Vicariously Experiencing The Moth

Ever since Annette Simmons turned me on to The Moth, I have been in love with this nonprofit that is dedicated to "promoting the art of storytelling" and "celebrat[ing] the ability of stories to honor the diversity and commonality of human experience, and to satisfy a vital human need for connection … by helping our storytellers to shape their stories and to share them with the community at large." I have acquired a couple of "Audience Favorites" CDs and exulted in their powerful, moving, poignant, and sometimes hilarious stories. I have vowed since then that the next time I go to New York City, one of the first things I'll do is attend a Moth performance. In the meantime, I delighted in living the Moth experience vicariously through the words of Jim O'Grady in the New York Times, who tells of his enthralling journey from would-be storyteller too scared to enter The Moth's main stomping grounds, the Nuyorican Poets Cafe on the Lower East Side, to dipping his toes into competitive storytelling to … well, I won't spoil the story, but here's a bit of scene-setting: Like a lot of people, I came to New York in the first place to tell stories. That is what has forever driven the migration of expressive folk to this place, where the nerves cross and tangle, a place that, with luck, will amplify your talent. It doesn't matter if you dance, act or sing. People pay attention to what emanates from New York. Have something to say or sell? Then insinuate yourself into the giant, pulsing, signal-sending brain that is the city. O'Grady's words remind me of my son John, who sees New York as the Holy Grail, the place he most wants to be. He took his first solo trip there not long after O'Grady's article appeared last fall. John has already told some of New York's stories with his photographs and would like to tell more with his painting. When I texted him to ask how his trip to the Big Apple was going, he told me there were "no words." O'Grady notes that storytelling exploded in New York between 2007 and 2008, largely attributable to The Moth's highly successful free podcast, available by subscription from iTunes. O'Grady points to a "new hunger for live storytelling."

Great Opportunity to Hear, Vote On Moth Stories Posted: 29 Jan 2009 08:51 AM CST As a companion piece to today's other entry about The Moth, here's a terrific chance to hear some Moth stories and vote on the selections for the Audience Favorites Vol. 6 CD. The choices consist of the 51 stories featured on the Moth's Mainstage in 2008. You can hear some Mainstage stories here and others in The Moth's free podcast subscription through iTunes. Voting takes place here, but the deadline is soon — Feb. 2! Here's just a small sampling of Moth story topics, these from last January: While visiting his old stomping ground, a young student is mugged at gunpoint. In an attempt to cure a chronic physical ailment and a broken heart, a woman travels to the Amazonian Jungle and takes psychedelic drugs under the supervision of a shaman. Riding with police officers on the lower east side of Manhattan, a writer witnesses a troubling interrogation of a young white boy because of his adult, African American companion. A young woman must face difficult truths when she realizes her father's fiction is often based in reality. A boy with an Iranian father, battles with his fourth grade classmates during The Iran Hostage Crisis.

How to Guarantee You'll Tell Stories in Your Presentation

A Storied Career

Came across an idea that's not new to me but is worth sharing. Karl Kapp suggested in a blog entry that to force presenters to tell stories instead of reading dry facts, stats, and bullet points from slides, use slides with no words — just images. I did that with students in my entrepreneurship seminars. I assigned them to tell an entrepreneurial story as part of their final "exam." The story could be about their own entrepreneurial exploits, the entrepreneurial ventures of a friend or family member, or a well-known entrepreneur. But if they used slides, the slides could contain no text. This technique definitely results in a different presenting experience for both presenter and audience — and may just yield some storytelling. [Image credit: Garr Reynolds, from http://www.presentationzen.com/presentationzen/2006/08/fromdesignto_.html. Reynolds used images from iStockphoto and did some extra editing on them, and he adapted the content from Daniel Pink's A Whole New Mind.]

21st-Century Storytelling Alive and Well? The Sundance View vs. the MIT Media Lab View

Today is the last day of this year's Sundance Film Festival, the theme of which is "Storytime." Although Storytime seems to be more about "the stories — from the screen and from the street — that make Sundance what it is" than about storytelling in films per se, Michelle Meyers, writing on CNET, notes that "the theme … is … apropos considering stories are the heart of each and every film." She points out the festival's New Frontier programming category "featuring films that challenge conventional form. Among these is "We Feel Fine," which I blogged about (sort of) here. As Meyers describes it, In We Feel Fine, programmers Jonathan Harris and Sep Kamvar have created a program that "takes sentences every few minutes from recently published blogs from around the world that include the words 'I feel' or 'I am feeling' and visualizes them in six different movements." Whether Sundance's Storytime theme is more suggestive of storytelling in films or narrative about the festival itself, it conveys an optimism about the future of storytelling in film — and in forms (like "We Feel Fine") closely related to film. Seemingly not so MIT's Media Lab (in conjunction with Plymouth Rock Studios), which late last year established The Center for Future Storytelling. In counterpoint to Sundance's hopeful view of storytelling's future, the center was founded "out of concern that text messages, cell phones and the constant bombardment of visual chatter and changing the integrity of narrative" and "to keep meaning alive in 21st-century storytelling," according to Sally Mendzela of Queen of the Playground. Harkening back to my post yesterday about open-loop storytelling, the center will look at "whether the old way of telling stories — particularly those delivered to the millions on screen, with a beginning, a middle and an end — is in serious trouble," reports Michael Cieply in the New York Times. Open-ended videogames and film series such as Pirates of the Caribbean and Spider Man seem to be a concern, according to Cieply. The MIT folks refer to 21st-century storytelling, raising questions about what 21st-century storytelling is. Is it one thing? Is it many things? Cieply cites film producer and former studio head Peter Guber as worrying that "traditional narrative … has been drowned out by noise and visual clutter" and blames audiences "for the perceived breakdown in narrative quality." Coming full circle back to Sundance, I disagree with Guber and agree with the view of Sundance Institute's Executive Director Ken Brecher, whom Cieply interviewed: "Storytelling is flourishing in the world at a level I can't even begin to understand," Cieply quotes Brecher as saying. Cieply also reports Brecher's view that "technology has simply brought mass storytelling, on film or otherwise, to people who once thought Hollywood had cornered the business." You bet storytelling is flourishing! I see that every day as I investigate the story work for this blog. It's quite possible, though, that the role of the Center for Future Storytelling has been misunderstood. Indeed, as I read the original press releasethat MIT issued, I saw no dire concerns about information overload, noise, and clutter. Instead, I saw a vision that actually seems to align with Sundance's hopeful view of storytelling: … the [MIT] Media Lab and Plymouth Rock Studios will collaborate revolutionize how we tell our stories, from major motion pictures to peer-to-peer multimedia sharing. By applying leading-edge technologies to make stories more interactive, improvisational and social, researchers will seek to transform audiences into active participants in the storytelling process, bridging the real and virtual worlds, and allowing everyone to make their own unique stories with user-generated content on the Web. And the release quotes Frank Moss, Media Lab director and holder of the Jerome Wiesner Professorship of Media Arts and Sciences, as saying: [Storytelling] is how we share our experiences, learn from our past, and imagine our future. But how we tell our stories depends on another uniquely human characteristic — our ability to invent and harness technology. From the printing press to the Internet, technology has given people new ways to tell their stories, allowing them to reach new levels of creativity and personal fulfillment. The shared vision of the MIT Media Lab and Plymouth Rock Studios allows us to take the next quantum leap in storytelling, empowering ordinary people to connect in extraordinary ways. Indeed, Rich Kearney, one of the Plymouth Rock Studios folks managing the new center responded to Sally Mendzela's post with this (run-on sentence) refutation: … we're not against new technologies that fragment the audience, one of our main goals is to harness new media to bring storytelling to new heights. I do not believe storytelling in the 21st century is in trouble. I do believe it is changing, and new forms are evolving. It may be worth asking, however, if stories are losing their meaning when told in some of these new, open-loop forms.

Does Storytelling 2.0 Mean Open Story Loop?

OK, so technically I have not yet blogged about the concept of "Storytelling 2.0,"* but if you you follow storytelling, you know about Bryan Alexander's and Alan Levine's piece by that title in EDUCAUSE Review. Similarly, Lars Bastholmwrites about "Social Storytelling," which I would consider analogous — or at least closely related to Storytelling 2.0:

Storytelling used to be a closed loop. As Aristotle said: "A story needs to have a beginning, a middle and an end." Social storytelling flies in the face of that. It is open-ended. The objective is to tell a story in a way that leaves room for the consumers to fill in the blanks, to add their own tendrils to the main storyline.

Bastholm is primarily talking about branded stories in advertising, but I think this open-loop storytelling particularly applies to the types of storytelling we're seeing in social media and lifestreaming in which we see ongoing snippets that tell people's stories. Those stories remain open as long as the folks behind them are alive and telling their stories publicly.

I don't think this kind of open-loop storytelling is unprecedented. The best example I can think of is the soap opera. Story arcs end on soap operas, but the bigger story goes on as long as the soap opera goes on. Sure, many soaps end, but others, like "Guiding Light," are still going strong after 50+ years.

What other examples of open-loop storytelling are out there? Is there a downside to this kind of storytelling?

*I will eventually blog about Storytelling 2.0. It's one of those topics that so excites me that I want to make sure I do it justice.

In the meantime, stay tuned tomorrow for a post that relates to the open story loop.

Build a Story, Build a World?

Read an interesting, thought-provoking, lengthy blog post by Austin Kleon from last fall in which he equates storytelling with "world-building." His argument reminded me of my musings from a few weeks ago in which I questioned whether digital storytelling is a genre or form of applied storytelling as opposed to a medium for rendering storytelling. When Kleon says, "my argument is that the artist can see written fiction, comics, and film as multiple disciplines on the spectrum of storytelling," it sounds as though he's saying that fiction, comics, and film also are tools for telling stories rather then genres of storytelling themselves. But Kleon's real point is even more interesting. Now, granted, he's talking about fiction, comics, and film — a bit outside the main applied-storytelling focus of A Storied Career — but it's fascinating to think about whether this world-building concept connects to applied storytelling. Again, his piece was quite lengthy (as blog posts go), and the final paragraph that I'm excerpting below probably doesn't do the full post justice, but here it is: Although [artists] all have different ideas about what a story is and how you build and present a story, if we accept that what each discipline does is world-build, then we can use the term "world-building" to move fluidly between disciplines. When we have the world-building tools and processes mastered from multiple disciplines of storytelling — whether it be drawing in the case of comics, or writing in the case of fiction — we can use these tools and processes across disciplines to generate the worlds that we imagine. This concept was reinforced when my best friend e-mailed me recently to say: "Once in awhile I get really carried away by a movie or TV show or book and can't stop thinking about the fictional world." To what extent do applied-storytelling practitioners create worlds with the stories they tell? Think about stories you're worked with and consider what "worlds" they may have created. Discuss.

Storytelling Adds Human Touch to Virtual Work

I got interested in virtual teams and virtual work a few years ago when I learned that some of my former students felt that, while their business-school education had prepared them well to collaborate in face-to-face teams, it fell short in readying them to participate on geographically dispersed teams in which very little interaction was face-to-face. As a result of this finding, I developed a well-received virtual-teams project in my business-communication classes. It was at about this same time that my interest in storytelling was burgeoning; thus, I'm quite interested in convergences between virtual work and storytelling. That's one reason I was so delighted when I discovered that Jessica Lipnack, co-author of probably the definitive book on virtual teams, was also a member of Worldwide Story Work. In her Q&A with A Storied Career, she discussed the value of storytelling in virtual teams. Here's another bit of reinforcement for the idea that these two practices should go hand-in-hand. It's from the Virtual Meetings Success blog (I could not identify an author on the site): … hold your virtual meetings with a human touch. This human touch includes telling stories, which stick. Effective storytelling in virtual meetings is the key to highly productive, relationship-focused, business meetings. This is exactly what people do when they meet in person. We tell tales. If you think back to your favorite boss or most-admired leader, I bet this is a quality they had. They could tell stories. Stories with a message. Stories, which inspire. And stories you still remember, many years later. If you want to recreate the intimacy of meeting face-to-face with your team, learn to tell emotional stories. If you want to increase collaboration in your virtual team meetings, encourage participants to tell stories. Well-told stories help build rapport and trust in distance teams. The current economy will likely see a surge in virtual work and telecommuting. Tools to ease the stress of this work are indeed valuable.

Storytelling Adds Human Touch to Virtual Work

I got interested in virtual teams and virtual work a few years ago when I learned that some of my former students felt that, while their business-school education had prepared them well to collaborate in face-to-face teams, it fell short in readying them to participate on geographically dispersed teams in which very little interaction was face-to-face. As a result of this finding, I developed a well-received virtual-teams project in my business-communication classes. It was at about this same time that my interest in storytelling was burgeoning; thus, I'm quite interested in convergences between virtual work and storytelling. 

That's one reason I was so delighted when I discovered that Jessica Lipnack, co-author of probably the definitive book on virtual teams, was also a member of Worldwide Story Work. In her Q&A with A Storied Career, she discussed the value of storytelling in virtual teams.

Here's another bit of reinforcement for the idea that these two practices should go hand-in-hand. It's from the Virtual Meetings Success blog (I could not identify an author on the site):

… hold your virtual meetings with a human touch. This human touch includes telling stories, which stick.

Effective storytelling in virtual meetings is the key to highly productive, relationship-focused, business meetings.

This is exactly what people do when they meet in person. We tell tales. If you think back to your favorite boss or most-admired leader, I bet this is a quality they had. They could tell stories. Stories with a message. Stories, which inspire. And stories you still remember, many years later.

If you want to recreate the intimacy of meeting face-to-face with your team, learn to tell emotional stories. If you want to increase collaboration in your virtual team meetings, encourage participants to tell stories.

Well-told stories help build rapport and trust in distance teams.

The current economy will likely see a surge in virtual work and telecommuting. Tools to ease the stress of this work are indeed valuable.

Real-Time Storytelling

Chris Brogan earlier this month raised the question: "How have (or how can) you use social media tools in real time to capture the stories around us, in whatever form you want?" The example Brogan used was being at a Panasonic press conference at a larger convention and sending out dispatches via Twitter ("live-tweeting") about the press event in real time (while other journalists took notes on paper to write their stories later). Brogan noted that not only did bloggers/tweeters scoop the notepad journalists but that they started a conversation. A superb recent example is the Hudson River plane-crash photo that Janis Krums (who is apparently a guy) of Sarasota, FL, took on his cell phone (iPhone to be precise) and posted to Twitter more or less in real time last week. Tomorrow's inauguration provides a great opportunity to tell stories in real time. I'll be doing close to that — periodically blogging my impressions of this momentous day. One commenter to Brogan's piece, "Zoe," noted that she'd heard a podcast with Clay Shirker, who "pointed out that 'Is this journalism?' is not the question — the question is whether or not we are getting information to the people. I think this distinction allows us to get past superficial distinctions, and embrace things like real-time storytelling." A ton of journalism will be happening tomorrow. But I suspect there will be even more real-time storytelling. One is not better than the other, but real-time storytelling can certainly be more personal and immediate. (I should add here that technology may fail to support all the live storytelling; Matt Richtel reported in today's New York Times that: "The cellphone industry has a plea for the throngs descending on the nation's capital for the presidential inauguration: go easy on the mobile communications. Cellphone companies have added temporary antennas in Washington but expect to be overwhelmed anyway.") Another commenter said that this kind of real-time news dissemination is not storytelling because "storytelling connotes longer narratives." I disagree. If you look at, for example, the six-word memoirs at SMITH Magazine, a 140-character Tweet seems like War and Peace. (OK, maybe comparing words to characters is like apples to oranges, but the point is, you can say a lot in 140 characters.)

Human Need for Storytelling Behind Debunked "Stages" Theories, Scientists Say

So, it turns out that "stages" theories, particularly Elisabeth Kubler-Ross's well-known five stages of grief, have no basis in research, according to Michael Shermer in Scientific American.  We humans apparently come up with these stages because, Shermer writes, "we are pattern-seeking, storytelling primates trying to make sense of an often chaotic and unpredictable world." Kubler-Ross's grief stages aren't the only ones to come under question; also on the line of fire are Freud's five stages of psychosexual development, Erik H. Erikson's similar eight stages, and Lawrence Kohlberg's stages of moral development. Shermer quotes social psychologist Carol Tavris: "In developmental psychology, the notion of predictable life stages is toast. Those stage theories reflected a time when most people marched through life predictably: marrying at an early age; then having children when young; then work, work, work; then maybe a midlife crisis; then retirement; then death. Those 'passages' theories evaporated with changing social and economic conditions that blew the predictability of our lives to hell." Second, Tavris continued, "is the guilt and pressure the theories impose on people who are not feeling what they think they should. This is why consumers of any kind of psychotherapy or posttraumatic intervention that promulgates the notion of 'inevitable' stages should be skeptical and cautious." Shermer concludes by saying: "Stages are stories that may be true for the storyteller, but that does not make them valid for the narrative known as science." So, stages apparently exist only in the mind of the people living them. No reason we can't all document our own stage stories. From a psychological standpoint, how would you characterize the stages of development, moral growth, or grief you've experienced?

Social Media Resume Can Help Tell Your Story

I was quite tickled last week and felt I'd made the bigtime when Dan Schawbel mentioned my social-media resume on Mashable (along with his own and several others). I first blogged about my social-media resume almost exactly a year ago. I created my social-media resume partly because I saw that others had them, and I thought they were cool. My other motivation was experimental/research. I wanted to see what would happen if I joined as many social networks as possible and then aggregated my membership in them (to the degree possible) in one place. One problem was that I set aside a full day to join a bunch off social networks — but that chunk of time wasn't nearly enough to create the kind of comprehensive profiles the various venues wanted — let alone maintain those profiles. In looking at some of the other social-media resumes that Dan cites, I now see greater possibilities for actual job search, personal branding, and career advancement — not just aggregating all the venues I belong to. Here are the advantages, according to Dan: Social media resumes are important for attracting hiring managers directly to you, without you having to submit your resume, blindly, to them. … With a social media resume, you're able to paint a completely different portrait of yourself for hiring managers and customize it to reflect your personal brand. With the inclusion of various multimedia elements, sharing options, integrated social networking feeds and the same elements you'd find in a traditional resume, you are better equipped for success. "Paint a completely different portrait of yourself" sounds a like like "Tell a story of yourself," doesn't it? Seeing the other sample social-media resumes Dan mentions gives me good ideas for improving mine (like using one's LinkedIn Profile as a executive summary). I'm also really excited about Dan's forthcoming book, Me 2.0: Build a Powerful Brand to Achieve Career Success. I believe I will find some interesting convergences among "Me 2.0" and career storytelling and storytelling for identity construction. Do check out Dan's article if you have any interest in your own social-media resume as it is a comprehensive how-to.

Q&A with a Story Guru: Karen Gilliam, PhD, Part 5

Q&A with Karen Gilliam, PhD (Question 5): Q: Given that some of your story work is with individuals, and given that Sankofa Symbolism embraces redefinition, to what extent do you support the concept: Change the story, and you can change your life." I absolutely believe in this statement. As human beings we have freedom of choice. We are not robots. Even as we are presented with certain circumstances, we still have the choice of how we react and respond and what story we tell. It is the latter - the story - that occurs first and where we don't stop to question. One symbol frequently associated with the first interpretation of the term Sankofa is the Sankofa bird [Editor's note: Pictured here], which is also referred to as the bird of passage. This mythic bird is a bird that is looking behind it. This represents the fact that although the bird is constantly moving forward, it continually looks behind it - to its past, with an egg (symbolizing the future) in its mouth. Rev. Joseph E. Lowery, who is the past president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, having retired in 1977 after 40 years of dedicated service, once visited our church and shared this message: "If you don't know where you come from, you won't know when something is trying to take you back." So while you don't want to hold the egg too tight or risk breaking it; don't hold it too loosely either. Sankofa can be translated in various ways: No matter how far away one travels, s/he must always return home. It is not taboo to go back and fetch what you forgot. To move forward, you must reclaim the past. We should reach back and gather the best of what our past has to teach us, so that we can achieve our full potential as we move forward. Whatever we have lost, forgotten, forgone, or been stripped of, can be reclaimed, revived, preserved and perpetuated. In the past, you find the future and understand the present. And, in doing so, we can change the story and change our life.

Story Prompts for Transmitting Values

Dr. Paul White recently wrote at length about using stories to transfer values from one family member to another (he wrote the post over the Christmas holidays, suggesting that period as a particularly good time to undertake this values transfer.) Eventually White concludes: An excellent way to share important principles and values is through storytelling. Although listing principles in bullet form works well in articles and books, that is not typically how we talk conversationally … Of course, story experts like Annette Simmons and Steve Denning have written extensively about using stories to transmit values. Simmons refers to the "Values in Action" story, while Denning talks about "using narrative to instill organizational values." I like Dr. White's family emphasis on the values story, and especially the prompts or "story starters" he suggests that families might tell. Presumably family values are embedded in these types of stories: Memories you have about your grandparents — things you used to do with them. Character qualities or talents you remember about your parents or grandparents. Something special you remember getting or doing on your birthday when you were growing up. Vacations you went on as a child and any memorable events that occurred on them. What Christmas was like when you were little — what were the traditions at your grandparents' homes? How you met your spouse; about your dating / courtship / engagement; the early years of your marriage — where did you live, what kind of work did you do? Some jobs you had when you were younger — including positive lessons and negative experiences.

Q&A with a Story Guru: Karen Gilliam, PhD, Part 4

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Q&A with Karen Gilliam, PhD (Question 4):

Q: Joan Southgate turned you onto Sankofa Symbolism, which your Web site talks a bit about. Can you elaborate a little on how you use this Sankofa Symbolism in your story work?

A: If you stop to think about, for example, a coaching practice, performance consulting, leadership development, or a post-project review, certain steps, like first becoming self-aware, gathering the facts, or reflecting on what was learned, are recommended. Each on its own accord stresses the importance of examining the past and present in anticipation of a desired future. This is Sankofa.

We don't always know what we don't know. We don't often think about our own thinking or how we come to know what we know. Consider the Ladder of Inference. In lightning speed we select from all the available data what we will focus on. We add meaning, that is create a story, through a lens of the world that reflects our beliefs, experiences and personal histories. The theme of Sankofa centers on the importance of going back — retracing our path — to the past in order to understand the present. As stated by Anais Nin "we don't see the world as it is. We see it as we are."

Will Obama Tell a Sticky Story Tuesday

Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die by brothers Dan and Chip Heath is not exactly news; the book came out in 2007.  But it's worth revisiting on the eve of Barack Obama's inauguration as US president, in part because the Heath's most frequently cited example of a "sticky" idea is JFK's 1961 proposal to put a man on the moon by the end of the decade. Given that Obama has often been compared with JFK — and is a good storyteller — we can hope that the president-elect uses his inaugural speech to introduce narratives about ideas that will stick as well as the moon-landing story did. The most likely idea relates to energy independence. How will Obama attain our buy-in? It's worth noting that fully half of the Heath's six basic traits of sticky ideas are story-related, as reported in the McKinsey Quarterly. Here are the three that scream out "story" (I added boldface for emphasis): Concreteness. Abstract language and ideas don't leave sensory impressions; concrete images do. Compare "get an American on the moon in this decade" with "seize leadership in the space race through targeted technology initiatives and enhanced team-based routines." Emotions. Case studies that involve people also move them. "We are wired," [Chip] Heath writes, "to feel things for people, not abstractions." Stories. We all tell stories every day. Why? "Research shows that mentally rehearsing a situation helps us perform better when we encounter that situation," Heath writes. "Stories act as a kind of mental flight simulator, preparing us to respond more quickly and effectively." [Image from ImageChef.com via http://doug-johnson.squarespace.com/]

Do stories like Pride and Prejudice teach us how to behave?

Victorian novels like Pride and Prejudice teach us how to behave

Victorian novels like Pride and Prejudice and Dracula act like are good for us and help to teach us how to behave, claim scientists. 

When Tech Stories Meet Marketing Stories: What's Your Gmail Story?

Here's another quickie roundup, this time on convergences among tech products, marketing, and storytelling:

• Who knew that GMail was story-worthy (though I have learned to no longer question any story application)? GMail users tell their stories here. Actually, it's not so odd to tell stories about an e-mail application, but why GMail over any other? The site offers success stories about job-hunting using GMail, collaborating with a co-author in a faraway land, saving a relationship with a girlfriend, communicating with a spouse serving in Iraq, and much more. It's not clear, though, how GMail makes these email communications more successful than another email application would.
• Also in the Google realm, "The T-Mobile Google Phone demonstrates one of the best uses of storytelling for business I have seen in quite a while," according to The Story Lady, Ronda Del Boccio, who goes on to say: "This is absolutely brilliant use of storytelling." She's referring to the video here. You have to watch a bit for the storytelling to unfold — for example, a little scenario in which a guy is locked out and Googles an all-night locksmith on his Google phone. You hear players' voices, but the video focuses on the phone, as though the actors in the story are invisibly using the phone's touch screen. I'd have to agree — it's good storytelling.
• Staying with the cellphone theme, this time the Apple iPhone, Kevin Fox writes at Fury:

When Apple releases a product, you know it's released. You know its features, you know its character, you know its story, because Steve Jobs told it to you. You know whether you want it and you know how you feel about it even if it will be weeks before you actually see or touch one.

Fox contrasts Apple's storytelling with other cellphone manufacturers' failure to tell their products' stories. His bottom line is: "Don't let people who don't have your best interests at heart tell your story to your customers." (It's interesting to read Fox's reflections — from Dec. 19, 2009 — in light of Apple's pullout and Jobs's nonappearance at MacWorld.)

Q&A with a Story Guru: Karen Gilliam, PhD, Part 3

Q&A with Karen Gilliam, PhD (Question 3): Q: Your doctoral dissertation focused on the influence of the story of Joan Southgate, "the 70+ year old African-American grandmother, educator, social worker, and community activist, who walked 519 miles of the underground-railroad." How did you come across her, and how did you decide to focus your doctoral research on her journey? A: A good friend who was involved in the planning of the last leg of Ms. Southgate's walk invited me to his home to meet her. It's quite startling how we imagine someone might look based on limited prior knowledge and assumptions. Her story of traveling the path of the underground-railroad had become so large that I imagined her to be of the same stature, but when she stood for our informal introduction, I saw that she was short, petite and unassuming in her demeanor. What she lacked in height was more than compensated for in her presence, strength of character and unwavering belief in what she was doing. Her storytelling reminded me that rather than discounting or ignoring my heritage, I needed to recognize and reclaim its richness and goodness. I needed to know from whence I came, find and reestablish my voice in articulating a self-claimed Black identity, and then support others in finding voice, gaining control of their existences and becoming all they were meant to be. My story of Joan Southgate's story is only one version. It's based on what I paid attention to and on what I needed in order to make meaning in my life. Recognizing this truth led to my foreshadowed question: What is the impact of story on the listeners and why do they react the way they do? From a knowledge-application perspective, I hoped to uncover how business/community leaders could better connect with those they'd like to influence in some way and how storytelling could be used for a social movement.

Julius Genachowski, Launchbox Digital founder, to chair FCC

Julius Genachowski, a founder of Launchbox Digital, (a seed investor to Heekya) has been selected by President-Elect Obama to chair the FCC.  

Congratulations to Julius, exciting times for him and best of luck in the new position!

Q&A with a Story Guru: Karen Gilliam, PhD, Part 2

Q&A with Karen Gilliam, PhD (Question 2): Q: What future aspirations do you personally have for your own story work? What would you like to do in the story world that you haven't yet done? A: I've become a lot more conscious in my use of story and find that I gravitate toward processes, tools, and curriculum that honors story. Most recently I've been facilitating workshops in an organizational environment and working with a young ladies' mentoring group in the community. Each of these venues respects and honors the individual's story and in different ways helps participants to recognize their stories and the power that they have to write and re-write their stories. We all have a story to tell, a chapter that is yet to be completed or written. I need to capture in writing, in journal or workbook format, what I've been experiencing through my own story work and that of others who share a kindred spirit in storytelling. I believe that people, especially our young people, are yearning to find their own voice, to know that they have a unique purpose in life and to be connected to some one or some thing greater than self. Using story and storytelling to say what people have in their minds and hearts; to allow them to see something they've not seen or imagined before (raising their sights, unlocking potential, focusing on possibilities); to find hope and invite others to do the same; and to cause them to want to struggle for some shared aspiration is storytelling leadership. This is a concept, first introduced in my dissertation, that I plan to further examine as a part of my volunteer work with Restore Cleveland Hope, a non-profit organization whose mission is to restore the last known pre-civil house located in Cleveland, Ohio, into an underground-railroad teaching center.

Q&A with a Story Guru: Karen Gilliam, PhD, Part 1

I came across Karen Gilliam, PhD, unexpectedly while researching another storytelling guru who agreed to respond to a Q&A. I was instantly attracted to her practice and philosophy, and she graciously agreed to respond to this 21st in a series of Q&As. This is also the last Q&A of Phase I of the Q&A project. Phase II will commence March 2. The Q&A with Karen will appear over the next five days. Bio of Karen Gilliam, PhD, can be found here. Q&A with Karen Gilliam, PhD (Question 1): Q: How did you initially become involved with story/storytelling/narrative/working with stories? What attracted you to this field? What do you love about it? A: As I thought about this question, I came to realize that whether or not I was consciously aware of the impact of a story, I was never the less encapsulated by its power to influence. I actually cannot remember a time when I was not attracted to story. As a child, I hung on to every story shared by my relatives, in particular my grandmother and uncle. Their stories about family told me that I belonged, that I was special and that I was a part of something great and wonderful. As an adult, I've used stories and storytelling in my work as a trainer, coach and organization development consultant. Jerome Bruner defines it best when he says "story is meaning." I love story and storytelling because of its ability to capture emotion and reason, hearts and minds like no other spoken communication tool. And, there's something quite liberating and authentic about being able, as a listener, to take, in that moment or some future point in time, from story only what I need in order to make meaning.

Economic Challenges for a startup.

Economic Challenges for a startup.

As Thomas Friedman writes in his book, 'The World is Flat,' what
happens in Bangalore affects us here in the US and what happens in the
technology corridors of the United States affects others around the
world. And so in this global economy we are all affected by the recent
economic travails.

Heekya too has been affected , both in our ability to raise capital
and in our discussions with partners. Angel investors who were great
prospects before in some cases have seen a 40% decline in net worth --
which in turn hampers their ability to invest in young startups like
Heekya.

Partners interested in Heekya technology now must walk each potential
deal through even more scrutiny as big and small companies alike seek
to tighten loose screws on their ships, and conserve cash.

But the beauty of building a technology company, even in a tough
economic environment ( or perhaps better said , especially in one ) is
that with open source tools and platforms are greatest expense -- and
our strongest assets -- our are people. And as we move forward in to
the new year and look to add to our stable of great story tellers and
technical minds, we look ahead with joy and not fear, because ,
despite the ever increasing challenges, as long as we can attract and
retain great people, Heekya will be in a great position to reach its
dream of allowing anybody , anywhere to share their story.

Q&A with a Story Guru: Annette Simmons, Part 4

Q&A with Annette Simmons (Question 5): Q: In Whoever Tells the Best Story Wins, you write about political stories. What kind of story will win the upcoming presidential election, and which candidate is most likely to tell that story well? A: First I want to say that context is everything. If we have another attack, if there is a run on the bank… or if something BIG happens, then Obama and McCain will tell their story by how they respond to these issues. It will eclipse their "scripted" stories. We will be watching their stories live as they happen. If they have approached storytelling from deep authenticity, living as well as telling "stories" that authentically convey, "Who I am, and WHY I am here" then their actions and words will be congruent and their stories will be told in real life as it unfolds (limited by media edits that can misconstrue). For me, deciding who you are and why you are here comes first, and stays true no matter what the circumstances. I understand they may vet some stories according to polls, but polls should not be a part of the first decisions. If either one of them start using stories to be something they are not in order to respond/manipulate polls they risk losing their core (both in terms of personal strength and constituency). Both men wrote books that told their stories well. McCain's was a while back, but they both put a stake into the ground, "this is who I am." Obama is a better communicator, so he has an "unfair" advantage in telling his story. McCain has done the best thing by embracing his "speak first, think later" style as part of his story by naming his bus/airplane the "Straight Talk Express." He should stick with that story - he isn't a master of rhetoric and never will be. He can own the "straight talker" image. He should maximize it rather than minimize it. All weaknesses can be strengths and vice versa. As pressure builds to turn "why I am here" into "how we will do this" both are at great risk. The "how" of any great goal is always divisive. Any realistic plan encounters inescapable truths that safety costs money/time, quality costs time/money. No matter what plan, no matter which goal -opposition will rip the guts out of it by emphasizing the down side. Selling your "how" is the hardest story to tell. It needs to include a "I know what you are thinking" story to pre-empt the attacks. I think they will both avoid concrete plans for that reason. It is easier to keep the plans fuzzy - but they both lose points when they do. Obama is the better storyteller and has a better story to tell. Creative types are itching to tell it for him, spread the story. For instance, having Hussein as his middle name and NOT being Muslim is one story young people are "retelling" by posting it as THEIR middle name (at least on Facebook..i.e., Annette Hussein Simmons). His tour of the Middle East is plastering presidential-looking photos on TV and in newspapers - images tell a powerful story. He is savvy about photo ops. If there is an attack, or manufactured fear of an imminent attack then McCain may have an advantage if he chooses to tell a story of fear. Biologically, in a short-term experience, stories of fear usually trump stories of hope when competing for human attention. If they both try to tell stories of hope, Obama has a better story to tell and is a better storyteller. If McCain can stimulate enough fear his military story might seem safer to frightened people. However the population seems to be experiencing fear fatigue so it is possible fear won't trump hope this time.

Q&A with a Story Guru: Annette Simmons, Part 3

Q&A with Annette Simmons (Question 4): Q: In your most recent book, Whoever Tells the Best Story Wins, you talk about how organizations need both story and metrics, analysis, and objective thinking. Those of us in the storytelling world have, of course, long accepted that organizations need the emotional dimension of story. We accept that facts, figures, bullet points, and death-by-PowerPoint aren't always the best way to communicate. But is the mainstream business/organizational world getting these messages? Do you see evidence that more organizations are embracing your message — or are the organizations you consult with still surprised — even shocked — by what you bring to them? A: If I am giving a keynote I love to say "I think we need more metrics, don't you?" The room erupts in laughter. Reports steal so much time that EVERYONE thinks we need fewer, not more metrics. Even the top guys - they will say, "We have to edit this pile of measurements down to the vital few." The problem is that no one can decide which metrics to stop, and no one can get approval for something that doesn't promise a measurable return on investment. So new projects mean new measurements…or at least continuation of the old ones. Stop a report, and somebody screams bloody murder. So… they are not shocked; they are hungry to cut out metrics. But they can't seem to decide what to unload from their 50-lb backpack of tools, so they trudge on. Without a boss who is willing to risk mistakes…everyone keeps measuring everything. To spend significant time on stories, is definitely a lead by example issue. When the CEO or Chief of Staff start using stories and reward acts that are not measurable, but in the spirit of the group's mission - then everyone else follows suit. Even in a mechanized organization a storytelling manager can thrive as long as he/she has the important numbers. Like Lincoln responding to complaints of Gen. Grant's drinking problem - whatever he/she is drinking, send everyone a case of it - a high-performing storyteller gets to keep doing whatever he/she is doing. Nothing succeeds like success. Anytime someone says, "they won't let me tell a story - all they want are the facts," I assume that is their anxiety talking. Few, if any stories in a business setting should last more than 3 minutes. People will happily sit still for a three-minute story and NO ONE will complain that they wished you had added another PowerPoint slide rather than told your story.

Happy Anniversary to SMITH and Good News about the Alligator Posted: 08 Jan 2009 09:03 AM CST A couple of followups on publications I've blogged about in the past: A couple of days late, but happy anniversary to SMITH magazine, which celebrated its third anniversary on "National Smith Day," a day to celebrate Smiths, famous and not, on Jan. 6. SMITH is celebrating with a new book of 56-word memoirs and a Web site redesign. Just before Christmas, I reported on the plight of The Independent Florida Alligator, the student-run newspaper at the University of Florida (whose football team, by the way, plays for the national championship tonight against the Oklahoma Sooners — Go Gators!). The current editor just e-mailed a group of alumni to report that things are looking up a bit for the newspaper that has launched so many stellar careers in journalism. Here's what's happening: After a period of uncertainty and low morale last semester that witnessed The Independent Florida Alligator without an applicant for the editor-in-chief position for perhaps the first time in 40 years, the paper is back on its feet…. the paper will also be implementing changes to address some of the problems voiced by staffers in meetings late last year. The paper recently got new equipment, including flat-screen computer monitors and a new computer for the photo department …. The Alligator will increase communication with its board of directors and has seen an outpouring of support from faculty in UF's College of Journalism and Alligator alumni …. The paper will also try to increase its focus on multimedia journalism this semester to better prepare its staff for future jobs… The Alligator will continue to need help, and I intend to do my part to ensure that it continues to tell stories that launch great careers — dare I say storied careers?

Q&A with a Story Guru: Annette Simmons, Part 2

Q&A with Annette Simmons (Questions 2 and 3): Q: How did you initially become involved with story/storytelling/narrative? What attracted you to this field? What do you love about it? A: I was in grad school studying adult education in a master's program at NCSU. My stepmom thought it would be a good way to get us kids (adults, but barely) together from different parts of the country to meet at the National Storytelling Festival in Jonesboro, TN. I had never heard of it before. I fell in love with the stories, the people, the emotions, and the fresh-made cider they served hot from a long-gone general store. Over the next few years I was simply a fan. It never occurred to me I could do "that." But Cheryl, a friend of mine saw a change in the way I did my work (leadership training). At one festival, I stopped Ed Stivender on the street just to tell him how much I love him and his stories. Cheryl was with me. He asked, "Are you a storyteller?" I said, "Oh no." and Cheryl piped in, "Yes you ARE!" Like any art form, there are many who rush to call themselves a painter, singer, musician, and even a "storyteller." But some of us find the step a daunting bridge to cross. For me, to call myself a storyteller is sort of like being sworn in to a set of unwritten laws. I will tell the truth. I will tell stories that no one else might tell. I will bear witness to remind people of what is most important. Those storytelling principles are what I love most about storytelling. It is an honorable tradition as well as a wonderful way to stay connected to people and to stay connected to what is most important to us all — family. Q: What people or entities have been most influential to you in your story work and why? A: Doug Lipman remains the single most important influence on me. I attended his workshops and I've hired him as a personal coach. I've chosen to stay as close to the "source" as possible when I study, work on my storytelling and consulting. I have hired Elizabeth Ellis and Nancy Donoval as personal coaches. I have attended workshops with Judith Black and Jay O'Callahan. All of these people are star performance storytellers I first saw at the National Storytelling Festival. I try to limit my use of "derivative" sources. We have such amazing talent available for such a low cost. Conferences can cost thousands and the festival only costs $150 for a full weekend. It is a great resource for learning and based in ancient "truths" craved by those adrift in numbers, money, and market reports.

Author Offering Free Copy of Her Tribute to Departed Sister: Sixty-Five Roses Memoir

Heather Summerhayes Cariou, whose memoir I blogged about not long ago, has made a very kind offer to send a copy of her book, Sixtyfive Roses: A Sister's Memoir to a reader of A Storied Career. If you'd like to be the lucky recipient, simply write a sentence in the Comments section indicating that you'd like to receive the copy. I'll draw a winner at random on Monday, Jan. 12, and ask Heather to send a copy to the winner. Here's some of the promotional material about the book: Sixtyfive Roses: A Sister's Memoir is a provocative, funny and profoundly moving literary memoir, the powerful and inspiring story of two sisters growing up in the shadow of a fatal illness, and a family fighting for a child's life. It's Eva Longoria's favorite new read - she optioned the film rights. Celine Dion wrote the foreword. Angela Lansbury couldn't put it down. When author Heather Summerhayes Cariou was six years old, she promised to die with her little sister Pamela, who'd been diagnosed with what Pam called "Sixtyfive Roses" - Cystic Fibrosis. However, Pam defied the limits of a dire prognosis, and in doing so taught Heather how to live. Together they discovered where to find joy and meaning in an often painful and uncertain world. This book is a must read for any woman on her own heroine's journey, and is especially appropriate for parents and young adult well-siblings who are care giving a disabled loved one, or know someone who is. The publisher is donating 5 percent of proceeds from the sale of the book to Cystic Fibrosis research in Canada and the U.S. Find out What Readers Are Saying "This memoir is an astounding testament to the strength of family, but also to the reality of illness and a person's spiritual growth…readers will not be able to put the book down. One can't help but be moved in reading it." ~ Book Review Journal "Read this book. Your life will never be the same." ~ Story Circle Network

Q&A with a Story Guru: Annette Simmons, Part 1

It's hard to put into words just how honored and thrilled I am to bring you my 20th Q&A — with Annette Simmons, one of the legends of applied storytelling, and certainly a huge influence on me. I read her The Story Factor early in my dissertation research and also was entertained and informed by her presentation during the 2005 Smithsonian storytelling weekend; indeed, she is one of the best presenters I've ever heard. Despite her busy schedule and many commitments, Annette has been consistently kind and responsive to the many questions and requests I've sent her over the years. A funny thing happened on the way to publishing Annette's Q&A. She actually submitted it a long time ago — during the summer of 2008 — but somehow I never got it. You'll therefore see that one of her responses deals with the 2008 presidential election — before the outcome was determined. While I regret not being able to publish that response before the election, it's fun to see it with the election outcome in mind. The Q&A with Annette will appear over the next four days. Bio of Annette Simmons can be found here. Q&A with Annette Simmons (Question 1): Q: The storytelling movement seems to be growing explosively. Why now? What is it about this moment in human history and culture that makes storytelling so resonant with so many people right now? A: I think that our feelings of alienation from core human experiences arise from too much "virtual" reality and not enough real reality: TV, radio, texting, cellphones, restaurants, gyms…all are substitutes for personal experiences like face to face interaction, growing and cooking food, hiking, experiencing labor that results in value (chopping wood), personal intimacy (stuck without TV forced to talk to family)…all of these conveniences have created a shallow experience of being human. People crave depth. In business this shallow attachment (It isn't personal) was drilled into us so we could make decisions that were inhumane (downsizing at Christmas) without having to FEEL inhumane. So….we got what we wanted - limited intimacy increased convenience with life so that we don't have to feel beholden, overwhelmed, or overly responsible. Unfortunately when we limit negative emotions we also limit positive feelings of trust, belonging, emotional safety. The back-end costs of reducing emotional inconvenience and increasing speed now leaves us craving depth, even a little hard work, or risked vulnerability so we can feel human again. Story reintroduces intimacy and emotions to communications between people. It is a co-created acknowledgment that we (I, thou) are humans who feel, taste, touch, see, and hear in ways that make facts less important than who and what we love. Story gives us permission to take life personally again. Story reintroduces permission to care about what happens to others. Story allows our imperfections to be set in a context that shows we are still good people. The business interest in storytelling is riding this "crave wave" as well as a parallel realization that designing messages that create emotions like desire, craving, and/or trust towards a product requires that the message tells a story. Nothing is important or unimportant to someone except for the story they tell themselves about it. You want your product to be important to a consumer? Inspire them to tell themselves a story about it that makes it personally relevant.

Whose Story Would You Like to Hear? Suggest 3 Respected Luminaries for 'America Remembers' Campaign

Sarah McCue is a force of nature who is involved in several projects aiming at making the world a better place. One is The Remembering Site, a non-profit initiative that McCue co-founded with D.G. Fulford and launched in 2004 "to make it easy for anyone, anywhere to write, share and publish their life stories." McCue has an exciting new project and needs your help. I'll let her describe the project in her own words: Five years and so many fascinating life stories later … we are planning an America Remembers campaign where we will approach 100 thought leaders in the arts, business, education, research and science, and service to others to write their life stories. We plan to invite people from all walks of life — from the very well know to the rather unsung unknown. McCue is asking readers to send her "the name of up to three people whom you respect greatly in your personal or professional network who might be a great candidate to invite to write." She continues: We're planning the have 100 "luminaries" to write their life stories by completing a question-based template that will then be printed — our printer partner creates the most beautiful memoirs. McCue is in discussions with well-respected organizations to form non-financial partnerships with America Remembers to "encourage their members to celebrate the 100 but, more importantly, to encourage their members to write their stories." The culmination? McCue explains: At the end of this year, we will invite these 100 to the Statue of Liberty for a media splash to have their books in hand with a few family members and the message will be, "It was so fun and easy to do this; I encourage everyone to write their life memories to leave for future generations." The project seeks both "fairly recognizable faces" and "lesser knowns." McCue seeks "bold, courageous readers" to e-mail her to say: "I accept your challenge, and I am going to use your template to write my story, upload and caption my cherished photos so that I can participate in the celebration at the end of the year." "The memoir [i.e., answers to our questions] would need to be completed by July," McCue says, "so we can get them all graphically designed and published and posted at our website for our late fall launch."

Flokka: Story Prompts for Entrepreneurial Stories

Flokka, the tagline of which is "Where women in business blog," encourages women to share their stories. Aliza Pilar Sherman, in an article reprinted from Her Business magazine, tells women readers of having lunch with other women at conference and sharing stories of business woes with another woman at her table: As we each told our very painful and private professional stories, we instantly shared a bond. … Looking back, I realise that the very act of telling my story over lunch one day to another woman was a turning point for me. Telling my story was a tremendous relief. Almost equally as important was hearing [her] story and getting a reassuring feeling that I was not the only woman going through a difficult and emotional time with her business. Sherman notes that "stories heal" and "women learn most readily when they hear the stories of other people's experiences." Sherman describes how hearing the stories of others facilitates change: Even if we … ask for help, we often get defensive when we realise that the advice suggests we need to change something about ourselves or change our situation. We might not feel comfortable changing, at least not at someone else's request. Yet if we hear a story of someone else's experience of change, we tend to listen. If we listen closely and hear the message in the story, we learn. Sometimes, we are motivated to action by hearing someone else's story. Other times, we are simply motivated to tell our own stories, an act that can be just as powerful. When we tell our own stories, we often do it because we think we are helping others, but more often than not, we end up helping ourselves. Sherman suggests some story prompts for when a group of women entrepreneurs are gathered together to share experiences: Why did you start your business? What about your business keeps you up at night and how do you deal with it? What has been your proudest moment in business? When was the last time your business made you cry and why? What is the best business advice anyone has ever given you? What drives you crazy about your business and what can you do about it? I was reminded of the list of questions I used to submit to business-owners speaking to the entrepreneurial seminar I used to teach. Here are some additional prompts for telling entrepreneurial stories: Your entrepreneurial aspirations as a child or young person. At what point did you know you wanted your own business? Did you have any businesses as a kid (lemonade stand, paper route, etc.) Your educational background. To what extent did your education relate to entrepreneurship? How well well did your education prepare you for entrepreneurship? Career background, if any, before starting your business. What jobs, if any, did you have before starting your business? How did you like them? What did you learn from them that you have applied to your own business? How difficult did you find it to transition from working for someone else to working for yourself? Other businesses, if any, you started before your current business. How did they fare? Successful or not? What did you learn from them? Starting your business. How did you develop the idea for your business? Why THIS business? What were the most challenging aspects of starting your business? Finances? Personnel? Partnerships? Marketing? Customers? Keeping the business going What do you like most about being an entrepreneur? What are the biggest headaches? How has your business evolved since you started it? How did you know when you had achieved success? How long did it take for you to feel successful? The future How do you see your business changing, expanding in the future? Do you want to always have this business? What happens when you retire? Are you considering starting other businesses? Family life Are you married? Have children? How do you balance family life with your business? Does your family participate in your business? Advice for other who want to be entrepreneurs Biggest myths about entrepreneurship. Advice you wish you'd had when you started out. What characteristics does a successful entrepreneur need to have? If you could give would-be entrepreneurs just one piece of advice, what would it be? Further description of Flokka: flokka is a place for women in business to create a blog, or link an existing blog; so that together we can share our business ideas, dreams and journeys and support and encourage each other as we grow our businesses and ourselves.