Long ago, before I was a storyteller, I was, quite simply, a traveler. Instead of doing my work in board rooms and conference halls, the my theater was the road. I lived to travel, I worked to travel, and every day I sought to see the world and its gems. In earnest this lasted for a…
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I grew up in a recruiting household. My dad, a college basketball coach when I was young, had the challenging job of recruiting prospects to a then-unknown school called Boise State. The team members he brought in were like our family. As the players often came from far away, they would come over to our…
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Ken Dychtwald, author, Ph.D., CEO, and general force of nature, walked into my office. “Jay,” he said, there are a few stories I’d like to work on today. But this first one is a gift for you.” A gift indeed. In his career, Ken has spoken to millions of people – and when Ken wants…
READ MORENasrudin is known as much for his wisdom as his foolishness, and many are those who have sought out his teaching. One devotee tracked him down for many years before finding him in the marketplace sitting atop a pile of banana peels–no one knows why. “Oh great sage, Nasrudin,” said the eager student. “I must…
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While we spend our moments on social media, we spend our lunches, our dinners, and our deepest connections exploring something much older and much deeper: the original social media, the stories that live on in our hearts and minds. We experience stories not with our brains alone, but with our bodies. We touch, we feel,…
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After the fall of communism, Larry Hagman, who had played J.R. Ewing in the 1980’s global mega hit “Dallas,” was on vacation in Romania, walking through Bucharest. A man came up to him with tears in his eyes and said, “J.R. Ewing! Thank you so much for saving Romania.” Saving Romania? That’s weird, he thought.…
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Do you ever tell a story, in a speech, in a meeting, or at a dinner, and it rolls along like a flat tire? Maybe it seems like everything’s ready to move but something feels kind of wobbly? Or instead of an “A-ha” at the end, you just get a long vacant look? Well, a…
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One brisk fall day 20 years ago, I shuffled into the great marble halls of the Accademia in Florence to see Michelangelo’s David. I had seen the postcards and posters and projections so many times, and from so many angles, I felt as if in some way I had already been there. As I approached…
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