The Learner’s Journey
This spring at the SIETAR Europa Congress in Leuven, I met Bastian Küntzel. We got to chatting about “what do you do” and “what do I do” and when I told him about my cool new idea to develop a method for using story structure to teach, he said, “I just wrote a book about that.” […]
The turning point: linking the beginning and middle of your story
Kick your story into gear In every story there comes a moment when the audience has gotten to know your hero and the world they live in. They understand the norms that hero lives with and have an idea of how the hero fits into that world. They know this because you crafted a strong […]
The Story Diagram at the Core of the StoryCraft Method
Today, I want to give you a tool for improving your stories. It’s a diagram to show you what your story should look like. I draw it on chalkboards and flip charts and white boards and paper everywhere! This diagram is the core of my approach to storytelling. I use it to plan my stories […]
What the 10-year challenge teaches us about storytelling
The beginning of 2019 gave us the 10-year-challenge on social media. It’s a simple task to participate, you post a picture of yourself now and ten years ago online, add a catchy caption (or not) and you’re in. It’s been discussed as a way to show off your great fortune,potential data mining event, and a […]
Show, don’t tell to bring your hero to life!
updated 28 June 2023 The image of a woman walking into the distance, carrying a bucket away from her body, like someone used to carrying heavy loads has lived in my mind for decades. The source of the image escapes me, but the author used the show don’t tell rule so well that I’ve never […]
Picking the hero in your story
Picking the hero is the first step in planning your story. If you want to get started now, download a free Who’s Your Hero Worksheet. You can also read the rest of the post for insights into how your hero changes your story! We use hero’s names to refer to stories in many fairy tales: […]
You should learn storytelling through fairy tales
Sometime last fall, I decided to use fairy tales in my storytelling workshops. It wasn’t one of those careful choices that one makes based on some kind considered decision-making process. It was something I threw out in a conversation because I found it entertaining to ask academics to talk about Little Red Riding Hood. My […]
I want to irritate workshop participants
I love giving workshops. Over the years, my workshops have shifted from an opportunity for me to teach towards an adventure in which we explore a topic together. The terrain may be familiar to me, but like any journey you’ve undertaken hundreds of times, a new companion always makes it new again. Let me tell […]