Archive for October 2018
Reach for the masses…
Back in May of this year, Elysha and I launched Speak Up Storytelling, a podcast about telling your best stories. Each week we teach strategies for finding, crafting, and telling stories. We also play a story previously told at a Speak Up event and use that story to teach lessons about what the storyteller has…
Read MoreTrump can’t speak articulately., and it should scare the hell out of us.
The Wall Street Journal, a conservative financial newspaper, recently interviewed Donald Trump about his decisions related to the economy. Trump was asked about the possibility that the tariffs he has imposed on a variety of products might have a harmful effect on the economy in the longterm. Keep in mind that since becoming President, Trump…
Read MoreSpeak Up Storytelling #23: Laura Terranova
On episode #23 of the Speak Up Storytelling podcast, Elysha Dicks and I talk storytelling! In our followup segment, we discuss a brand new rule for The Moth’s StorySLAM series. We also talk about why storytelling is a superpower and the many doors that being an effective communicator can open for you. Next, we talk about finding and…
Read MoreTerrorists are cowards. Let them know it.
In the past 72 hours: A man attempted to enter a predominately black church in Kentucky with a gun. When unable to gain access to the building, he went to a Kroger grocery store and killed two American Americans shoppers instead. A man attempted to kill President Obama, Secretary Clinton, Vice President Biden, several other…
Read MoreCharlie lost his first tooth. Also, a lot more happened.
Big day for my little boy. After countless days of wiggling and pulling, Charlie finally lost his first tooth. He was brushing his teeth when, according to him, he felt something. “I stopped brushing, reached into my mouth, and it was my tooth!” Damn was he excited. I was in the shower at the time,…
Read MorePiñatas suck.
I’m going on the record saying that piñatas suck. Watching children at a recently birthday party bash this candy-filled monstrosity to pieces, it occurred to me how awful these things really are. A few truths about piñatas: Two or three kids at best get to whack the thing before it breaks open, leaving the other…
Read MorePerhaps the stupidest thing that America does
Of all the stupid things that our country does, Election Day might be one of the stupidest. There is absolutely no reason why Election Day is not a national holiday or held over the weekend. Almost every other democracy on the planet holds their elections on a holiday or weekend, and almost every American who…
Read MoreWhy are you doing this to me?
Does this ever happen to you? FRIEND: How’s it going? ME: Great, thanks! You? FRIEND: I’m good. So… what’s new? ME: Not much. Same old stuff. You? FRIEND: Not much, either. So… what have you been up to? ME (in my head only): Why are you doing this to me?
Read MoreHow dare you?
I’ve recently heard a lot of people spouting, “How dare you?” Trump (and others) said it regarding the FBI investigation into Brett Kavanaugh. Many used this phrase to express outrage at Nike’s hugely successful and highly popular use of Colin Kaepernick in their recently ad campaign. A CNN anchor said it to a Republican operative…
Read MoreMany jobs with one important thing in common
It’s been a strange and busy weekend for me. On Friday night, my wife Elysha and I produced an unforgettable Speak Up storytelling event at Infinity Hall in Hartford. Our near-sellout audience enjoyed what might have been our best show ever, headlined by United States Senator Chris Murphy who told a fantastic story about an embarrassing…
Read More