Over the weekend, Jared (who doesn’t use his last name on his blog), writer of the fascinating and popular blog Moon Over Martinborough, told me about a dilemma he’s having. He recently added a podcast to his blog. Here’s the issue:

I’m aware that these podcasts are more ‘books on tape-ish’ than they are “campfire story-ish.” It’s amazing the way a written text changes things. I’m hoping to be able to shift them more towards the campfire/oral storytelling as I get better, but to do that I almost need to ditch the text. Or improvise a bit while referring to the text.

Boy, I can sure relate to this dilemma. Oral presentations rarely sound great when read from written text. I’m not a bad presenter, but I’m neither great at extemporaneous speaking nor telling off-the-cuff stories. I almost always need some sort of written text as a prompt or crutch, even if it’s just a few words or a picture on a slide. (By the way, I don’t think a “books-on-tape” sound is necessarily a bad thing; I listen to a lot of audiobooks, and most readers — many of them actors — do a great job.)

I watched the Golden Globes last night. The best acceptance speeches were those that were obviously planned yet delivered off-the-cuff (Mo’nique, Meryl Streep, Robert Downey Jr.) The worst was the one that was obviously read from a piece of paper. In the middle were those not planned and therefore very stream-of-consciousness and all over the place. Here I’m thinking of Drew Barrymore’s wacky speech. While it was somewhat incomprehensible, it was still endearing because it was real — and very Drew Barrymore.

I think Jared, whose blog is about about his adventures as a an expat American running a New Zealand farm with his partner, is right about ditching the text. My hunch is that the best approach may be write the story just to get it mentally organized and cemented in your brain. But when speaking the story, have — at most — an outline of one-word or short-phrase prompts in front of you. Or is it best not to write the story at all first?

I’d love to hear from oral-performance storytellers about making that transition from, as Jared calls it, “literacy to orality.” What’s the best way to take a written story and speak it so it sounds like a compelling oral story performance?

By the way, I listened to one of Jared’s podcasts, “The Triumph of Evil Cow”, a word-for-word recitation of the written blog entry of the same name, and I thought it was fine. To me, it’s about on par with, for example, spoken stories on This American Life. It’s perhaps a bit long; a listener may be daunted by noting that the story is 9+ minutes. Jared might consider a condensed version of his blog entries for the podcasts. He included a couple of sound effects, such as a crowing rooster, that remind me of sound-rich stories on NPR. He might include a few more of these in the story itself — such as mooing for the evil cow story.

Sometime last year, I started a protocol of listing story-related events on an inside Story Events page instead of here on the main page of A Storied Career. Recently, though, I’ve broken that protocol and listed story events here. I’m afraid I let the Story Events page get horribly outdated. In the meantime, I’ve been posting some events helmed by story practitioners I know. I know — and can heartily recommend — the folks involved in these three events:

Storytelling QuickStart Program, led by Michael Margolis (pictured at right), is a 4-week TeleCourse that starts Thurs, Feb. 18, and is limited to 25 participants, ideally, Michael says, “individuals with a big story to tell — visionaries, change-agents, business owners, solo-preneurs, and innovators.” Here’s a partial description from the page for the course, where you can also register for/purchase the course:

This 4-week course will give structure and guidance for how to apply the principles of my storytelling manifesto directly to your work. Each 90-minute session will include: ~ 20 minutes of presentation, ~ 25 minute of facilitated exercise, and ~ 45 minutes of group coaching. This program is limited to 25 participants to ensure individualized attention. You will also benefit from worksheets and HW exercises in between sessions. I’ll be experimenting with new modes of delivery in this program — and you’ll benefit with lots of bonus value-adds. You have to be willing to truly participate and give feedback throughout the program.

The Basics of Organizational Storytelling is exciting because it kicks off International Storytelling Weekend in Washington, DC. This workshop, led by my colleagues Thaler Pekar (pictured at left) and Svend-Erik Engh (pictured at right) on Thurs., April 15, 6:30 to 9 p.m., is sort of the “pre-show” of the weekend. Register here. Here’s the description of the event, from the Smithsonian’s Resident Associates site:

Storytelling has become an essential skills for managers and organizational leaders because it aids in establishing trust, articulating values, sparking innovation, inspiring action, sharing knowledge, building community, and generating followers and new leaders in organizations. Many leaders, however, have no background in storytelling and are confounded by how and when to share stories. In this seminar two individuals who have worked extensively in the field of organizational storytelling teach participants the basics, including the elements of an organizational story, when and how stories can be most effectively used in organizations, how stories told within an organization differ from stories told outside an organization, and how a story should be crafted to achieve specific goals and objectives. The seminar is led by Thaler Pekar, founder and principal of Thaler Pekar & Partners, a consulting firm specializing in persuasive communications, and Svend-Eric Engh, author of Tell a Story: Be Heard, Be Understood, Get Action (Fokus).

Then, the next day is the all-day seminar Smithsonian portion of Storytelling Weekend, Organizational Storytelling–A Tool for Transforming the Workplace. Organizers recommend that novices attend the preceding Basics of Organizational Storytelling the previous evening to get the most out of the Friday event. (The third part of Storytelling Weekend, the Golden Fleece Conference, to be held Sat., April 17, is not yet open for registration). Here’s the description of the Friday seminar. Register here:

Storytelling is a powerful and underutilized professional business tool that can be used to help achieve a myriad of organizational objectives, from generating new ideas to fostering strong work teams to sharing knowledge and transmitting values. In this seminar led by experts in the field of organizational storytelling, participants explore how narrative techniques can be used to ignite innovation and change in the workplace for the benefit of the organization, the people doing the work, and the clients and customers whom they serve.

Matthew E. May, chief strategist for MBox Design, former advisor at Toyota, and author of In Pursuit of Elegance (2009) and The Elegant Solution (2006), examines the stories used to inspire continuous innovation at Toyota, an organization that implements more than one million ideas per year.

Mary Poppendieck, retired 3M manager and co-author of Implementing Lean Software Development (2006) and Leading Lean Software Development (2009), discusses the characteristics of successful leaders and explains how stories can create a context where employees are motivated to perform their best and work as a team.

Steve Denning, former head of knowledge management at the World Bank and author of The Leader’s Guide to Storytelling (2005) and The Secret Language of Leadership (2007), talks about how some companies are re-inventing the workplace using storytelling to inspire continuous innovation, productivity, job satisfaction, and client delight. He also discusses the role of storytelling as part of the seven basic principles of continuous innovation.

Elizabeth Woodward, a software transformation consultant with IBM and co-author of The Practical Guide to Distributed Scrum (2010), discusses how teams can create the change they envision by focusing on prioritization of needs in the form of user stories, continuous feedback from stakeholders, and consistent delivery of high-quality, valuable short-term wins.

Seth Kahan, an independent consultant with a specialty in change management, and author of Getting Change Right (2010), shows how leaders transform organizations from the inside out by getting people on board for bold new ideas.

Madelyn Blair, CEO of Pelerei, Inc., an organizational consulting firm, explains the concept and principles of radical learning and how it can be used to develop strategies for maintaining focus and achieving results.

Coffee and pastries are served 8:30 to 9 a.m. Lunch is from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m.; participants provide their own lunch.

I love The Moth and have written about it numerous times, most recently here, where I shared some favorite stories from The Moth’s podcast.

I receive regular email updates from The Moth, announcing its events mostly in New York City but sometimes in other parts of the country. It’s kind of frustrating to receive these because I’ve never been in a situation where I could easily travel to a Moth event.

But The Moth has come up with a rather obvious solution for people like me. If you can’t travel to a Moth event, create one of your own, called a MothUp, in your own home.

On a page called MothUP – The Living Room Satellite Moth, The Moth tells how to hold such an event.

The Moth is quite serious about these events and institutionalizing them as part of The Moth. “Videos from your MothUP night will be featured on our website,” the MothUp page states. “Posted stories will be considered for our radio program, The Moth Radio Hour. You and your friends could end up on our show! If your event continues to grow, and you can establish that you have a large enough crowd to warrant moving to a larger venue, your city could become the next place for an official Moth StorySLAM.”

Another indication of the seriousness with which The Moth regard this initiative is that participants are asked to download a set of MothUp guidelines, complete a form, and agree to The Moth’s terms.

Here are excerpts from the organization’s basics of holding a MothUp:

What you need:

• A group of friends, co-workers and acquaintances who you can lure to your place to share a night of true, first person stories. You’ll meet once a month. All stories should be true as remembered by the storyteller. You must have a minimum of five people, but you set the cap for the max number of group members.

• A video camera to capture the stories. If you have the gear, we also urge you to record the audio in broadcast quality. We want you to record your stories, so that they can be shared around the world and your group can become part of our storytelling community. The best video content from the MothUP groups will be featured online (at the sole discretion of The Moth).

How to start:

• Send out an invite stating the theme of the evening. (See our webpage for each month’s suggestions, use our prompts and send folks to our “Storytelling Guidelines” webpage for hints, tips and rules) Provide the where and when info. Tune into The Moth Podcast and The Moth Radio Hour for inspiration.

• Provide snacks and drinks, or ask folks to bring their own. Turn OFF the tv, the radio, the cell phones and the computers. Have enough seats for everyone, or have friends flexible enough to sit on the floor.

• Ask everyone who comes who has a story to put his or her name in a hat.

• Have a timer and some sort of musical instrument or noisemaker handy to warn each storyteller when he or she gets to the five-minute mark!

• Take pictures and record good audio of your livingroom MothUP.

Madelyn Blair and Denise Lee are planning this year’s Golden Fleece conference, with Madelyn noting the organization has received several proposals but wants more. They’ve therefore extended the date for submission to January 25.

This year’s theme is “You, Me and We: Connecting through Story.”

Golden Fleece is a superb and rich applied-storytelling conference. I wish I were attending this year, but I’ve established a pattern of attending in odd-numbered years — plus, this year’s event is very shortly after we will have made our big cross-country move. I’m glad Madelyn shared this info because at least one reader has asked me for details about the conference. I see that the conference is back at George Mason University (after several years at the National 4H Center), where it was when I first attended in 2005. The photos above are from the 2009 conference.

DETAILS OF THE RFP

The Golden Fleece is seeking proposals on “You, Me and We: Connecting through Story” for workshops and presentations on storytelling in the workplace and our teams, communities, and beyond for our upcoming one day Conference to be held:

Date and Time of the event: Saturday, April 17, 2010 from 9 to 5.
Theme: You, Me and We: Connecting through Story
Location: George Mason University, Arlington, VA, Campus
(Washington, DC area)
Workshop Proposal Submission Deadline: January 25, 2010.

Golden Fleece, in conjunction with the 2010 Storytelling in Organizations seminar of the Smithsonian Institution’s Resident Associates Program (April 16, 2010), is pleased to announce the ninth annual International Storytelling Weekend in Washington. This one-day conference offers the possibility for change leaders, executives, storytelling professionals, organizational development practitioners, students and researchers to conduct workshops, present findings, and discuss the important aspects of using story to explore all of the myriad of contemporary challenges we face today and in the future.

GOLDEN FLEECE IS CONVENING THIS DAY TO:

• Open a Forum for peer-to-peer learning about what has and hasn’t worked and to create insight into the experiences of those who use story in their work with organizations including an examination of constraints and difficulties – and how they were resolved.
• Introduce New Tools through presentations, experiential workshops, case studies and discussion in a collegial atmosphere. We will explore chosen topics in-depth and are especially interested in identifying new tools and applications with the expectation that participants will have gained enough specific knowledge to adopt/adapt these after the session.
• Promote Inclusiveness by creating an event that encourages new faces (especially students) to feel open to participate
• Strengthen Golden Fleece by enlarging our community of practice.

See proposal guidelines in the extended entry.

GUIDING PRINCIPLES AND SELECTION CRITERIA

Golden Fleece encourages practitioners to respond to this invitation in creative, innovative and provocative ways. We are particularly interested in interactive workshops, and hope to choose at least one workshop that combines a case study with experiential learning. We will place emphasis on proposals that offer new insights and open the possibility for continued dialogue on story introduced by speakers from the Smithsonian session the day before. (The main topic for the April 16, 2010, session is Radical Management. See www.stevedenning.com for details of speakers and topics.)

EVENT STRUCTURE

There will be two types of sessions

• 60 and 90 minute presentation, interactive sessions
• Plenary sessions

Please make sure that your proposal clearly states how much time will be required.

SUBMISSION AND REVIEW PROCEDURES
You are invited to submit a short 1,500 word (no more than 3 double-spaced typed pages) workshop proposal to Madelyn Blair and Denise Lee, this years Co-Chairpeople, at dlee@cox.net on or before January 25, 2010. Please place “GF Call” in the subject line of your email. Name your attached proposal file “GF Call 10 your name” (It is very important that you include your name in the file name.)

EACH SUBMISSION SHOULD INCLUDE:

• A title page (separate) with names, affiliations, phone, fax, and email of presenter(s)/author(s).
• Proposals should include a clear statement of learning objectives, a description of workshop/process and a cogent summary.
• Preferred time required for creating an effective experience for the participants.

Submissions must be RECEIVED by January 25, 2010.

SPEAKER TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS:

• Please include in your proposal any technical requirements for your presentation.
• Speakers must provide their own computer and any software to run their presentation.
• Standard A/V provided includes LCD projector and screen if requested in your proposal.
• If you are accessing the Internet in your session, you must provide your own wireless card that will enable you to connect to a commercial broad band wireless network such as Verizon.

PRESENTATION HANDOUTS
Presenters are encouraged to provide participants with handouts supporting your presentation. Duplication of handouts will be the responsibility of the presenter.

PROGRAM ORGANIZATION
Organization of Golden Fleece’s one-day conference will be announced when proposals have been selected and include both plenary and multiple, simultaneous sessions.

PUBLICATION
Materials from sessions (as PDF files) will be posted on the Golden Fleece website. and should be sent in advance to the chairperson or made available in electronic form on the day of the conference to a member of the committee. Facilities for transferring files will be made available at a convenient location at the conference.

Two interesting concepts in visual storytelling have crossed my desk recently.

In a speech addressing criticism of 19th-century realist art, Fred Ross notes that 19th-century realists got a very raw deal — harsh criticism for lack of relevance — and should be appreciated: “The suppressed truth about this period,” he says, “… is that during the 19th century, there was an explosion of artistic activity unrivaled in all prior history. Thousands of properly trained artists developed a myriad of new techniques and explored countless new subjects and perspectives that had never been dealt with before. They covered nearly every aspect of human activity.” The most disturbing aspect of Ross’s piece, however, is that this snobbery about art that tells stories continues today:

Storytelling has become somehow a dirty word in the world of fine art. Storytelling is demeaned as mere “illustration,” and “illustration” itself is relegated to the “commercial arts.” Go sign up to study in the fine arts department of any college or university in America and tell the officials who run the place that you want to paint great anecdotal scenes, either as histories or allegorical paintings, that symbolize, capture, and express the most powerful of human themes.

What do you think will happen?

After looking down their noses at you while trying to figure out how to say what they want without insulting you, they will politely tell you, “Well dear, you really need to go and see the department of commercial arts.”

They will tell you that storytelling is not what they do. It doesn’t interest them. It’s not a fitting purpose for fine art. What is fitting? Form for its own sake, color for its own sake, line or mass for their own sake are far more worthy of accolades of merit than recreating scenes from the real world or from our fantasies, myths, or legends about our hopes, our dreams, and the most powerful moments in life.

Meanwhile, a recently ended art show in Miami is called “Denarrations, Pan American Art Projects.” Critic Ernesto Menendez-Conde, writing in ArtPulse Magazine, explains “denarration:”

… in denarrations, the act of analyzing, subverting, or even deconstructing narratives is an intrinsic part of the structure of storytelling. Denarrations are, therefore, paradoxical means of constructing narrations while dissecting, erasing or destroying them. If deconstruction is, above all, a tool for questioning the nature of philosophical discourses, denarration is primarily a tool for storytelling and structuring representation.

Pictured above is a piece from the Denarrations exhibition, Casa, (2009) by Jorge Perienes.

It’s worth considering both prejudice against storytelling in fine art and the denarration concept when viewing some recently talked-about examples of visual storytelling:

• • Two much-tweeted entries on My Modern Metropolis by “Alice” were 12 Masters of Visual Storytelling and 12 (More) Masters of Visual Storytelling. Pictured at left is In Da Car, which Alice cites in the first dozen, by Ashot Gevorkyan and Yaryshev Evgeny.
  • A similar piece is Art Meets Storytelling: 15 Amazing Illustrators on WebUrbanist by “Steph.” While Steph seems to use “artist” and illustrator” interchangeably, “illustrator” makes me think of Fred Ross’s speech and wonder if “illustrator” is a step down from “artist.” If you work in editorial illustration, comic books, video games and advertising as these artists do, are you any less of an artist? Pictured below is a selection by Andrey Gordeev.

• • Alex Andreyev has been cited as a visual storyteller. See what you think by viewing his portfolio. Pictured at right is July from the portfolio.