Concrete details bring tedious topics to life When Ian Jones needed to craft a — yawn! — diversity story for employees at Columbia Gas of Virginia, his first instinct was to go with a fact pack. You can see Ian's natural creativity peeking through with the concrete details in the headline and — buried deep but still breathing — in the … [Read more...] about ‘From Tina Turner to Taylor Swift’
creative technique
Turn policies and procedures into people
Human interest helps fight the 7 dreary P's Call them the seven dreary P's: programs, plans, policies, procedures, protocols, positions and products. Bring these mind-numbing topics to life by turning them into an eighth P: people. That's what graduates of our most recent Master the Art of the Storyteller Master Class did. Let people stand for protocols. For … [Read more...] about Turn policies and procedures into people
Reframe the problem
Break an egg? Make an omelet Don't you love the way H&R Block reframed tax season as refund season this year? So do I. Take a tip from H&R Block: Got a negative story to tell? Reframe it. How P.T. Barnum reframed a truckload of white salmon Listen in as campaign advisor Bruno Gianelli schools White House Communications Director Toby Ziegler, on The West … [Read more...] about Reframe the problem
Serial monogamy
Why have people fallen in love with this podcast? It's been compared to The Sopranos. Before its debut, it ranked No. 1 on iTunes. When its first season was over, fans couldn't remember what people do who aren't listening to it. It's Serial, a true-crime procedural by the creators of This American Life. The podcast follows the story of Adnan Syed, who has been in prison … [Read more...] about Serial monogamy
What makes it great?
New York Times spider story shows and tells The best stories ride up and down the rollercoaster of abstraction, showing for attention, then telling for meaning, then repeating the process again and again. This New York Times piece does exactly that, adding color to a complex scientific piece … [Read more...] about What makes it great?