See a photo of Paul and John, their bios, Part 1 of this Q&A,Part 2, and Part 3.

Q&A with Paul Furiga and John Durante, Questions 7 and 8:

Q: The storytelling movement seems to be growing explosively. Why now? What is it about this moment in human history and culture that makes storytelling so resonant with so many people right now?

A: The speed of evolving technology and our “sound bite” culture has people begging for communication with context. Few communication styles suited for broad audiences provide more context and meaning than a well-told story with a beginning, middle and end. People want a hero to root for, they want action they understand, they want a lesson or moral to the story, and they want resolution. Thanks in part to technology and our global media culture, we are overwhelmed by communication volume and gimmickry. People are at a loss when trying to distinguish what’s real from authentic. And 21st-century technology has enabled people to punish those who intentionally lie to them. These are among the reasons that we believe authentic, well-told stories are an important way to help audiences re-order the fast-moving reality that’s engulfing them.

Q: What people or entities have been most influential to you in your story work and why?

A: Wow, over the years there have been so many. Like a lot of guys in my era I was originally influenced by the work of Woodward and Bernstein in the Nixon years in journalism. Later when I worked for the late U.S. Sen. Paul Simon of Illinois (an unusually decent man) I realized that authentic stories play a key role in true government and political leadership.

John’s path was a little different. His seminal storytelling influences came from kind of an odd group of folks: Edward R. Murrow, Bruce Springsteen, Marshall McLuhan, a range of social scientists and even Consumer Reports magazine. John still swears that for popular audiences, Consumer Reports does some of the best work in telling authentic stories supported by numeric data (a sub-area of storytelling John frequently works in as a market researcher).