A Manifesto by Rebecca Solnit. Edited (with apologies to the author) to fit the Art Of It style. Or lack there of. Stories surround us like air. We breathe them in. We breathe them out. The art of being fully conscious in life means seeing the stories and becoming their teller. And not letting them […]
Schizophrenic Advice To Storytellers
November 5, 2019 by Leave a Comment
So many voices in my head. Telling me what to do. Or how to do it. Or how to think about storytelling. The difference between what to think and how to think It’s always been that way. There’s always a battle between the rules and principles. For example, once upon a time there two titans […]
Want To Lead A Movement? Start With A Story
April 16, 2019 by 1 Comment
Two children were born on the same day in Uganda. Two children grew up in the same Ugandan village. One boy One of those boys dropped out of school. He never learned to read. He ended up cutting sugarcane. He eventually struggled with alcohol abuse and parented many children out of wedlock. The other boy […]
Empathy: The Overlooked Secret
March 5, 2019 by 1 Comment
By Mark Clevenger Mark Clevenger is the President of Clevenger Associates, a marketing research consultancy specializing in human behavior. Empathy is for practical people The question: “Knowing our customers is important, but isn’t empathy getting into la-la land?” Mangers worry. How can we improve efficiency? Detours are the enemy. Stay focused. Find the quickest path […]
Visual Stories My Old Friend Tells Me
January 22, 2019 by Leave a Comment
We have met at least once a month for the last 22 years, my old friend and me. And every time I visit I see something I didn’t see before. Something new from my old friend to me. For 22 years Every time we’re together I feel inspired. That’s my old friend’s gift to me. […]
More Nothing: What Visual Storytelling Needs
January 8, 2019 by 1 Comment
Heather Anthony is an artist. She creates family portraits. To begin, she asks the family to send her photographs of each person. She asks them about the clothes they like to wear. And the fashion story they tell. Creating context From those contextual elements, she draws a digital sketch of the group for approval. Only […]
What The Critics Have To Say
May 10, 2018 by 8 Comments
A few reviews of the Art Of It experience for your reviewing pleasure Gordon has that rare mind for creative thinking. And Gordon’s presentations are inspiring. He guides his audience to a promised land of purpose-driven solutions and delivers beyond expectations. His quiet demeanor hides the passion he feels for great work. His soft voice […]
How To Shape A Story
March 7, 2017 by 6 Comments
Every story has a shape. You can find it by plotting the emotional high points and low points that the story takes as it unfolds. Voila! When you’re done you’ll end up with the shape of that story. That’s what Kurt Vonnegut did to show that classic stories have common basic shapes. He used Cinderella […]
To the storytellers
July 13, 2015 by 4 Comments
Once there was a man obsessed with making complex, highly technical things easy for the common, everyday person to understand. And, in the process, he hoped to change the world. But his well-defined cause, burning passion, elegant design sense and tyrannical obsession with execution were not enough. Then he discovered one thing that changed everything. […]
