Storytelling Blog

I was staring into the distance at nothing in particular when it occurred to me that everything is a story, a narrative. Each one of us is a unique narrative with a beginning and an end. In that narrative there are ...

Everyone has interesting stories to tell. If you have a story about how stories change lives and organizations that you'd like to share, send us an email at info@storytelling.co.za ...

This dilemma tale is used for audiences who are asked what the hero of the story should do - if you don't have an audience, think about what you would do if you were Umbogo. ONCE THERE WAS AND ONCE ...

Assessment: Brand and Brandstory Assessment Loading… Assessment: Build vision for your Future This feedback assessment is designed to help you develop a powerful vision of the future and profile the way in which you allocate your energies in your life ...

This Brand and Brandstory assessment is designed to get feedback from your marketing team. Feedback from this assessment is used to ensure that your team is on the same page ...

Designed specifically to up your game, the change management masterclass is designed for change management practitioners with 2 or more years' experience in the field who want to develop deep knowledge and know-how in the field. The Change Management Masterclass ...

What is consciousness? How does it work? Can consciousness be expanded? This facilitated workshop allows you to experiment with mind tools that allow reflection on the most human and mysterious of experiences; the awareness of your awareness in what is ...

Conversations that Count: In an age where digital monologues, selfies and superficial chats are the norm, the power of conversation is waning. Disconnected in our connected world, text, email and social media exchanges are hardly interactive, let alone conversational. TV, ...

WHAT IF? You had to find out the opinions of 2000 people around a specific issue in a diverse global company within 24 hours …. and begin a harmonising process…… or to urgently raise leadership self-awareness, you wished to ascertain ...

We provide a complete web-based assessment service including sending out invvitations and providing real-time response reporting. Assessments are designed to run on any web browser on a PC or smartphone. Topic areas in the Conversations That Count Assessments Story Competence ...

In the time before time, when the world was still soft and new, awaiting its first true songs, there was the Copper Woman. Her skin held the warm, living glow of the metal for which she was named, shifting from ...

Crisis situations - danger & opportunity, their usefulness Crisis comes in many forms - for organisations they can make or break their reputational on how they deal wth crisis How to prepare - scenario planning of the kinds of crises ...

Learning organizations have predictable problems when it comes to instilling a culture that encourages self-development and lifelong learning in a large community of learners that are continuously changing. The continuous movement of people into and from the organization makes it ...

Storie deur Marie Beytell miracleproductions.co.za Hier is 'n storie EN 'n gediggie wat ek vandag opdra aan my PA PIET, wie 45 jaar in JCI se goudmyne gewerk het, en swaarstroom elektrisiteit gedurende sy leeftyd bemeester het. Ek onthou al ...

Many years ago, I had a dream of walking in a forest of mushrooms. It was cool, still and dark and I looked up the slender white stems to the caps high above me. Touching the cool stems, I knew ...

If you’re a creative, you already know that where you create — both inside and out — deeply affects what you create. The creative space is hard to describe, but those who live there — artists, writers, musicians, scientists — ...

You routinely walk through the entrance of a mall or building where there is a sign at the entrance, with the word ENTRANCE spelled out. Entrance means to place someone into a state of trance. The focused attitudinal trance of ...

Eugene May was born in Boksburg, Transvaal on April 22nd 1949 into the Gericke family. Her father was a carpenter in the gold mines. There were 4 children in the family, the youngest of whom was Eugenie. At 8years old, ...

'Eunoia' is the shortest English word that contains all the five vowels. It derives from the Greek word εύνοια which means 'well mind' or 'beautiful thinking'. It is a rarely used medical term referring to a state of "normal mental ...

The statement "everything is frequency" encapsulates a profound concept that permeates physics, biology, and even psychology, suggesting that the universe, at its most fundamental level, can be understood as a vast interplay of vibrations and oscillations. This perspective is particularly ...

Some many years ago I facilitated a workshop on change management and remember an animated discussion about the concept of 'hive mind' and what the term meant in the context of organisations. There were many opinions that emerged during the ...

There's a lot more talk happening around gamifying, gamification and game design and how the approach of gamifying can increase customers, boost morale, reduce churn and stimulate liking behaviour. Loyalty cards, bonus points, free offers and any story designed to ...

Storytelling plays a profound and fundamental role in creating and shaping reality, both individually and collectively. Our experience of the world is not a direct apprehension of "what is," but rather an internally generated "model" of what we think is ...

Written & Narrated by Britta R. Kollberg - Germany Kokopelli carries his story like a flute ahead, making himself heard before you or anyone can see him. He showed up on a website when I started searching a way out ...

Storytelling is not just a communication tool but a fundamental aspect of human interaction and understanding. By harnessing the power of narratives, organizations can create a shared sense of purpose, motivate employees, engage customers, and ultimately achieve greater success. Meaning ...

A metaprogram is a sophisticated kind of program that can reprogram itself as it runs. Given this definition, one could see onesself and one's own thinking as a kind of metaprogram. Using a metaprogram as a metaphor is useful as ...

If you are depressed, you are living in the past. If you are anxious, you are living in the future. If you are at peace, you are living in the present. Lao Tzu Living in the now is made more ...

If you're considering creating a podcast or video channel, here are some ideas to explore to begin with. 1. what will you call your it?2. who is it for?3. what subject material will you cover?4. what is the mission of ...

Leadership, who should be able to take an objective view of everything that is happening in an organisation, usually become increasingly removed from the inner story circles. And often when they hear the stories, they will have been sanitised and ...

The way the story starts has a lot to do with tradition and culture and a whole lot to do with holding attention of the reader and the listener. Here are some samples: Once upon a time......this is the favourite ...

Meaning - Stories are used to convey meaning, whether it is how to close a sale, reprimand a subordinate, motivate someone, give a presentation or something more profound Planning - Cognitive scientist William Calvin suggests that we gradually acquire the ...

International Literacy Day is celebrated annually on September 8th  throughout the world for 60 years now - you can read more about it here. Often schools like to do something to celebrate this event and each year we get requests ...

Your Narrative (or story) can be seen is an operating system upon which your user interface and apps run. Transforming your story is like changing your operating system and gives novel ways to access, visualise and influence the endlessly transforming ...

Typically in organisations, people converse around certain topics and experiences. And in day to day interactions they observe things that happen; what people say and what people actually end up doing. Dissonance and paradox emerge when what people say doesn’t ...

The immune system in our body is responsible for any defensive reaction against foreign material. Language acts as an immune response, keeping the world in a shape we are familiar with, keeping new and potentially “unnecessary” experience out. The “unnecessary” ...

We work with Leadership & Exco. to improve storytelling confidence, ability & delivery. We work one-on-one or with a group up to 15 participants. Group Sessions Group sessions last one day going into the evening, preferably in a venue with ...

We provide leadership and Exco fireside storytelling teambuilding in a boma/fireside environment. Traditionally, it is in the boma where, it is said, the best stories were told and the biggest decisions taken. It is a powerful and memorable way of ...

Life is story. What we know of the world and ourselves is made up of countless stories that we hear, tell to ourselves and share with others. But stories don't just describe, they literally construct who we are,  our relationship to ...

Tired of the ceaseless mental chatter, feeling bombarded by life's relentless advertising for your attention? Discover the Meditation Workshop, your guide to mastering your inner world and reclaiming profound peace. The Workshop (you do it by yourself) will help you ...

The word metanoia carries a weight that "change" or "improvement" simply cannot match. While we often think of change as an incremental adjustment—like updating software or tidying a room—metanoia represents a complete system reboot. Derived from the Greek meta (beyond ...

Exactly how to portray the human mind has preoccupied philosophers for centuries and more recently psychologists, educationalists and physiologists have contributed to the debate. [technology creates new metaphors, tools to manipulate our experience that create our stance towards the world] ...

"NOTE: This story comes from a Zulu elder who said, 'These ideas about the mountain are from more than 100 years ago. African leadership today—with some shining examples—has a different approach. There's no more climbing up mountains anymore. Now it's ...

BY CHRIS THEMBISILE HANI 1942 – 1993 “I was born in a small rural town in the Transkei called Cofimvaba. This town is almost 200 kilometres from East London. I am the fifth child in a family of six. Only ...

This narrative medicine workshop is specially designed for health practitioners such as medical doctors, nurses, psychologists, psychiatrists and volunteers who are concerned with the care of the unwell. Narrative medicine concerns itself with how storytelling techniques are used to facilitate ...

We all know about private converations, the conversations you have with someone else that you don't talk about once you've had them. There is another category of private conversation that is the most private of private converations - the conversations ...

Propaganda: from the sacred to the algorithmic The word itself is older than most people realise. Propaganda comes from the Latin propagare — to propagate, to spread. It entered formal use in 1622 when Pope Gregory XV established the Congregatio ...

The Refugee Workshop is designed to guide individuals who have experienced forced displacement through the multifaceted journey of healing, adaptation, and rebuilding their lives in a new country. It serves as a companion for refugees and their immense courage, strength, ...

They say that power is the ultimate aphrodisiac, that absolute power corrupts absolutely but no-one talks about the idea that power is addictive ...

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If you research 'game theory' on the web, you'll find the main references refer to game theory in terms of mathematical models as would be used in economics, psychology, politics etc.. The main focus of this piece is upon social ...

Stories are not simply reflections of reality, but rather, they are constructs that actively shape our internal experiences and our understanding of the world. This is how individual narratives and cultural contexts interact: Culture as a source of narratives: Every ...

In common language, an event is something that happens (changes), in particular something special of limited duration. An example of this is a major sporting event, concert or political rally. An event is an outcome, result, reference or single point ...

A selection of resources on the intersection of storytelling and gaming - moral physics, dramatic agency, social sculpture, Future of Storytelling Speaker: Janet Murray Professor, eTV Researcher, & Author, "Hamlet on the Holodeck" ...

Stories, whether they emerge from external inputs or are generated internally through thought processes, play a significant role in shaping our experiences and biological responses. This process begins in the nervous system, which is intricately connected to both the endocrine ...

The key driver that determines the quality and profitability of customer relationships is grounded in storytelling. Whatever your customers know about you, your organisation, your products and services is story based. Telling better stories in the right way empowers customer ...

Brand Managers and Marketing Teams are expected to tell the story of the business and its brands to create and build customer interest, awareness, sales and long-term brand recognition. Marketing departments often need to liaise with advertising agencies and providers ...

By consciously engaging in storytelling, both by sharing our own narratives and by analyzing the stories that influence us, we can gain valuable insights into ourselves, challenge limiting beliefs, and actively shape our personal growth and future. Aspect of Self-Discovery/GrowthHow ...

Traditionally a strategic plan is a document-based creation of leadership, exco and senior management that is "brought down from the mountain" to be implemented throughout the organisation, mainly by people who haven't been consulted or engaged in the process. This ...

While the digital age provides many different ways of telling stories, the techniques used to create stories are ancient. Storytelling in the Digital Age looks at how powerful stories are created, evaluated and shared through digital media. Stories can work ...

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The way you tell a story either inspires you or keeps you in a state of despondency. It doesn’t have to be a long story either most of the stories that impact our lives profoundly can be told in a ...

What makes a story have the desired effect? Simply, the story must meet certain criteria. The story must be appealing. It must be memorable. It must stimulate the imagination. It must have an element of suspense. It will often involve ...

The dust blew across the parched fields as the recession and drought dragged on. The Karoo had been particularly hot and Piet decided he'd have to supplement the farm's income with a bank loan. So one morning, Piet put on ...

A humanoid robot named "Sophia" was granted Saudi Arabian Citizenship at the tech summit Future Investment Initiative on 25th October 2017 - the first time a robot has received citizenship the BBC reported Created by Hanson Robotics (HR) "Sophia" is ...

Men’s lives are as much governed by restrictive role expectations as are the lives of women Men’s lives are essentially governed by fear The power of the feminine is immense in the psychic economy of men Men collude in a ...

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The Exit Narrative The Exit Narrative is a particular kind of story that is seldom shared, but everyone has one or more of them. The Exit Narrative, when it pops up into your mind is evidence that change is being ...

"Those roles which, being neither those of hero nor Heroine, Confidante nor Villain, but which were none the less essential to bring about the Recognition or the denouement were called the Fifth Business in drama and Opera companies organized according ...

The first key: Knowing what you want Successful people know what they want. They know who they want to be and where they want to go. In other words, they have a very clear picture of what success means to ...

This is an example of how you can use and possibly benefit from treating twitter as a game. It seems some people use the platform very well and that has a lot to do with their intention or rather, having ...

The Hero's Journey is a common narrative pattern and template where the protagonist embarks on an adventure, faces challenges and temptations, achieves victory, and returns home transformed. This journey often begins in the ordinary world, where the hero receives a ...

The little bag of poison : A Short Indigenous Teaching Story : Peruvian Amazon We are all born into this world with a little bag of poison that we take with us wherever we go. We all know the little ...

The Truth and the Lie meet on the road one day. The Lie says to the Truth: "It's a marvelous day today!" The Truth looks up to the skies and sighs, for the day was truly beautiful. They walk together ...

The greatest stories are all about change. What does a story have to do to change someone’s behaviour? Well, we should firstly admit that it is not just the story that changes people, but whole communities talking about stories. Behind ...

The advertising industry has known for a long time that education (changing behaviour) and entertainment can be combined into a powerful propaganda tool. This is education, not through repetition, but through intensity of experience – not by rote but by ...

Early one morning a wispy cloud bumped into a story ...

This story based on on a story told in Sir Laurens van der Post’s book "The Heart of the Hunter" Once upon a time... on the edge of the dry Kalahari desert, there farmed a bushman farmer. He had crops ...

Vishnu and Naruda were sitting in deep conversation and Naruda asked "What is time Lord Vishnu?" Vishnu replied "Why don't you cross the river and find out?" So Naruda went down to the river and swam to the other side, ...

“The Bushmen in the Kalahari Desert talk about the two "hungers". There is the Great Hunger and there is the Little Hunger. The Little Hunger wants food for the belly; but the Great Hunger, the greatest hunger of all, is ...

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Here are some tips for skillful storytelling. Start off by Visualising the story! Imagine the sounds, tastes, smells, textures and colours in the story. It is only when you experience the story vividly yourself that your audience can experience it! ...

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Trauma is not defined by the event itself but by an individual’s unique response to it. Recognizing Trauma The workbook provides a Trauma Checklist, adapted from the PCL-5, to help individuals assess the severity of their trauma symptoms. This checklist ...

Data >> Information / Exformation >>Story >> Knowledge Data satisfies the rational mind Stories capture emotions and feelingsWe know how to use use a blend of data and story to create compelling reporting You need to ask some important questions ...

Ukhamba is the Nguni word for Calabash. You pronounce it OO-KHAM-BA. The Calabash is a gourd pumpkin that has been used by ancient people throughout Africa as a container in which to brew beer, store medicines, valuable herbs and water ...

An African Dilemma tale is a unique style of participative storytelling. It is a story that has no end other than that provided by the participants. And even then, the story continues...... Why are dilemma tales important for children in ...

There's nothing quite like a crisis to focus attention and galvanize groups, organisations and even countries. Many organisations routinely use crisis as a method of focusing attention, stimulating action, accelerating the pace of change and altering trajectory and focus. Typical ...

Stories of overcoming adversity are always powerful and inspiring. Here are some ideas for stories that focus on the theme of "victory of desperation": Someone who has lost everything finds a way to rebuild their life and achieve success. A ...

Virtues Training Workshop (Self Assessment) ...

It's common for "story" and "narrative" to be used interchangeably, but there are some nuanced differences. Think of the story as the ingredients and the narrative is how you cook and present the meal. A story can be seen as ...

Discover Your Story: Are you ready to captain your own ship? In a world changing faster than ever before, your greatest asset isn't just knowledge – it's your mind and your ability to navigate a sea of information. "Who Are ...

Imagine a world where super-smart robots and computer programs (AI) can do amazing things really fast. They can write stories, solve tricky math problems, and even help doctors figure out illnesses. But, there are some special jobs that humans will ...

We start our lives watching and listening to sounds made by the world around us. As William James once wrote "The baby, assailed by eyes, ears, nose, skin, and entrails at once, feels it all as one great blooming, buzzing ...

We may as well ask "why do people read newspapers?", or "why do people watch television?" Somewhere in our DNA there's a compelling vibrating strand asking so be told a story, because stories help us to survive and experience happiness ...

We've never had a policy manual in this company. The way we share our values is to sit around a fire in the Boma* every Thursday evening after work and share stories. It is our way of seeing where we ...

The Art and Science of Change explores change and transformation as complex, multifaceted phenomena that are constant and inevitable in both personal and organizational life. Change is defined as an alteration or transition, while transformation implies a more profound and ...

Organising Principles are the foundations that provide and guide beliefs, behaviours, thinking, understanding and practice and what is expected of people within the organisation. There is no organisation possible without organising principles. Organising Principles include Vision, Mission, Values, Measures, Purpose ...