Lucky you! You get to speak at an industry event, corporate conference, or team meeting. No doubt, your presentation will include a set of slides. Slides are a de facto requirement for most business presentations. You gotta have ‘em, right? Incidentally, Jill and I have decided we don’t gotta have ‘em. In Story Mode, we avoid [...]
As the holidays approach, I’m refining a new party trick. Let me try it on you, right now. “I bet I can guess the slide headlines on your most recent presentation.” “No way,” you say. “You don’t even know what I do for a living. You don’t know who was in my audience, and you have [...]
When people ask me what I do for a living, I say I’m a creativity consultant. The obvious comeback is, “Huh?” And for that, I have an answer: “I show business people how to use creativity and storytelling to communicate and get things done at work.” This explanation generally elicits one of two comments, one I [...]
“Hold on ... let me start recording.” In the past few weeks, I’ve heard this phrase even more than the dreaded: “You’re on mute.” As someone who loves to work from the comfort of home and stretchy pants, I’m a huge fan of virtual meetings. As much as I’ve enjoyed the recent return to in-person gatherings, [...]
‘Tis the season for high-stakes presentations. Nearing year-end, many of us are preparing to report on results, launch new programs, and invite colleagues and clients to embrace the new. ‘Tis also the season for distracted audiences. (In truth, this season is eternal.) That means your presentation needs more than clear, organized points. You need to grab [...]
“What you do speaks so loudly I cannot hear what you are saying.” Ralph Waldo Emerson Shhhh! I’m trying to hear you. I really am. I know you’ve put serious thought into those words you’re trying to share right now. Whether your message is written or spoken, I know you want me to “get” what you’re [...]
As a kid on the playground, one of my favorite attractions was the teeter-totter. Maybe you called it a seesaw. A teeter-totter is a dangerous apparatus, not to be shared with anyone but a friend you can trust to keep the thing in balance. I still recall the pain and humiliation of thudding to the ground [...]
Dear Corporate Poet & Cutter of C.R.A.P.: After all these months of practice, we’re finally pretty comfortable with virtual meetings. Everyone has figured out how to join a call on almost any platform, most have full command of the mute button, and only a handful are still reluctant to turn on the camera. In small groups, [...]
Ann, Barb, and Chuck walk into a meeting room. Sounds like the start of a joke, right? Actually, it’s the start of a storytelling project. These three managers have been designated “storytellers” for an event their company is hosting next month. A crowd of their peers will come from around the world, pour into a massive [...]
Anyone who’s been in a Story Mode workshop will attest: Jill Pollack and I do not play it safe. We seldom use PowerPoint. We crack jokes and tell stories. We get everyone on their feet, talking to us and to each other—usually within the first five minutes. We invite people to play games, draw, and be downright [...]