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The Power of Storytelling summit

The power of storytelling – Classical Wisdom

This should be a fascinating summit with speakers from across the disciplines: classicists, writers, academics, journalists, a communications expert, a photographer, an actress and political experts. I’ve just registered my space and, as a taster, I ordered Philip Freeman’s How to Tell a Story, an updated translation of Aristotle’s Poetics. Aristotle, of course, summarised story […]

How to fund a startup

How startup funding works

Here’s a great infographic on the typical funding stages from idea to IPO. It’s been kicking around on LinkedIn for a while originating, I think, with Fernando Cabral. However, the content comes the essay, How To Fund a Startup, by programmer, author and investor Paul Graham. A nice visualisation of an often fraught and confusing […]

Rick Rubin

“Sometimes it’s enough to offer clues.” – Rick Rubin #writing

“There’s a tremendous power in using the least amount of information to get a point across.” “No need to take the audience by the hand and walk them through the work. Sometimes it’s enough to offer clues.” Two insightful quotes from the legendary record producer Rick Rubin. When we write corporate or marketing content, too […]

The secrets of narrative immersion #writing

If you’re a writer of content creator, you’ll find no shortage of insights in Paul Zak’s new book, Immersion: The Science of the Extraordinary and the Source of Happiness, The basis of the book – which covers advertising, film, music, education & training, events & attractions, presentations and retail – is the underlying biomechanical processes that […]

You have 15 seconds…

You have 15 seconds to grab attention. “If you don’t get attention within 15 seconds, it’s very difficult to get it back. And then really tell stories at human scale. Again, most storytellers know this already, but have those authentic characters with real emotions. Let them face some kind of crisis. Build a mystery around […]

How stories work in a data-driven world

The Sea We Swim In: How Stories Work in a Data-Driven World, by Frank Rose is worth a read. It criss-crosses from business stories like Harry’s, the razor brand, and Warby Parker (eyewear) to modern media phenomena like The Waking Dead and West World to explore how stories survive and grow in our modern, hyper-connected […]

Words that work for UK business

There’s been plenty of press about Dr Frank Luntz’s recently published survey of Britain’s “politics, economics and culture wars.” Most has focused on “wokeism” and the party political implications of changing attitudes. However, the section on business and business language (from slide 89 in this deck) should be required reading for business writers. Luntz says […]

Professionals, hacks and amateurs – @thisisseth

The amateur contributes with unfiltered joy… The professional shows up even when she doesn’t feel like it… A hack is a professional who doesn’t care. Another insightful post from Seth Godin: Serviceable is for hacks. Memorable and remarkable belong to professionals and hard-working amateurs. Read Seth’s full post, here. Photo by Evan Dvorkin on Unsplash

The Inciting Incident in nonfiction

The Inciting Incident, or Call to Action, is central to fiction and storytelling, but does it have a place in nonfiction? Especially in straightforward commercial writing? Of course it does. Everything is storytelling. Here’s Steven Pressfield (The War of Art) on the topic. Photo by Marc Kleen on Unsplash

Sacrificial sentences with @execupundit

The story of a recent document: First draft: 20 paragraphs Second draft: 17 paragraphs… Read the full cull, here. Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

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