Posts Tagged ‘Storytelling techniques’

Lessons from a Texas Cold Front Earlier this week, North Texas slipped under 40 degrees for the first time this season. Overnight, fleece tech vests appeared everywhere and the trees finally committed to changing color. At my house, that first cold snap means warm apple cider on the stove. Cinnamon in the air. A little…

Familiar Feels Fresh When it’s Done Right What do Led Zeppelin, Queen, and AC/DC have to do with Harry Styles, Olivia Rodrigo, and Billie Eilish? More than you’d think. Listen closely and you’ll hear it. Zeppelin’s blues riffs echo through the clean pop minimalism of “As It Was.” There’s swagger beneath the polish. The same…

No one buys an idea unless they see what’s in it for them. It’s why so many great ideas die in conference rooms, buried under polite nods and parking-lot comments like “Let’s revisit this next quarter.” It’s not that your idea wasn’t good. It’s that you didn’t make the value visible. When leaders quantify the…

*Taps stand. Raises wand. Inhales… The sonata is one of the most dramatic and influential song patterns in history. Mozart, Beethoven, Haydn and so many others composed sonatas that remain instantly recognizable and timelessly relevant. At its core, the sonata is a three-part form designed not just to display technical skill, but to move the…

Anecdote vs. Story vs. Narrative “Storytelling” is everywhere in business. These days it seems everyone claims to be doing it. But much of what passes for “story” is really just an anecdote. Or worse, a lifeless recap of data disguised with charts and stock photos. (But you already feel that way about decks, or you…

A Scene from the Harris Household When my kids were little, movie night was a sacred ritual (still is). Popcorn in mismatched bowls, everyone in pajamas, the lights low, and a well-worn DVD spinning in the player. We had our rotation: The films they loved and the ones I was willing to watch 57 times…

THaW the Freeze: A Pocket Guide to Staying Human When Leadership Gets Icy It’s the moment every leader dreads. You step into a routine check-in, confident you can handle any curveball, and then, SLAM. Someone lobs a thorny question about layoffs, a system failure, or a headline you have yet to read. Your pulse spikes.…

This week’s newsletter is brought to you by two staggering statistics: 1️⃣ 95% of employees don’t understand their company’s strategy (HBR)2️⃣ Employees are 30% less accepting of change than they were in 2016 (Gartner) Surprised by these? Probably not. If you’re a leader in business today, you’ve more than likely found yourself on the receiving…