Good storytelling starts with good storylistening. The better the material (the research, the interviews), the better your story will be.
Leaning Into the Hard Stuff
I’ve written about momentum and focus in the past month, both using mountain biking as a metaphor. Sometimes when you’re riding, you come upon a technical section that looks scary.
Storytelling Wins and Fails: Matching the story to the need
The tough part about brand storytelling is so many of us think we are doing it but we aren’t. Instead, we come off as the socially awkward guy at the cocktail party – the one you see in the corner of your eye, whose presence you feel and want to repel. So you do everything in […]
How To Be a Better Writer: specifics and your delete button
When a catastrophe takes the lives of many hundreds or thousands of people, there is a reason the news outlets dig into the personal stories of those affected (other than their need to sensationalize): Specifics tell a far more powerful story than generic numbers. This morning, a pedestrian bridge crashed on a highway, and “one […]
Take The Mystery Out Of Your Brand Story
In the land of brand storytelling, the endings are happy ones. Even better: When your audience knows the ending before they start. That’s why I like to speak in the language of outcomes. Your buyers want to know what is going to happen when they do business with you. It’s a powerful and important way of telling your brand story. […]
Crescendo Music: The Melted Cheese On Your Content Strategy
I’m not a mom but I know the secret to getting your kids to eat their broccoli: Cover it with melted cheese. Anything tastes delicious with some cheese! The critics’ choice for best Superbowl ad was Budweiser’s Puppy Love based on a “variety of metrics.” I do think it’s very cute and I love animals. […]
Your Brand Story Is Worth More Than You Think
You have 15 minutes to evacuate your home. Quick: What three things do you grab? Maybe… your photos (OK, your laptop with said photos), that coffee mug your grandmother made when she was a teenager, the painting you and your husband bought on honeymoon in Bali? Would you grab your 54” flat screen? The expensive […]
A (Mostly) Fiction Lover’s Reading List to Better Storytelling
We’re going to “fall back” this weekend which means three things: The days are getting darker, and colder, and it’s time to read more! Reading real books, made of paper, in front of the fire with a mug of something delicious, and dogs curled at my feet – that’s how I get over missing the […]
Perfection Is A Boring Story
I sat across from the food and beverage director. It was 1993 and I was in my third interview for a server position in the Georgian Room, Four Seasons Hotel, Seattle. When you make it this far in the process, it’s hard to screw it up so I felt confident I had the job nailed. […]
Track Your Content Results to Offline Activities
This is a modified version of a post I wrote for Spin Sucks earlier this year. Are you tracking the effectiveness of your online content with offline results? Let me step back and explain why I’m asking this question. My Bernese Mountain Dog Jackson is really big. He has hip and elbow dysplasia, poor baby […]