About this time every year as we begin to promote TEDxColumbus, I still get the question: What is TED? So here’s a quick primer and a wee bit of background how I got involved (and why I still am!). TED is a conference founded about 30 years ago. A guy wanted to have interesting people to […]
Four Years of TEDxColumbus, Hard to Believe! Read More »
We were invited into a major financial institution this week to help check the pulse of their culture. And we did it thru stories. A few years ago I was inspired by a training group in Australia who talked about their anecdote circles. Playing on the idea, yesterday we facilitated ‘story circles’ for 100 associates
Corporate Values and Culture Revealed Through Stories Read More »
I just finished reading one of the most compelling stories I think I’ve ever read: Escape from Camp 14 by Blaine Harden. It is the incredible tale of Shin Dong-hyuk, the only person to have been born in a North Korean work camp and to have survived a harrowing escape. He was about 24 when he escaped
Finding your authentic self through story. Read More »
I just finished a six week assignment with a major health corporation in town, helping them to cascade their 10 year vision into a repeatable resonant story for their 16,000 associates to understand. The experience was a familiar one — take two years worth of strategic planning work and find a way to get it
Yesterday morning I delivered a keynote address on influential storytelling to 80 executives at the company DSW, headquartered in Columbus. They sell shoes and lots of them. In attempting to find the perfect metaphor to begin my talk, I made them each take off their right shoes. To a group of shoe execs, the energy
It takes both sides. Read More »
Last week I went to my first graduation ceremony since my own in 1990. Mine was filled with caps, gowns, traditional music, flags and honorary degrees. But this one at Hampshire College, settled on a pristine and isolated swath of land 5 miles outside of Amherst, MA, embodied a different spirit. One that was authentic
The Graduation Speech. Read More »
Every now and then, we get an invitation to work with a different type of client – and we love the opportunity to adapt what we do for someone new. So when Skyler Rogers, a senior at BGSU and former TEDxBGSU organizer, reached out for some help with his business competition pitch (an old concept
Winning the Business Competition Read More »
Last week, we suggested an outrageous idea to a client who was addicted to PowerPoint (as in she had sent at least 200 pages of slides in 4 decks). While we were helping her to narrow down a presentation to 15 slides, we also suggested they use a black slide when one of the 5
Dare to fade to black Read More »
Last week we re-launched our Influential Storytelling class. Like all good motors, it needed a tune up, and just in time too. These 15 participants came together from 7 different organizations to get down to the business of “story.” One of the attendees in his evaluation said: “It is rare that one experiences something
Our Influential Storytelling Class Read More »
As I was dropping my son off in his kindergarten room he was quizzing me about how and why rental cars worked. I don’t know where the question was sparked; I know better than to ask. As I was unpacking his bag and helping him shove his oversized lunchbox in his cubby, I attempted to
An analogy please with some sprinkles on top Read More »
announcing
the motivated speaker
six principles to unlock your communication potential
In this book you will discover the six essential threshold concepts needed to give talks like the best TED speakers and Fortune 500 leaders.
The book will deliver May 2025.
Stay tuned for the launch!
