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Storytelling

Insights, tips & tools from 30+ years of award-winning storytelling work.

The best stories are about people, not programs

The best stories are about people, not programs

When I first started pitching my own documentary stories to producers, I got a lot of rejections. Not because the topics weren't interesting, but because my pitches weren't about people. I wanted to tell stories about big issues like mercury pollution and landslides. But the producers

Inspirational stories for leaders

Inspirational stories for leaders

Most leaders know they need to tell more stories to inform and inspire change. But they don't know what stories to tell or when to tell them. And, they often feel like they don't have any experiences worth sharing. One of the things I do with

A crash course in interviewing - on skates

A crash course in interviewing - on skates

Winterlude in Ottawa starts tomorrow – February 3. Though this may be a historic year for not being able to skate on the canal due to warm temperatures, anyone who's ever lived in Ottawa has fabulous memories of this internationally renown winter festival. My favourite story unfolded during my

Finding compelling stories in mundane situations

Finding compelling stories in mundane situations

I'm at that stage in my journey where I'm shopping for a nursing home for my dad. Thinking about what life is like there reminded me of the time I learned how to find a story where none existed. I was directing a doc series for

Climate conversation starters from Project Drawdown

Climate conversation starters from Project Drawdown

I heard great practical tips for climate communications in this podcast featuring Matt Scott from Project Drawdown. Here are four things that stood out for me –– * Start by figuring out your own story and motivation for tackling climate change. How does it affect you? Why do this work? * Resist the

How to be a storytelling entrepreneur

How to be a storytelling entrepreneur

Paka Apparel founder Kris Cody has an incredible story to tell. He not only designed a breakthrough adventure coat using alpaca wool - but he also field-tested it himself by summiting a major mountain in Peru. Without knowing any more details, I hear that and I'm already sold

Bringing government science to Discovery Channel

Bringing government science to Discovery Channel

In the late 1990s, a producer hired me to do the impossible – tell stories about government science for Discovery Channel. What's so tough about that? The feds were paying, so they had final sign-off on the stories and wouldn't allow anything that might make them look