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The core of my book is about how to use the five elements to communicate compellingly But sometimes we don’t have time to think about all five before we develop a story so then what do we do?

I suggest to my clients they start with passion or the fire in the belly. Describe a moment or event that you are excited about and if it is authentic, chances are the client or your boss will respond in a positive manner.

For instance, when I was working with scientists and designers to develop a new kids museum, my job was to help these adults think like children again. I though what could produce a common passion, which could create shared stories? What is something in nature we all have had experience with as children? The answer was bugs.

I brought a collection of creepy bugs to the meeting. Of course they were all in glass containters and covered under white sheets. At the right moment, I pulled the sheet away to reveal the insect world below.

Well, the scientsits and designers burst into stories about their childhood experiences with spiders, ants and roaches etc. Everyone was passionate about bugs and this helped people remember what it was like to be a kid again and that was the point of exercise. So find the common passion and tell a story about it. Then stand back and watch the sparks fly.

SING-ALONG-TIME

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This is the first thing I’ve seen or heard about the current meltdown that actually gave me an honest smile – Jon Stewart’s take down of Jim Crammer was more a knowing leer for me.


This is a good example of what Bob is talking about in his last post. A person telling their story – songs are quintessentially facts wrapped in emotion – and reaching out across the net to a larger community in order to effect change. Hope you like it. If so, pass it on. A good story is a terrible thing to waste.

OPIE

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A while back I talked about the advantage of down home branding and used Andy Griffith as an example of a master. Now it turns out Ron Howard is going me one better and really touching the TV heartland heart strings. You might have to be pretty old to remember the references, but the youth vote is already locked up. It is getting out the boomers that will tip the scales. And it does bring back memories of happier days. Enjoy.

See more Ron Howard videos at Funny or Die

OBAMA SHOULD SAY NO RIGHT NOW!

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If McCain should say “No” to the Bush/Paulson bailout plan
that goes double – or maybe triple -
for Obama. And he needs to say it quickly and clearly. He can’t play “Lets Make
a Deal.” Any deal the House Dems can craft will be a bad deal. Obama has to say
“No Deal!” His status as a hero – his core brand of change – depends on it. .

Obama’s best explanation of what he meant by change was, “If
you keep doing the same thing and expecting a different result you are crazy.
That’s why we need to bring real change to Washington.” He was talking about Iraq, but he could have
been talking about the financial crisis.

The Fed, under both Clinton and Bush, has been bailing out
financial institutions, one after the other, for years. It hasn’t worked. It
just makes things worse. Now under intense time pressure, Paulson and Benrnanke ae telling Congress that
if they don’t authorize the mother of all bailouts the whole system will melt down. Maybe they
are right. I don’t know. But it sure smells like a classic con. It’s like a man
running up to you at the carnival and saying “A guy just got stabbed back
there. Hold this bloody knife and I’ll get someone to give him CPR. Oh, and be
sure to touch the handle, OK? ”

The only group of rubes that might be stupid enough to fall
for that (because they really are big-hearted bozos) is the current Dem House
Leadership. Not coincidentally, they are also the only group that actually has
lower approval ratings than the Bush White House.

Obama needs to stay absolutely clear of this legislative
train wreck. And to do so he needs to go with one of his best lines in the
convention speech, “Enough”. Something like this:

“Enough. Enough panic, enough lies,
enough accounting tricks. We will get to the bottom of this and we are going to
get through it, because we are all Americans and we are all in this together. But it isn’t going to be solved by pulling an all-nighter then jumping on a plane to go and campaign. The days of fast fixes and quick bucks are over. It is going to take hard work and hard facts. And to my Wall Street friends all
I can say is calm down, take a deep breath… and then take your hand out of my
pocket.”

The Lone Ranger vs. Seven Samurai

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Peter Block has a new book out on community called “Community-The
Structure of Belonging” I love his thinking. He also talks about his book here. 

Peter brings up important
points. We are limited when we feel and act alone. Fear makes us feel isolated
and weak. Once a sense of isolation sets in we complain and our complaining only drives the feeling of despair
deeper.His remedy is to connect and
form a community of shared purpose.

Peter’s talk made me think about
two archetypal stories competing in the world. We have the great American
myth making story of the Lone Ranger. Here a solitary man works to overcome the
wrongs of the world. He acts alone and is masked so no one can know his
identity. He trusts few and acts alone. Once The Lone Ranger has
finished his task he leaves quickly and moves on. Townspeople try to connect
with him but often he has already left and they can’t even say “Thanks” They
have very little understanding of what he did and if the problem should re-occur
they have not learned how to solve it without waiting for another one of his
interventions. Since he never returns to a town twice they are out of luck.

Contrast this single hero approach to Akira
Kurosawa’s film, Seven Samurai. Here one warrior is asked
to save a village from a marauding gang who sweep out of the hills every autumn
to steal most of the village harvest. The wise Samurai knows he can’t save
the village alone.  He shares his vision
with others and eventually recruits 6 warriors. Each Samurai has an essential
skill and collectively they are able to engage the entire village in the changes
necessary to protect themselves. Everyone is made aware of what must change in
order to move from victim to victory. Everyone gives up old beliefs and
behaviors. The village is saved because they unite around a shared story
and everyone participates.Some sacrifice their lives to protect the
continuity of the village. In the end the bandits are defeated and the village
has gained a story of victory through collective action.

America needs to move past the all powerful, secretive hero
who claims to act in our collective interests and instead embrace the power storytelling
gives us in uniting our community in protecting the common good through collective action.

 

THE ANTI HERO

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For years I’ve said that the five-element story model doesn’t
have an Anti-Hero. I was wrong.

I said this because we define the Hero not as the story’s
good-guy, but as the story’s Point of View.  If you tell “Silence of the Lambs” from
Hannibal Lechter’s point of view Hannibal isn’t an “anti-hero”,  he is that story‘s Hero plain and simple, no
matter how despicable his actions. This is exactly what the series Dexter is doing.

I should have gone a step further in my thinking. Stories
are holistic. As well as being the story’s point of view a Hero confronts an obstacle,
experiences awareness and undergoes a transformation. What happens if a story’s point of view is so completely oppositional
that it actually is more antagonist than hero? In terms of political stories
the anti-hero’s point of view would have no defined ideology (ground to stand
on). It would simply be against anyone who does. 

A case in point is NYT columnist Maureen Dowd. Though I
admit I haven’t been a regular reader for a while, and feel free to refresh my
memory, I can’t recall a time she was actually for something. If you have
power, or want it, whether you are Bill Clinton, George W. Bush or Hillary she always
has something nasty to say about you. And that is pretty much as far as her
thinking seems to go.  Like many guilty
pleasures, it is all empty calories.

Ms.Dowd is an example of an Anti-Hero. And while a Hero
provides a point of view that brings people together and eventually leads them
to awareness, an Anti-Hero does just the opposite. There is no awareness, no transformation.
The target of Ms. Dowd’s vitriol may chance, but her tone remains remarkable
consistent.

With Dem unity now in a delicate state (and McCain leading
Obama in Ohio polls) Obamaistas should be very careful about drinking too deeply from Ms. Dowd’s
poison pen.   

Who We Are

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Robertdickman

 Robert Dickman is an executive coach who teaches narrative strategies
as they relate to corporate communication, product design, and branding
with FirstVoice, a consulting firm specializing in media
awareness training for business. Robert was formerly a monk at the
Ryutaku-ji Zen Monastery in Mishima, Japan, and later an actor and an
acting and communications coach for Academy-Award-winning actors. He
lives in Santa Monica, California, with his wife, Aimee, and daughter,
Rylie. Email.

Maxsmall_2

Richard Maxwell brings the skills he developed in his twenty-five-year career as a screen and television writer-producer to FirstVoice‘s clients. In addition to his produced feature films–The Challenge, The Serpent and the Rainbow, and Shadow of China–he
has worked as a script doctor, writing or rewriting films for every one
of the major Hollywood studios and many independent producers. He lives
in Pacific Palisades, California, with his wife, Christine. Email.

About First Voice

FIrstVoice is a communications consultancy firm helping leaders and their organizations to more effectively convey their message through the power of personal narrative. Over the years, FirstVoice has assisted numerous professionals in becoming more powerful, compelling speakers and storytellers, helping them to win more business, increase sales, strengthen client relationships, and improve both internal and external communications.

Clients Come to Us When….

-    An organization has an important presentation to make – and 
           multiple employees must speak or present.

-    An executive must make a key presentation, anywhere from executive retreats to major public engagements, and requires assistance with both content and delivery.
-   
-    An organization is working through a ‘re-branding’ process and must learn how to effectively articulate their mission and other messaging so that it is clearly understood by the intended audience.

-    Executives in an organization wish to better understand the ‘stories’ and articulation of their organization by their own employees (often the most powerful – yet overlooked – marketers in a company), as well as ‘corrective’ coaching to help employees articulate key messages in a natural, focused way

-    “Pre-crisis Management” and managing the story – pinpointing and assisting executives and their organizations through potential communications challenges before they reach critical mass

FirstVoice conducts both personal trainings and group sessions for corporate and creative teams.  For scheduling/rate information, please contact us at 310.394.8829 or email moreinfo@first-voice.com.


COUNT NICKOLAS

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I promise to get back to the campaign stories soon (when all the furor about Hillary’s ‘emotional melt down" has cooled) BUT YOU REALLY SHOULD SEE THIS.

The WGA has been running a contest for best short film explaining the strike. This one gets my vote so far. It is great example of creating an antagonist as a way of defining a problem and giving emotional context to the struggle.. All you need to know to enjoy it is that Nick Counter is the chief negotiator for the AMPTP which represents the media conglomerates who walked away from the bargaining table three weeks ago.