"What are the best books on storytelling for my business?" OR "I'm discovering how powerful storytelling can be for my business, but I want to learn more. What books should I read?"I've been hearing these questions more and more. The challenge with recommending books always comes back to a question of my own, "What do you want to know about story? The science? The structure? What stories to tell? How to tell a great story? how to use them in your business, etc?" The study and practice of story is a science, art, craft, and passion. Just like if I asked my favorite musician to recommend the best books on music, I'm sure they'd have a list of their own questions and a laundry list of books to recommend. I am approaching this list to include what I think would be a well rounded list of getting anyone up to speed and schooled up to a story pro. This is what I would personally recommend and why -- in no particular order:

Look, there are a lot of people running around talking about story and story formulas. They reference the hero's journey and promise a formula to make it as easy as filling out a Mad-Libs book. I see the ads everyday on Facebook or in my inbox: “Follow this 5 step formula and you’ll be an amazing storyteller!” Sound remotely familiar? Sorry, but it’s not happening. I don’t believe in story formulas and neither should you. A formula - is something that gets a guaranteed result every time. And I hate to be the one to say it, but in storytelling there is no such thing as a formula. [...]Read More...

Powerpoint is dead. Sorry, to have to be the bearer of bad news but the sooner we all realize this and move on the better. That fancy sales presentation with all the best figures and data in it? Dead. That huge investor deck with 10 bullets per slide? Dead. That recruiting deck showing your prospective A-players and employees the reason they should lay it all on the line or come work for you? Dead. All of them. Dead. Dead. Dead. Look, I’ll answer the immediate objection that you’re screaming at the screen right now. [...]Read More...

Empathy. Sympathy. Same thing right? Well no, not even close. And understanding the difference between these two words and ideas is what will separate your storytelling from blah to Yeah! When talking story, the words empathy and sympathy come up often. Most entrepreneurs and businesses use the words empathy and sympathy incorrectly and many times interchangeably (which is also incorrect.) As we go out and spread the idea of the importance of story in business, we find that a many people understand the idea that story in itself makes an emotional connection and therefore makes the audience or the listener empathetic to the story teller or the story itself... [...]Read More...

Note: This post was supposed to publish in early April. For no good reason, it didn't. However, the message is timeless or at least has a shelf life of 2 months. ---- “Life Changing Experience” It’s a phrase overused and often delivered with little meaning. I know I’m guilty of saying “that speaker I saw, life changing” or “that cool entrepreneur conference I went to, definitely life changing, bro.” Well maybe not the “bro” part but the point is, we overuse the phrase. On April 1, 2017 I was lucky to attend the First Descents Ball in Beaver Creek, CO. First Descents mission states: First Descents provides life-changing outdoor ventures for young adults (age 18-39) impacted by cancer. When I first became aware of FD (as called by their raving community of participants, donors, and supporters) I was shocked to learn that young adults are the most underserved demographic fighting cancer... [...]Read More...

How do I write a business manifesto? | storytelling | business story | differentiate your business branding & marketing with storytelling

One of the single greatest decisions I've made as an entrepreneur is joining the Colorado Chapter of The Entrepreneur's Organization (EO). I could probably write a book about all the value I get but in short, it's a group of like minded entrepreneurs trying to get better in every way: business, family, personal. I've been honored to serve as co-learning chair for the past two years. My job is to simply find one of a kind learning and social experiences for our membership. This past October 2016 we had the pleasure of hosting world famous graphic designer Aaron Draplin from the Draplin Design Co.‍In addition to hosting, my very good friends at The Public Works also shot and edited this great video highlighting our two day experience with Aaron. We hosted an evening keynote on Friday and then spend the next Saturday designing and building cool stuff in the shop at The Public Works. Not to overuse this phrase, but a weekend I'll never forget and one that I truly treasure

"How did I get here?"Last night I was sitting in a row of chairs at the Space Gallery in Denver, looking at the people, companies, personalities, and stories around me. Sometimes I just feel so lucky, so fortunate, so grateful that I'm sitting where I'm sitting.

This past weekend I had the distinct pleasure of helping to organize an event for the world renowned graphic designer, Aaron James Draplin of the Draplin Design Company. Through a series of cosmic events all lining up perfectly Aaron was on a tour promoting his super awesome book Pretty Much Everything. We were fortunate that he was able to swing through Denver and spend an intimate evening with our crew.The event was full of stories and experiences shared from Aaron’s career. It really has been an amazing ride to this point and if you’ve ever met Aaron he’s full of life and a takes a real blue collar approach to his profession and art. I’m certain Aaron would see this as the highest compliment.

For aspiring entrepreneurs asking, "I'm thinking about launching my dream on Kickstarter. How do I make my Kickstarter campaign a success?"

We are so excited to be working with Boulder B-Cycle, that we are using their awesome ride sharing bikes to tell our own wild story.

Read this recap from Marc Gutman on his experience at Camp Maverick 2015 with amazing entrepreneurs. Click Here.

While founder, Marc, visited the team at Inboard Sports, he had a profound revelation about the connection between an explorer & entrepreneur. Read more.

Recently I was visiting a client and friend, Ryan Evans CEO of Inboard Sports.We were hanging out grabbing coffee and breakfast to fuel up for the day and scanning our emails. We both chuckled simultaneously as we had a similar email in each of our inboxes. A mutual friend had referred one of their friends to us. We're using "friend" awkwardly here to protect the innocent.

Text isn’t dead but it may be dying.If it isn’t dying there is no doubt that it is rapidly losing market share.We recently had the privilege of attending The PR News Digital Public Relations Conference in South Beach (Miami).The message was clear. Social Media. Storytelling. Engagement. It all hinges and depends on visuals. The numbers, data, and success tell one singular truth. Photos and video rule drive engagement and hold interest. More people are interested in compelling visuals than lots of text.There is no doubt that rich visuals impact your communications. Get on the visual train now as there will be no going back. Those that don’t focus on including rich media such as photos, video, and graphics in their storytelling will be left behind. Even worse? You’ll be telling stories that could be compelling, but no one will be listening. I can’t think of a bigger communications crime.

I love hearing entrepreneurs and business owners tell their story. It might be the thing I enjoy most and I spend a lot of non-billable time following this passion. This week alone I have 3 events that center around entrepreneurship and hearing about other people’s businesses.I don’t think I’d spend as much time with other entrepreneurs as I do if there wasn’t some sort of take-away or personal growth. And while there’s always talk of personal take-away or personal value, not every experience is an “ah-ha” moment.

The Boulder International Film Festival was an incredible event to experience and be a part of! Boulder’s scenic backdrop is the perfect location to enjoy films and food. Among the countless films and events BIFF held, my favorite was attending CineCHEF. In the last four years I have spent living in Boulder, CO, I have been able to eat some delicious food, but the food at CineCHEF tops it all.

I ended up attending the CineCHEF event which was really cool. The only film that I knew that a chef based his small platter on was Pulp Fiction where the chef made hamburger sliders – which, if you have seen Pulp Fiction, you know that those sliders are featured in some pretty ridiculous scenes. My favorite station was the street tacos and the desserts, I’m maybe the only person in the world who doesn’t like Crush orange soda, so I wasn’t a fan of the Crush Orange soda scallops dish, but I thought it was incredibly creative, as I would never think to cook with Orange soda. It was a fun event with great food, great drinks and a sophisticated atmosphere. I would recommend the event.

I had a wonderful experience interning with WildStory PR, and getting the opportunity to work on The Boulder International Film Festival. It was awesome to really get the full experience from learning about the event, to reaching out to news outlets and spreading the word, and finally, getting to attend the event myself. I also loved that, as an intern, I felt that my work was truly important. I never even had to make copies or go on coffee runs!

Being an entrepreneur, or just a business rockstar, means taking on a lot of responsibilities. Sometimes every little task you and your co-workers are responsible for can be very hard to keep track of. However, thanks to technology, our smart phones have become our business sidekicks. In order to keep yourself on track, there are several useful mobile appls out there that you can use to your advantage to stay organized. Here are some of our go to mobile apps to keep track of everything work throws at us throughout each day.