If you want your story to connect, don’t think like a marketer. Think like Taylor Swift. Recently, I faced one of the trickiest audiences in my speaking career—a room full of Girl Scouts, grades 6–12. Not my usual crowd of … Read More →

We think more is better, but focus makes stories memorable. In today’s golden age of TV, great shows are everywhere. That’s love sharing what I’m watching every month in my newsletter. Last month, it was The Pitt on Max. Most … Read More →

We avoid conflict, yet it’s the struggle that drives the stories we tell … I’m a proud Iowan—home of Caitlin Clark, John Wayne, and the University of Iowa, which boasts the first coed university, college of public health, and MFA … Read More →

Small stories can create a big impact—even microdoses of story. Here’s how… In 1940, Franklin Roosevelt faced growing pressure. The Great Depression lingered, and across the Atlantic, Hitler’s aggression threatened Europe. Roosevelt knew the U.S. had to support Great Britain, … Read More →

Every business has a story to tell. But how do you find that story? My first job out of college was in marketing for a small educational publishing company in Iowa City. The company’s founder, Doug, was a true character—an … Read More →

Stories can help us do many things. Like inspire action toward our goals … When it comes to celebrity encounters, I’m somewhat lucky. In my travels through the years, I’ve randomly bumped into Martin Sheen, Reba McEntire, Marc Maron, and … Read More →

Stories help us do many things — bring an unseen future to life, communicate shared values, and even sell new products and services. To illustrate the latter, I’m going to share a story I first heard in my earliest days … Read More →

Starting all over again doesn’t feel like a good thing. In board games, we land on the wrong spot and are punished by being sent back to the beginning. Progress on a chart is linear, climbing up and to the … Read More →

This past weekend we did something special in the online MBA program at the University of Iowa’s Tippie College of Business where I teach—we had students on campus. In launching a popular online program, we’ve been looking for ways to … Read More →

Leadership and storytelling. If you also have ‘collaboration’ and ‘engagement’ and the free space, you should have a Buzzword Bingo. It’s easy to find these topics covered in talks at conferences, the pages of books, and articles online—like this one … Read More →