Once, I had a Swedish girlfriend. She was, and still is fantastic. So, on my first Saturday night out in Stockholm and I was going to finally meet her best friends, I was nervous. I wanted to leave a really good impression. Since my girl had an errant to run, I settled down in a bar in this beautiful Swedish capital and waited until they would all arrive. What happened next taught me more about men, women and toxic masculinity than any of our modern doctrines could ever teach

For those of us in a creative job (and who isn't these days) anxiety is part of the work. Creative expression always comes with vulnerability: you open yourself and your work up to the judgement of others. Naturally this creates anxiety. That's why many creative people are more prone to depression and burnout. In this blog we explain why that's okay and how it can be used as a force for good. In today's world we are all producers of our own content. Whether we post things on

Storytelling is always about the journey, never about the destination Storytelling is about embracing friction, not avoiding it Storytelling is about universal emotions, target groups simply don’t exist Storytelling is about building character, step by step, brick by brick Storytelling is about honesty and truth, not about sales and marketing Storytelling is about losing ego… and having fun doing it Storytelling is about maintaining values without compromise Storytelling is a

When you're at the beginning of your storytelling practice you can often feel like it's not your place to tell your story. You compare yourself to others who (in your perception) do a far better job. And you feel like you will never reach that point of creative mastery. The opposite is true however: it's that self-doubt, insecurity and vulnerability - creative anxiety - that actually makes your story worthwhile. Your story is needed. Today we discuss why. Storytelling is abou

It’s one of the great questions of art: do I make art for myself or for my audience? The answer is both. Art without an audience is like George Berkeley’s tree falling in the forest without anyone seeing it: does it exist at all? Yet having an audience without artistic soul is shallow. So today we make the first blog about audiences and what you need to know about them. And it all starts with the difference between empathy and sympathy. Quick Storytelling Lesson on Audience W

Storytelling is all about emotion. I mean, 'duh', of course it is. Yet I have to mention it because so many people still get this wrong in storytelling. Let's break down why exactly this is, how it should work and what you can do to make better emotional connections in your storytelling. Without emotional friction a story is not memorable. We relate to each other's feelings, not to facts, figures and functional forms. We remember those less, because we are wired that way. Th

All good stories are always about the journey and never about the destination. The end goal of what you do or say is important of course. But it's not what people will remember. The road towards that ending is what it's all about because it involves all the trials, tribulations, frictions and conflict people will relate too. So, let's have a closer look at how this works in practice. Epic story The Lord of The Rings is about a group of people who all go through several transf

The first and most important thing in any story – whether it’s a film, video, book, brand, blog, musical, art, scientific or corporate story – is a little thing called conflict. For those new to storytelling this may come as a shock. But it actually makes a lot of sense. Humans thrive through overcoming frictions and obstacles. The best things that human beings have ever created all come from some type of friction, conflict, disagreement or paradox. Music for instance is only

My dear scientists, artists, writers, musicians, politicians, scientists, Instagram celebs, civil servants, marketers, investors, bloggers and vloggers, soldiers, nurses, actors, directors, game developers, caretakers, photographers, coders, bus drivers, painters, journalists, entrepreneurs and parking valets with a dream… The world needs your story. Why? It’s because all stories are inherently inspiring. You may think the opposite. What’s inspiring about my job? My organiza