Storytelling & Antiracism: Benefits of Listening
This blog post is the fourth in a series about Storytelling and Antiracism. Click on a post title to read earlier posts: Storytelling and Antiracism, Choosing Stories, or Benefits of Storytelling Picture children listening to a story. They’re sitting in a circle on the carpet listening, wide-eyed and mouth agape, to a storyteller in the […]
Slavery exhibit at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam
Yesterday, I went to the Slavery exhibit at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. The exhibit is a historic event; the first large scale public acknowledgement of the role that the slavery played in Dutch colonial and domestic history. It’s open until 29 August and I encourage everyone who can to get yourself a ticket and go. […]
Storytelling and Antiracism
This blog post is the first in a series about Storytelling and Antiracism. Click here to see the whole series: Storytelling and Antiracism. Click here to download your FREE Storytelling & Antiracism summary and reading list. Storytelling is one of the most valuable tools in antiracism work. Story is the best way to learn, to […]
3 ways to find the details that make your story lively
There is nothing like flying into Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport and looking down and seeing the particular Dutch landscape. As the plane descends over the North Sea, the coastline comes into view and as it flies ever lower, the shapes of fields and cities emerge. If we’re lucky, our flight path goes over Haarlem and I […]
Brilliant Gift Ideas for Your Favorite Storyteller
If you’re looking for a brilliant gift for your favorite storyteller, I’ve put this list together for you. If you are your favorite storyteller, kudos for loving you so much and go ahead and share this with your friends and family right away! Since you readers are international, I haven’t included bookshop links, but if […]
What people really want to learn about story
When I started StoryCraft in 2017, I was excited, thrilled even, to teach people about story structure so they could tell better stories. What I didn’t know then was that people didn’t need story structure, they really wanted to learn something else. My first clue was when clients and workshop participants asked over and over […]
When a Simple Question Makes You Freeze
You know that thing where you’re in a group and someone asks you something that seems innocent like “where are you from” or invites you to “tell me about yourself” and you just freeze? Yeah, me too. My mind races. I’m trying to analyze my audience, gauge the situation, and figure out how much energy […]
October 2020 Book Reviews
October was a very busy month, largely due to launching the Perfect Story Formula for the first time. However, I did read the books pictured above and listened to Moriarty by Anthony Horowitz and Squirm by Carl Hiassen. It was so busy that I’m feeling good that I managed to read at all, to be […]
4 Ways to Tell Exciting Stories About Your (Boring) Life
You probably think your life is pretty routine and that you don’t have exciting stories to tell. You get up, eat breakfast, go to work, take kids to school, study yourself, write, whatever it is that you do to fill your days. This mundane life does not seem to be the stuff of stories, let […]
Personal Stories are Professional Stories
Everything is up for grabs this year, nothing is certain, and a lot of us are in transitions we never expected. People have lost jobs or realize they don’t want to keep working the way they used to. That means there are a lot of people out there looking for a new direction that probably […]