartless” (suppose someone selling ice fishing equipment might go for “cold.”). After scouring the Web I finally found one. Meet Nick Murray, a self-professed …more
I must confess to feeling a gravitation pull to old-school POVs. While storytelling in business might be the new black, the fundamentals of communications still hold true. That’s why the following guest post from friend and colleague James Strohecker resonated with me. BTW, I now know how to get to Carnegie Hall. By James Strohecker …more
Thanks to the Internet and the fact that virtually everyone conducts some form of online due diligence before making a purchase, the value of storytelling stands at an all-time high. I think this point gets lost among many jumping on the storytelling bandwagon. With content serving as the basis for online search, storytelling has gone from …more
Dear “Who Moved My Story,” I’ve been there. You’re there now. Every human being who writes for a company as part of communicating to the outside world has experienced the frustration of seeing his or her copy pruned again and again … and again. Forget trying to humanize the narrative. You’d be happy if the …more
I’ve discussed in previous posts the challenge of bringing the traditional storytelling arc into business communications. Companies don’t have two hours to set the stage, tease out the plot with the requisite twists and turns before the trumpets sound with the happy ending. Often, we’re lucky to get 90 seconds, and even that depends on …more
Good question. This was one of the questions that surfaced recently during an interview with an Asian newspaper. I’ve captured the high points in an abbreviated version of the interview . Q: Define storytelling as it relates to business communications. A: Obviously, companies don’t have 300 pages or two hours on the silver screen to develop a …more
Dear First-time CEO of a Startup, I know it’s intoxicating. Take a breath. Maybe you’re 26 with a killer idea that melts Facebook- and Yelp-like functionality into a travel app. Or you’re 40ish and finally – after shelling out a fortune for that MBA with the promise of a career catapult – getting the chance …more
