How to be an engaging speaker
You've been invited to talk at a conference. Congratulations! If only someone could tell you the four key elements required for solid audience engagement...
Storytelling
Why do we throw coins in a fountain?
Why throw coins in a fountain? For good luck, obviously. We've all done it. But here's a funny thing...
The best Storyteller Tactic we never published
Storyboard your way through a presentation.
How our elders tell the best stories, and what you can learn from them
On a warm, drizzly evening the other day, I took my dog, Coco, round the block for a quick pre-bedtime stroll.
It would not turn out to be quick.
The secret to storytelling without being condescending
I had a choice: stay in my comfort zone and talk at people about prototyping. Or try something I've never done before: tell an engaging story that has the chance to stick in people's minds.
Episode 17: Once Upon a Time in Manchester (Part 3)
A storyteller, struggling to teach innovation. And an innovator, struggling to find his story ...
Then, one day, a message: “Hey Steve. I’ve got a proposition for you. Free to chat?”
Tactics: TRUE Stories, Pitch Perfect.
Episode 16: Niamh’s Pride and Fall
The penny finally dropped in Nan’s back garden. Niamh and her Dad stood there, watching Tony the estate agent hacking brambles and weeds with a spade. Slowly he reveals a low concrete slab, covered in moss and cracked with age. ...
Episode 15: It's a Kind of Magic
Niamh has been with MiCasa for three months now. A dream job for any developer, starting with an almost blank page and focussing on what the customer really needs.
Tactics: It's a Kind of Magic, How to Why.
Episode 14: Time to jump ship?
Niamh is in charge of the development team at UpYourStreet, a long-established property sales platform. Except she’s not - not in charge, that is. She’s waiting for Derek.
Tactics: Story Hooks, The Dragon and the City
Episode 13: The Strange Death of Zanussi Cumberbatch
Zanussi died unexpectedly, unloved and un-mourned by the millions of people who’d never read his work. Overnight, Google had changed its search algorithms. They’d seen through the likes of Zanussi Cumberbatch, with his pathetic attempts to game the system. With...
Episode 12: The Secret Life of Zanussi Cumberbatch
Orson always wanted to be a writer. He had a photo of Hemingway on the desk in his student bedroom. Two years out of uni, Orson got a job that paid him to write: as a content writer for a web...
Episode 11: Cut to the Chase
“Let me ask you this,” she says, pausing the presentation. “How many of us in this room right now know what we’re having for dinner tonight?” Tactics: Data Detectives, Cut to the Chase.