A new type of speaker is emerging: part personal adviser, part comedian. I have two examples in mind. One is a researcher who spent 20 years studying courage, vulnerability, shame, and empathy. The other is a comedian who gained his stand-up chops in the comedy clubs of New York. The researcher starts with human insights […]

As 2020 begins, many leaders will be confidently presenting new strategies and most people will be wearily dismissing them. There’s a story behind this common disconnect. To download a PDF version of this article, click here. To watch our short video series where Paul shares insights from this article, click here. Mind over what matters […]

Are you looking to add business storytelling to your portfolio of training programs? Do you share our desire to bring humanity back to large corporations? We want to expand our partner network in Europe to coincide with the launch of our new office in the UK that will support you to find and deliver excellent […]

Sheenagh and I watched the Star Wars-based TV show The Mandalorian recently. When we watched the first episode and got our first glimpse of Baby Yoda, there was an audible ‘aawwww’ from both of us. Baby Yoda is so damn cute. Since then, Baby Yoda has become an internet phenomenon, and the little fella is popping […]

I’ve been reading Atomic Habits by James Clear over the summer, and while many of the ideas feel familiar from reading The Power of Habit by James Duhigg, it’s a great reminder of the practical things you can do to create new habits and jettison ones that are not working for you. As I was reading […]

With such devastation wreaked upon the lives of so many Australians in these horrendous bushfires, it’s hard to even think about how we will recover and reconstruct our communities. But one of the lessons that came from the Black Saturday fires in 2009 is worth having in mind early on, especially since the affected communities […]

The most successful podcasts feature stories, but podcast stories often contain more details and are longer than what you would tell orally at work to make a business point. In this post, I’m going to show you how to adapt a podcast story so you can tell it at work to make a point and […]

A great way to help your strategy stick is to craft a story your leaders can tell that explains why your company made its strategic choices. This strategy story is typically told without notes, includes some of the leader’s anecdotes, tackles the more obvious anti-stories, and is well suited to larger gatherings where the full […]

It was Amazon’s showcase event of 2018 in Las Vegas. The background logos lit up as the guest customer speaker, the CEO of a multi-billion-dollar company, was introduced. He strode on stage as colourful visuals appeared across the seven massive screens behind him. He totally bombed. In the first place, the speaker was clearly blinded […]

 Strategy stories are important but they’re not exactly life and death, right? Well, actually, you’d be surprised. Our very first strategy story was for the Transport Accident Commission (TAC) back in 2009. TAC is the government insurer for any injuries sustained on the roads in the Australian state of Victoria. It plays a key role […]