Storytelling.co.zaWhat 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 drama but will also be authentic and make it easy for the listener to identify […]
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 his Sunday best and his velskoen and drove his bakkie into town. He arrived, dusty at […]
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 necessary to provide a method that Instills lifelong and necessary motivation, virtues, values and behavioural […]
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 ‘trickle-down’ approach often becomes a source of conflict and frustration because the only power held […]
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 organisational crises include reputational crisis, financial problems, product problems and recalls, conflict, competitor action & […]
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. For as long as human beings have had language, children have learnt about hunting, travelling, […]
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 ability to formulate plans as a result of storie s we hear in childhood. From […]
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 the world and the way in which the world relates to us. You can see […]
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 edited because thats what everyone wants leadership to know. By their absence from the day-to-day […]
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! Experience your story until the characters become as real to you as the people and places […]
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 rite. Edutainment is a combination of the concepts of education and entertainment. It refers to […]
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, live-streamed and public-event ‘conversations’, from political debates to discussion groups, tend to be immature, combative […]
