Since conducting our first storytelling workshop in 2011, the honing of the material has been a never-ending process. To this point, we’ve considered the methodology as our intellectual property. It was part of how we differentiated the Agency, an approach to developing content that recognized that given a choice between dull or interesting, human beings will gravitate …more
Breaking the Top 10 storytelling posts for 2016 into two parts, I published the first part last week. Here’s the second part, again reflecting the varied facets that make up today’s communications in the business world. In spite of the massive changes in our industry, media relations and PR storytelling still matter, an apt way …more
If there were ever a year that proved life is better than fiction, it was 2016. As always, subjectivity rules my curation of the best posts of the year. In fact, the most popular post of the year, “Fresh Take on Influence in the Tech Industry” — thank you, Kara Swisher, for that one tweet …more
I came across this video “Never Estimate the Power of a Great Story” back in 2009. Even knowing the ending, the humor still slaps you across the face. After a recent watch, I realized the video delivers a few pain-free lessons in business storytelling. . Sure, the protagonist manages to escape death several times — machine …more
The heck with big data, analytics and science. Subjectivity rules in selecting the top 10 posts from the first half of the year. Tuesday’s post captured half of the list. Here’s the second half. 6. Media Squeeze — and Watermelon Explosion — Described by the NY Times Presents an Opportunity for PR The New York Times …more
I’m with the seagull. As my Mom will attest, I wasn’t big on rules. Since starting the blog back in 2008, I’ve strived to offer perspectives that you won’t find in the Communications 101 handbook. This is the time of year when I reflect, calling out what I consider to be the 10 best posts …more
That’s right. The basis of visual storytelling can come from words. I call these “word visuals.” They’re perfect for PR folks who can struggle with bringing a visual dimension to communications. Words as a design technique play to our strength. These “word visuals” come in four flavors: Clever words that stand on their own: The …more
Failure. Point to a movie or a book that captivates, and I’ll show you failure. Shrek. Absolutely. Something more high-brow, like the best-selling novel “A Little Life.” Again, failure underpins the story. For it’s the failure — something going horribly awry, the more pain the better — that creates the tension in a story. As …more
In the world of startups, there’s truth to the cliché, “Ignorance is bliss.” If the founders truly understood what was ahead of them — the agony of pushing the boulder up the hill only to have it backslide over one’s toes — many wouldn’t choose such a path. The founders’ combination of smarts, energy, optimism …more
