Today marks the day, the 10-year anniversary of Ishmael’s Corner. In the spirit of taking a step back, I reached out to a mix of individuals I respect for their perspectives on that elixir for communications we call storytelling. The backgrounds vary from journalists to storytelling gurus to authors and everything in between. As …more
The reason PR fails at storytelling often has nothing to do with understanding the makings of a good story or writing expertise. Instead, the root cause can lie in the interviewing process for sourcing the content. If you don’t get this upfront step right — pulling out the type of content that the outside world …more
Today marks the five-year anniversary of Google turning to its corporate blog to communicate changes in China. At the time I thought that this was a big damn deal from a communications perspective. As I shared in a post last week, Google’s decision gave street cred to corporate blogging. For a broader perspective, I reached …more
The value of visual storytelling will only increase over time. You don’t need a research grant from the feds to reach this conclusion. There are only so many words a human brain can process before the overload buzzer goes off (unless you’re Stephen Hawking). Which brings us to the infographic. If a picture is worth …more
It’s one of my nine predictions for the communications industry in 2013, that “pearned media” will enter the vernacular. What is it? You know about paid media, owned media and earned media. “Pearned media” is when a publication so deftly blends earned media (journalism) with paid media that the reader can’t distinguish between the two. …more
I am an unabashed fan of the anecdote. Not in the sense that when one shows up on the Ed Sullivan show I’m moved to shriek. There’s an intellectual argument for using anecdotes – namely journalists want them. Sam Whitmore – if you’re in the communications business and don’t subscribe to SWMS, you’re missing a …more
Consider this quandary. Caterpillar makes heavy machine equipment like hydraulic excavators, tractors and the ever-popular backhoe loader. Pushing dirt from point A to point B doesn’t exactly conjure drama. Recognizing this point, Caterpillar developed a series of videos that do tell compelling stories by connecting the company’s equipment to a human element. My favorite involves Caterpillar’s role in uniting the country of …more
