Podcasts about live storytelling

Who is Oli?Oli Cohen is a documentarian dedicated to transforming ordinary lives into compelling narratives. Driven by the belief that everyone has an interesting story to share, Oli focuses not on fame, but on the intrinsic value of personal experiences. Recognizing the digital age's potential to democratize storytelling through accessible video technology, Oli bridges the gap between people's everyday stories and the wider audience they deserve. By capturing the essence of individual lives, Oli underscores the importance of personal history and its significance to loved ones everywhere.Key Takeaways00:00 "Live Storytelling vs. Written Legacy"06:28 Life Stories Spotlight Feature09:49 Bridging Generations Through Vulnerability12:12 The Philosophy Behind Life Stories14:32 Personalized Emails for Groundbreaking Ideas_________________________________________________________________________________________________Subscribe to our newsletter and get details of when we are doing these interviews live at www.systemise.me/subscribeFind out more about being a guest at : link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/beaguestSubscribe to the podcast at https://link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/podcastHelp us get this podcast in front of as many people as possible. Leave a nice five-star review at apple podcasts : https://link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/apple-podcasts and on YouTube : https://link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/Itsnotrocketscienceatyt!Here's how you can bring your business to THE next level:If you are a business owner currently turning over £/$10K - £/$50K per month and want to grow to £/$100K - £/$500k per month download my free resource on everything you need to grow your business on a single page :It's a detailed breakdown of how you can grow your business to 7-figures in a smart and sustainable way————————————————————————————————————————————-TranscriptNote, this was transcribed using transcription software and may not reflect the exact words used in the podcast.SUMMARY KEYWORDSlife stories, personal documentaries, legacy, video storytelling, capturing memories, documentary film, family history, emotional storytelling, nonverbal communication, archival footage, two-camera interview, photography, cinematography, preserving memories, storytelling philosophy, intergenerational connection, empathy, relationships, self-reflection, unsung heroes, audio-visual legacy, life story spotlight, nomination process, everyday heroes, pandemic impact, digital age, documenting lives, life story website, preserving family stories, legacy preservationSPEAKERSOli Cohen, Stuart WebbStuart Webb [00:00:30]:Hi, and welcome back to It's Not Rocket Science five questions over coffee. I have my coffee here with me. I've probably had too much of that so far this morning, so I'm likely to be hot. Very well hopped up. And I'm delighted to be joined today by Ollie Cohen. Ollie is a cinematographer and photographer, but more importantly today he's here to talk to us about the his founding of a company called Life Stories or a product called Life Stories. Life Stories is a way that people can tell their story and capture it. And I think this is a fascinating idea.Stuart Webb [00:01:07]:I think it's something that more people should know about. Hence, Ollie is here with us today. So, Ollie, welcome to It's Not Rocket Science, five questions over coffee.Oli Cohen [00:01:17]:Thank you so much for having me. Great to be here.Stuart Webb [00:01:21]:So, I mean, you've had a a fascinating story, your yourself, but what is it what is it you're trying to do? How is it you're trying to reach out and and help people with this idea of life stories, and the the content that that comes with that?Oli Cohen [00:01:38]:So, well, life story is about turning people's lives into documentaries. There's the the basic thinking that everyone's got a an interesting story to tell. It isn't fame that makes somebody have, you know, worthy of documentary. People all have, valuable stories that are significant to their loved ones. Yeah. There seems to be a disconnect or certainly there's a lack of, opportunity for people to have their lives turn into documentaries. And, you know, we live in this digital age, and so video, is a very accessible medium.Stuart Webb [00:02:17]:Okay.Oli Cohen [00:02:17]:So the idea is we turn people's lives into documentaries, which is a two camera interview, intercut with photographs, archive footage, and and music.Stuart Webb [00:02:29]:I think it's a I think it's a truly brilliant idea. I mean, a lot of people have sort of done this for themselves, but, I mean, I guess the problem that that we would all say is, you know, one, it's very difficult to interview yourself, but, also, none of us are particularly good at the editing something to make it look right. Have you seen people do this? And, frankly, it doesn't quite tell the story in the way that you go, I just know I could do a better job.Oli Cohen [00:02:58]:I don't know if people try to do it themselves. What, I am aware of are people getting their lives turned into books, and there's quite a few, operators in that in the sort of legacy space. And, you know, that's great. But my thinking was that so much of the emotional nuance gets lost when words get put on into, onto the script. And, you know, when you hear somebody's somebody speaking, there's a lot more powerful. There's so much more emotional information there that's that affects you as a as a listener. And, you know, but we're not just recording we're not just doing podcasts at Live Stories. We we're creating films, and so much communication is nonverbal.Oli Cohen [00:03:48]:It's in the body language. It's in the face of expressions. It's in the little twinkle in people's eyes. And I think that, through film, there's a lot more potential to capture the essence of somebody compared to just turning their life into a book. And I kind of I thought there's not when I was when I set the the the company up, there there didn't seem to be many people doing it. And it was something that I wish that I had done myself, not for me, but for for my sister. Yeah. That's the the origin story of why I set it up.Oli Cohen [00:04:21]:My sister, unfortunately, passed away not that long ago. And at the time, I was living in LA. And I, you know, I rushed. I got, you know, immediately within twenty four hours when I heard the news. I I got some documentary film equipment together and got on a plane back to The UK to try to capture her life on film, thinking mainly that this would benefit my, nephew, her son, who was only seven years old at the time. Because I thought he's never gonna be able to see his mother from an adult perspective. So I thought this is this is something that I can do to add value to this awful situation. That is sort of be a wonderful thing to be able to to get my my sister's life, on on film documented.Oli Cohen [00:05:05]:But I wasn't able to do it because of the pandemic. I wasn't able to visit her in hospital, and, it was a missed opportunity. And it was, you know, really, really sad. And, I just thought this is this is something that I'd like to be able to offer to other people. You know, that's that was the the, the beginnings of the idea.Stuart Webb [00:05:27]:I'm sorry to hear about that story, but I mean, it's a wonderful illustration of the fact that you don't leave these things until it's too late, do you? You do it now because none of us can really count on tomorrow or next week. We have matters outside of our control.Oli Cohen [00:05:45]:Exactly. Yeah. There's, there's that idea of, like, that concept of you you don't know you don't know what you've got until it's gone. Yes. Yes. And, you know, it's easy to sort of think well, well, I it's easy to not to not want to think about it at all or to put it off. Yeah. But Well I you know?Stuart Webb [00:06:11]:Great that there are people like you, on the at the moment trying to address this problem. Do you have a a a valuable, a piece of advice or or or offer that you have that you can you can bring to the audience at the moment?Oli Cohen [00:06:28]:Well, on on the life stories website, which is, lifestories.media, On the homepage, if you scroll down, there's this thing we're doing, called life stories spotlight. And with that, we you know, with this with that spotlight feature, we'll be we're encouraging everybody to think about who is it in who who in your life do you feel has, a story that, or just, you know, a life story that you would like to to document. And, and and then, you know, this could be a loved one, but it could be anybody you know. Somebody who who you have some respect for, because of something they're doing. It might be extraordinary, but it might just be not just it might be an an everyday an everyday hero, you know, and someone an unsung, hero, if you like. So what we what we're encouraging people to do is have a think who this person could be, get in touch with us, and and then we will select a particular story that we think is worthwhile documenting, and we will cover all of the the costs and the production ourselves. So it's something we encourage people to think about, who would you like to nominate?Stuart Webb [00:07:45]:If you didn't catch that, website, the the the the link will be in our vault where we put all of the content of these these, these podcasts. So if you go to www.systemise, s y s t e m I s e, Me forward / free - stuff, you will see a link to Ollie's website and details of that, in that in that vault, and you will be able to access that from there. Ollie, you've got a fascinating history. You've been a city photographer and photographer, as we've said, with some really impressive stuff being shown across the world. You've told us the story of how you sort of got here. Are there other stories that you've captured as part of this, a part of this project which which have made you realize just how valuable it is to to have this content available for documenting lives, even if it's not lives that are past, but lives that are ongoing?Oli Cohen [00:08:44]:Yeah. Well, thanks for asking. The there are a lot of, a lot of surprising, things that happen when you make a film about someone's life because they they can sometimes unlock I mean, I'm I I don't wanna I don't need to be like therapy sessions, but they can sometimes unlock, emotions in, that they that people have kind of, not wanted to talk about. You know? Because in with family stories, you know, this is something that's occurred to me. When a child asked an adult a question about that adult's life, you know, children are quite inquisitive. The adult gives them a very, you know, child friendly watered down version of what actually happened. And then that those stories sort of get a bit cemented and stuck. But then when when you go to make a life story film about somebody, and you ask them certain questions or particular questions about their, about what it was like for them growing up at that place at that time.Oli Cohen [00:09:49]:And on these situations, sometimes, things can, they can show a vulnerable people can show a vulnerability, that they haven't shown to their children before. So the generation below get to see their parents or their grandparents with, a new perspective, which is which can, help bridge the generational divide, which I find a, you know, I I find that such a a powerful thing, helping because because ultimately life story is is about it's connected people through stories to help people feel more connected with each other and particularly with the their loved ones. But as well as that, people who are answering their questions, they they, often have certain realizations themselves. Yes. Yeah. Because we, you know, we all we all have this need to be appreciated, to be listened to, to be heard, to be seen, to be appreciated. So there's some in the process of doing that, that you can tell that people really enjoy it. They really benefit from doing it, and they get to sometimes look at their own lives in a slightly different perspective and kind of think, actually, you know, I've done alright.Oli Cohen [00:11:05]:You know? Because we I think a lot of us feel really critical of ourselves. But when you look back and think, you know what I did, I did do, okay. I've got through this and I've done pretty well. And I don't have, loads of regrets. A lot of people say they they don't regret the decisions they made, which I often find yeah, an interesting bit of a confusing thing to me, but it's, you know, it's the process gives people new perspective on themselves.Stuart Webb [00:11:33]:Yeah. Brilliant. Brilliant. Ali, I'm I'm very aware that I've asked you questions that I'm sure you think at the moment are sort of you know fairly softball questions that really haven't sort of gone to the heart of the matter. But there must be one question that you think well he's forgotten to really sort of nail the killer question. So as I've, as I'm thinking about this, I'm gonna suggest that you try and ask me what is the killer question I should have asked you, and then, obviously, you will have to answer it for us because you already know the answer. Well,Oli Cohen [00:12:12]:there's the questions about, the the sort of philosophy behind life stories. And so you could you could ask you could ask me that. And, I I can I can just answer that if you if you like? The there's a few things that stick out. There's the line from, Joan Didion, who she said, we tell us we tell ourselves stories, in order to live. And I think that's the line. So stories help us make sense of the world, and they encourage empathy with each other. So that's really very much aligned with the sort of the thinking behind life stories. And similarly, I'm a big fan of Esther Perel, and one of her sound bites is that the the quality of, our relationships determine the quality of our lives.Oli Cohen [00:13:16]:So with life stories, we we you know, obviously, it's about preserving memories. But ultimately, it's more about deepening our relationships with people. So, yeah, that and and stuff we've already talked about about this the the impermanence of of things. These are the the key sort of philosophies or the the the thinking behind life stories.Stuart Webb [00:13:48]:Brilliant. Oliver, thank you so much for spending a few minutes with us. I'm just going to make a short appeal after hearing frankly about the fact that relationships are so critical, stories are so critical to our well-being. If you would like to hear more about things like this where we speak to some really groundbreaking thinkers and some people doing some very different stuff, and I love meeting these people. You should wanna meet them as well. You should wanna get onto the newsletter list. So come to www.systemize, that's systemise,.me/subscribe. Just fill in short form.Stuart Webb [00:14:32]:It just asks you for your email address and your first name just so that I can send you something a little bit more personalized than hey. And you will get an email from me telling you about some of the really groundbreaking thinkers coming up with such brilliant ideas, in the next week or so, on this, live stream. Oliver, I just want to thank you for spending a few minutes with us today talking about what I think is a really, you know, we don't think enough about the fact that, you know, as somebody who is ordinary I have got stories, I have got things that people might be interested in hearing, and those stories bring a better connection which inevitably is a healthier life altogether. So thank you for just bringing that to us and I I hope that people get on to the to the vault and have a look at that, that that story that you told us, the the where you can go and actually capture some of those really brilliant brilliant, brilliant stories from other people. Thank you for for being here.Oli Cohen [00:15:31]:Thank you so much for having me on. Great to talk to you. Get full access to It's Not Rocket Science! at thecompleteapproach.substack.com/subscribe

This is a very special episode of Tamarindo featuring the true stories told live during our live storytelling event. The theme for the night was stories about Blossoming and it kicked off our spring break from the pod. Plus, we have a really exciting life update from our very own, Delsy Sandoval. Tamarindo is a lighthearted show hosted by Brenda Gonzalez and Delsy Sandoval talking about politics, culture, and self-development. We're here to uplift our community through powerful conversations with changemakers, creatives, and healers. Join us as we delve into discussions on race, gender, representation, and life! You can get in touch with us at www.tamarindopodcast.com Brenda Gonzalez and Delsy Sandoval are executive producers of Tamarindo podcast with production support by Karina Riveroll of Sonoro Media. Jeff Ricards produced our theme song. If you want to support our work, please rate and review our show here. SUPPORT OUR SHOW Contribute to the show: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/tamarindopodcast1 Follow Tamarindo on instagram @tamarindopodcast and on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TamarindoPodcast-143

Rebecca Huntley, Rick Morton, Julia Zemiro and Sarah Kanowski bring you stories of human failure, misadventure and outright fiasco in a live storytelling event recorded at Adelaide Writers Week.A few weeks ago, some former guests of Conversations, and our two presenters gathered at the Adelaide Town Hall.The event was a live storytelling hour, with the theme 'Mistakes were made', in front of a rapt audience of 800 forgiving souls.Writer and social researcher Rebecca Huntley shared her dramatic foray as a first-time driver.Journalist Rick Morton recounted a story about a run-in between his brother's drug- and alcohol-fuelled friends, with a cameo from the rom-com 'Bridget Jones' Baby'.TV presenter and actor Julia Zemiro told her own tale of mortification in a professional setting, and her experience of "esprit de l'escalier" — thinking of the perfect response once you have already left the building.Our own Sarah Kanowski spoke of the time when a few very big risks were taken, that one time in the Amazon Basin.This episode of Conversations touches on mistakes, fiascos, accidents, insults, life stories, epic personal stories, ayahuasca, The Amazon, ice, drug addiction, Bridget Jones, and more.

http://www.patreon.com/DieDeutschenPodcastIn der heutigen Episode ist Storyteller Said Ibrahim zu Gast – der Mann, der mit seinen authentischen Geschichten aus der Ich-Perspektive Millionen berührt. Doch wie hat alles angefangen? Said erzählt, dass seine erste Story tatsächlich seine eigene war – die tragische Geschichte vom Tod seiner Schwester.Außerdem spricht er über eine mögliche Verfilmung seiner Storys mit Moritz Bleibtreu und seine Zukunftspläne für Live-Storytelling auf der Bühne. Eine emotionale und inspirierende Folge, die man nicht verpassen sollte!

This week, we're sharing stories performed at our live storytelling night (Un)Intended Consequences last October with live music composed and performed by Matthew Forbes. Explore influential encounters, moments and ideas - and if you're eager for more, you can find three more stories in our 'Part I' Episode. Highly Strung - 'Neverland'Emily Suine and Oliver Durbidge are part of the lively puppeteering group HighlyStrung. Together, they tell a comical fantasy about the emotional waves of puberty.Along this whimsical journey, the dashing boy from Neverland becomes our guidethrough this tumultuous period of life. Ruth Melville - 'Americana'Ruth Melville is a nurse by trade and a literary artist by heart. She has publishednumerous stories enriched with interpersonal details and it is here that she sharesone of these stories. A tale combining the enchanted wonder of Disney movies andthe unfiltered facets of reality. All in one big queer American road trip. Jumaana Abdu - 'Children Go Straight to Heaven When They Die'Jumaana Abdu is an award-winning writer exploring the friction between Islamic andAustralian culture. Through the reading of one of her short stories, Jumaana detailsthe bloody ordeal of adult prejudice and its impact on two childhood friends. All The Best Credits Executive Producer: Phoebe Adler-Ryan Editorial Producer: Melanie Bakewell Host: Madhuraa Prakash Special thanks to the City of Sydney for helping us pay the artists involved, and to Knox Street Bar for hosting us!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

"Value you. Value me. Together we value the earth." - DeWayne Barton DeWayne is a native of Asheville, N.C. He grew up in Washington, D.C. and is a Gulf War Veteran. He is the author two books of poetry and has been involved in community and youth development for over 30 years.  As a visual and performing artist, he is involved in environmental justice issues—both through his art and his community involvement.  His mixed-media, found-art installations have been featured at Duke University, Smithsonian Institute's Museum of African American History and Culture, and the August Wilson Museum. He is co-founder of both Peace Gardens & Market and Green Opportunities. In 2019, he was selected as a Robert Woods Johnson Culture of Health Leader.  He is the founder and CEO of Hood Huggers Intl. and Hood Tours - building communication, connection, and wealth using the arts, environment, and social enterprise. DeWayne was appointed by the governor to the board of the NC Arts Council, is the current President of the Burton Street Community Association, and a 2022 Fellow with the Appalachian Regional Commission's Leadership Institute. His latest endeavor, the Blue Note Junction, is a community health and business incubator and will serve as a climate resiliency hub as part of the NC Climate Justice Collective.

"It never fails. There is something about the forests that awakens the child in me and begs me to take off my shoes and play." - Safiya Myers Born to parents in the Army, Safiya has had many addresses and understands how to make a place a home. She loves to be immersed in cultures outside of her own through travel and listening to stories. Safiya believes storytelling is the medicine we need. You can often find her listening to her favorite storytelling podcasts or snuggling her super cute daughter.

“There's no better place to pour your heart out and have a good cry than in the giant root arms of an old beech tree. And sometimes the tree will cry with you.”  - Holly Paar Denizen of WNC for 30 years, Holly is a painter, musician, poet, filmmaker, photographer and storyteller. She has premiered two films at the Asheville Fringe Festival, held art shows, performed live–solo and with bands, won poetry slams, and generally had a good time. She's a self-proclaimed “Adventure Artist”, a druid, and currently the Director of Advancement for Dogwood Alliance. You can follow her art at hmpaar.com.

“Of course we work to protect our children and environment, ensuring growth for the future, but our people are suffering now. We need answers. We need help. We need change now.” -Richie Harding Richie majored in computer programming at Hardbarger Junior College of Business. He's the pastor for New Vision Christian Center. He's also the CEO of Visionware Recordings and the Executive Director of Gaston Youth. Gaston Youth teaches kids to grow vegetables and appreciate the earth. Richie and his community face pollution from hog farms and wood pellets facilities. His mother worked to protect their community's water 20 years ago. Richie is proud to follow in her footsteps.

Hi!It's Kayla and Pete again, and we're so excited to bring you Series 2 of how i hobby, kicking off every Thursday from the 13th June! So many exciting guests to come:13th June: Brendan Girak talks about Cheesemaking!20th June: Rob Joyce talks about Weightlifting!27th June: Chloé Dall'Olio talks about Ecstatic Dance!4th July: Narie Foster talks about Live Storytelling!11th July: Jourdan Travers talks about the Psychology of Hobbies!18th July: Miranda talks about Making Chainmail!25th July: Meg Possamai talks about Salsa Dancing!1st August: Kelsey Mulvey talks about Cooking!8th August: Duncan Brown talks about Beekeeping!Sign up to our mailing list for behind the scenes chat, shownotes, and more, at www.howihobby.comAnd don't forget to follow us on instagram at www.instagram.com/howihobbyYou can also see our joyous faces on youtube at https://www.youtube.com/@howihobbypodTOODLES!P&KWritten and produced by Kayla Lean and Pete FalconerMusic, audio editing and video editing by Pete FalconerArtwork by Laura Walsh - https://laurajanewalsh.co.ukAnimation by Kayla Lean Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Improve your storytelling, interviewing, writing, producing, hosting and guesting skills! Sign up for new Sound Judgment workshops today at www.podcastallies.com/workshops. On this episode, Emily Silverman and host Elaine Appleton Grant discuss: — Why she thought starting a live storytelling event for physicians should be her next step as she was coming to terms with being in the wrong career while also searching for her biological parents and considering becoming a mother.— How leaving the full-time practice of medicine felt like an "identity death" to Emily — and how journalists and podcasters navigating media in 2024 are also experiencing identity death, and — How Emily found her way to a new career through her love of theater and storytelling, and how bringing the arts to medicine is serving the Nocturnists' goal of shattering the myth of the physician God and humanizing medicine. Emily and Elaine break down two episodes of The Nocturnists:"Pass/Fail," Episode 4 of the 10-part documentary series Shame in Medicine: The Lost Forest, takes listeners into the stressful world of medical students taking an exam that has the power to dictate the rest of their lives. Put yourself in the shoes of students wondering if this one test will prevent them from becoming a doctor — or if it will bar them from pursuing their passion for their specialty? Emily gives us some lessons on getting listeners to contribute personal stories — and how her team weaves them together in heart-stopping fashion. We also examine the the power of novels to help us deeply understand the harmful consequences of medicine practiced for the wrong reasons, and how art can help us empathize in a way that journalistic accounts of history do not. In "Conversations: Dolen Perkins-Valdez" Emily learns more about the 1973 case of the Relf sisters, who were forcibly sterilized at a Montgomery, Alabama health clinic. We discuss strategies for how to hold intimate, revealing interviews — and when you should break the rules. Plus: Emily shares the single most important key to producing sound-rich, highly produced longform audio stories. Emily Silverman, MD is an internal medicine physician at UCSF, writer, and creator/host of The Nocturnists, an award-winning medical storytelling organization that has uplifted the voices of 450+ healthcare workers since 2016 through its podcast and sold-out live performances.The Nocturnists' work has been presented on CBS This Morning and NPR's Morning Edition, and at Pop Up Magazine and South By Southwest (SXSW). In 2020, its "Stories from a Pandemic" documentary podcast series was acquired by the U.S. Library of Congress for historic preservation. The Nocturnists has been honored by the Webby Awards, Anthem Awards, Ambie Awards, and more.Dr. Silverman's writing has been supported by MacDowell and published in The New York Times, Virginia Quarterly Review, JAMA, CHEST, and McSweeneys. She lives in San Francisco with her husband and daughter.Follow the show on Instagram @Thenocturnistsand on Facebook and LinkedIn at The Nocturnists  Improve your storytelling Check out our popular workshops on interviewing, story editing, story structure, longform narrative, audience engagement, scriptwriting and more. Hire Elaine to speak at your conference or company. Subjects include: Communicating for Leaders; Communicating about Change; Mastering the Art of the Interview; Storytelling Skills; How to Build Relationships through Storytelling, and more. Discover our strategic communication services and coaching for thought leaders using storytelling tools to make the world a better place. Serving writers, podcasters, public speakers, and others in journalism & public media, climate change, health care, policy, and higher education. Visit us at www.podcastallies.com. Subscribe to Sound Judgment, the Newsletter, our twice-monthly newsletter about creative choices in audio storytelling. Connect:Facebook | LinkedIn | Instagram✉️ Email Elaine at allies@podcastallies.com

Marsha Almodovar is a mother, painter, novice writer, and activist. She currently works for a local Asheville non-profit. She's facilitated racial equity and inclusion training for local area nonprofits and businesses. Marsha is a mixed-medium painter. She uses her art to highlight social justice issues. Currently, she's publishing a Spanish-language children's book. Marsha has served on numerous boards and commissions that speak to her personal mission of art and inclusion. Marsha is a 2023 Impact Award recipient from Tzedek Social Justice Fund. The award goes to people engaged in deep change or community healing work in Asheville using the wisdom they gained from navigating systems of oppression.

Angela Hollowell is the founder of Rootful Media, a creative documentary film production company based in Durham, North Carolina. She is also the host of the video podcasts Honey & Hustle and Creative Architects by Castos. She creates documentary films about the outdoors, health equity, social impact, and environmental justice centering Southern voices. Her video interviews feature themes about creative entrepreneurship in North Carolina and beyond. In addition to her professional creative projects, she works to help visual storytellers and creative entrepreneurs build their audience and impact. When she's not working, she can be found in nature or enjoying a fruity beer or margaritas with friends. Useful Links: Personal Website: heyangela.co Rootful Media Website: rootfulmedia.com Honey & Hustle Podcast Website: honeyandhustle.co Personal YouTube Channel: www.youtube.com/c/AngelaHollowell Rootful Media YouTube Channel: www.youtube.com/@rootfultv Creative Architects: coming soon Social Media: Twitter: www.twitter.com/anghollowell LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/angelahollowell/

Tiffany Flunory-DE'Bellott has a passion for education advocacy, climate justice, and community organizing. She has a BA in Psychology. Tiffany's focus has been on diversity, equity, and inclusion work: facilitating racial equity circles and other grassroots movements. She's a board member of the Human Relations Commission of Asheville, YMI Cultural Center, COTHINK, and LEAF Global. She says, “It is my goal to ensure a better future for our children and families, through holding accountable and challenging systems of oppression, racism, and the false narrative of white supremacy.” Tiffany is proud that her two daughters, Sapphire and Pearl, are also committed to civic engagement and community service.

Sha'Air Hawkins, artistically known as ShadowWRK, is an accomplished music producer, songwriter, and performer hailing from North Carolina with deep-rooted Jamaican heritage. With an unwavering passion for infusing joy into her compositions, Sha'Air uses the power of melody and narrative to craft musical experiences that resonate with diverse audiences. Her artistry not only reflects her own cultural journey but also serves as an inspiring call for others to harness their creative potential. Through her music, Sha'Air Hawkins weaves a tapestry of emotions, cultures, and stories, inviting listeners to embark on a transformative and uplifting musical voyage.

Puerto Rico born. Northeast raised. Mari is a fiercely independent free spirit. She strives to inspire that same level of self-determination for others. Especially women of color. Mari has a BA in Environmental Studies & Education from Prescott College in Arizona. That prepared her for a life of social and environmental impact. It also prepared her to be an educator, inside and outside the classroom. Mari is on a personal journey to decolonize her mind. To heal from the internalized harm that systems of oppression have conditioned her to take on. She's leaning deeper into her imperfections. She's finding compassion for herself and others. Mari immerses herself in the natural world, when possible. There she finds nurturing, grounding, and a deep sense of purpose.

Lockie Hunter holds an MFA in creative writing from Emerson College in Boston and has taught creative writing at Warren Wilson College. She serves as curator of the long-running Juniper Bends Reading Series Reading series and co-producer of the poetry and prose radio program Wordplay on 103.3 FM in Asheville. Her words have appeared in publications including The North Carolina Review, The Baltimore Review, Quarter After Eight, Hiram Poetry Review, McSweeney's Internet Tendency, Slipstream, Brevity, Gulf Stream Literary Magazine, Arts & Opinion, New Plains Review and others. Lockie has received scholarships/grants from The North Carolina Arts Council and the Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts. Her essays have been nominated for Best of the Net Awards and the John Burroughs Nature Essay Award.

Ethnobiologist Marc Williams has taught hundreds of classes to thousands of people about plants, humans, other life forms and their interface. His training includes a B.A. in Environmental Studies/Sustainable Agriculture from Warren Wilson College with a minor in Business and a M.A. in Appalachian Studies/Sustainable Development from Appalachian State University with a minor in Planning/Geography. He has over 20 years of experience working at various restaurants, farms, and travels throughout 30 countries in Central/North/South America, Europe and all 50 states in the USA. More information can be found at www.botanyeveryday.com."

This is a replay of a Leadership Story Talks podcast that originally posted on December 13th 2022.Julienne and Jerome discuss how storytelling has enhanced their guest's presentation and leadership skills. Anna Vafeiadou is responsible for the legal sector of the WWF (World Wildlife Fund) in Greece.As she had been increasingly asked to represent the work of the WWF through public speaking, she decided to enroll into a leadership development course at the MAVA foundation.She then worked with Jerome on her story to include into her presentations for a variety of stakeholders.In this episode, Anna shares her story, which starts in her childhood and spans in less than 5 minutes, her journey to where she is today at the WWF.Julienne and Jerome then deconstruct her story, and ask Anna what she got out of telling her story, and what the process revealed to her.If you've always wondered about the methodology behind the company, Narativ, this is a perfect opportunity to learn, and to find out how you can become a better storyteller in business.Resources:Foundation where Anna developed her leadership skills: MAVAWWF websiteAnna's profile on LinkedInFind out more about The Narativ Storytelling Method atnarativ.comEMAIL Jerome@narativ.comLINKEDIN https://www.linkedin.com/company/narativ-incTWITTER @narativ

(Jul 14, 2023)

Do you have a hard time thinking of stories that you can use in your marketing material? Are you wondering how to get started using stories in email marketing?    Listen in to this LIVE storytelling exercise that I completed with Lauren Fulton, business coach at The Rebranded Teacher Academy and host of the Rebranded Teacher Podcast. You'll hear us brainstorm stories from Lauren's everyday life that could be used to promote one of her digital products, and you'll also witness Lauren's AHA moment when she discovers how storytelling actually helps clients connect to the real value of the product.   Borrow our brainstorming pattern and start using stories in your email marketing today!   Lauren is co-host of The Teacher Seller's Summit which is happening July 6-9, 2023.  I'll be hosting a storytelling workshop where you can learn step-by-step methods to add more stories to your email marketing with ease. If you are a teacher with a business, you don't want to miss this conference which is jam-packed with incredible speakers who can help you grow your business. (Seriously–the talent that will be there is outstanding!) Grab your ticket HERE! Listen to this episode to learn: How to brainstorm story ideas to use in email marketing Why you don't need exotic stories to connect with clients–seemingly “boring” everyday life stories will work! How to transition from stories to selling in emails How storytelling communicates the REAL value of the product or service and connects with clients in a way that facts do not Your business big sis, Megan    Connect with Lauren Fulton: The Rebranded Teacher Podcast The Rebranded Teacher Academy The Teacher Seller's Summit Connect with Megan Wisdom Copywriting: ⭐️Get high-converting copywriting for your business: https://meganwisdom.com/ ⭐️Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/meganwisdomwrites/ Support The Copywriting for Business Owners podcast by leaving a review on iTunes so that other online business owners can get the copywriting and email marketing support they need!

This week we bring you something a little different: a story Anne recently performed live at A Very Serious Gallery in Chicago. Listen in as Anne grapples with the question of whether you really can't go home again. (Related: Are the Bill Swerski's Superfans of early ‘90's SNL fame Catholic?  Discuss.  Write in and tell us.  Anne has thoughts.)Share your stories, thoughts, and questions with us at lapsedpodcast@gmail.com or at www.lapsedpodcast.com or call us and leave a message at 505-6-LAPSED.Follow us on Twitter (@lapsedpodcast) Instagram (@lapsedpodcast) and Facebook.Subscribe. Rate. Review. Tell your friends!

Julienne and Jerome discuss how storytelling has enhanced their guest's presentation and leadership skills. Anna Vafeiadou is responsible for the legal sector of the WWF (World Wildlife Fund) in Greece. As she had been increasingly asked to represent the work of the WWF through public speaking, she decided to enroll into a leadership development course at the MAVA foundation. She then worked with Jerome on her story to include into her presentations for a variety of stakeholders. In this episode, Anna shares her story, which starts in her childhood and spans in less than 5 minutes, her journey to where she is today at the WWF. Julienne and Jerome then deconstruct her story, and ask Anna what she got out of telling her story, and what the process revealed to her. If you've always wondered about the methodology behind the company, Narativ, this is a perfect opportunity to learn, and to find out how you can become a better storyteller in business. Resources: Foundation where Anna developed her leadership skills: MAVAWWF web siteAnna's profile on LinkedInFind out more about The Narativ Storytelling Method atnarativ.comEMAIL Jerome@narativ.comLINKEDIN https://www.linkedin.com/company/narativ-incTWITTER @narativ

New Livestream guest- Steve Baltzois I'm happy to have Steve join me on a live broadcast. He's a Canadian who ended up in the film and TV industries in the US and Australia. I'll bet you've heard his voice in a famous movie. Steve will be joining me live from down under to discuss how stories can be used to differentiate businesses and transform your marketing message. This is a ‘must see event' for anyone who runs or wants to run a business. Find steve online at https://steve-and-david.com/

Ben is back! This time with his coaching hat on to elicit a story from Fred. After a reminder of why the method is so powerful, he explains the process and then uses it in real life signposting the stages. Is Fred clear on his customers? What is the old way and what has changed? Can he create a deep enough subconscious shift to stimulate a desire to do something different? You be the judge!

Emmeline Anthony is a student at Somerset College and performed this story as part of Storyfest 2020.  Her story 'When This Becomes Enough' tackles an issue I know I felt when I was in my teens. Why go outside when I am totally comfortable inside my room? My perfectly safe space. I asked Emmeline, if her story was a song, what would the lyrics be? I then used her lysics to write the song in this episode. Thanks so much to Andrea Lewis and the Storyfest team and to all the staff and students at Somerset College on the Gold Coast. And thank you Emmeline for writing and performing this story for us. Thanks also to Jake Morton for the beats and samples and to Somerset students, Aleeza Tariq and Riddhi Athota for the introductions. I hope you enjoy.  

Ayla Chirathivat-Geralds loves the world and when the pandemic hit in 2020, she knew that she would not be going on an aeroplane for quite some time. But luckily for her she discovered that the place she calls home is a pretty wonderful place. This Stories in the Key of GC performance was presented at Somerset Storyfest 2022 held at the wonderful Somerset College on the Gold Coast. Thanks so much to Andrea Lewis and the Storyfest team for having us and especially to Ayla for writing and performing her story for this event. Thanks also to Jake Morton for running the sound design whilst I played the piano and to Somerset students, Aleeza Tariq and Riddhi Athota for the introductions.

This week, I share the stories from my first Live Storytelling Show! The recording quality is not super great, but at least it's a taste of being at the live show. 

Tell Me More... Live Storytelling returns to the stage totally revived! Part 3: Jessa Gaul is back!

Tell Me More... Live Storytelling returns to the stage totally revived! Part 2: A very personal story about coming back to yourself.

Tell Me More... Live Storytelling returns to the stage totally revived! Part 1: Brendan Kennedy and Ed Phillips.

The very thing that makes us human is the stories that each of us has inside. As I quote one of my recent guests on Your Next Stop, “Every single person is another beautiful human story.”    The gift of storytelling belongs to each and every one of us. Storytelling is something we all do naturally, starting at a young age. It is a form of communication to persuade through stories creating memorable, compelling messages. It creates meaning in ways that connect our human emotions and move us to action.   Storytelling gives us a better sense of the world, telling and hearing stories about what is happening and why. We get a visual understanding, a different perception of the world.   Storytelling creates connections among people, and between people and ideas. With our stories, we build familiarity and trust and allow the listener to enter our inner space. At some point, we may influence other people's attitudes, beliefs, knowledge, and behavior. Join Juliet Hahn for a storytelling episode recorded live on Fireside.   Find Us Online! Fireside: Juliet Hahn Instagram: @iamjuliethahn LinkedIn: Juliet Hahn FB: Juliet Hahn Clubhouse: @iamjuliethahn YouTube: Juliet Hahn Twitter: @iamjuliethahn

WICT Wisdom's Stephanie Cobian interviews Angela Massie.  Stephanie is joined by Angela Massie, VP of Live Storytelling at The Weather Channel. As VP of Live Storytelling for The Weather Channel tv network, Angela (Angie) Massie is responsible for presentation of content and field coverage during the network's live programming hours. During her tenure, she also assumed the role of interim Head of Marketing in 2019 and oversaw all marketing efforts for the network, including social media and digital marketing. In addition she leads the team behind "Pattrn", The Weather Channel's climate change storytelling unit. Angela shares how the weather channel differentiates from other news outlets using compelling storytelling, balancing tragic events with those that are not, ensuring content quality, consistency, and engagement. Additionally, Angela reviews how she worked with the Weather Channel to launch Pattrn and her personal holistic leadership style.  WICT's mission is to develop women leaders who transform our industry. We educate, empower and advocate on behalf of all women in the media. https://socalwict.org/

Eurovision is back; Live Storytelling; Crowd Sauce; Friends reunion; Gwyneth Paltrow; Are you more interesting than a phone?; Be a reliable expert; E M Forster and LinkedIn; An interview with Steve Postell; Music from The Immediate Family

Today we feature four storytellers who worked hard during a Tell Us Something corporate storytelling week-long workshop. Members of the Montana Economic Developers’ Association, or MEDA shared their true personal stories from their homes and offices during a corporate workshop hosted by Tell Us Something. The storytelling workshop helped people harness the power of personal storytelling to talk about the work that they do every day. Why is that work important to them, why that work is important to those that they serve and why that work is important to the communities where they live and work across the state of Montana. The MEDA members who are sharing their stories with you today know that it is with our stories that we can reach people with our mission. They left the graphs and pie charts at the office. They saved the data points for later. Our storytellers today used their true personal stories to share the story of the important work that they do in communities across Montana. Around 20 or so MEDA members joined me every day for a week. During our two hours every day, I taught them what I know about storytelling. We talked about techniques and structure and helped each other develop and improve our stories. I tailored the workshop specifically for the MEDA members.  Usually, a Tell Us Something event is focused on a theme. We hadn’t discussed a theme for these stories, but, listening to them, a theme emerged. We can say that the theme is  “Why am I here?” or “Why I do this”. Call it “Passion.” Whatever you call it, you’ll see that these storytellers are personally bonded to the work that they do, and that their passion really comes through in the stories that they share. Our first storyteller is Gloria O’Rourke. Gloria has been a MEDA member since 1995 and self-employed since 2003. She and her business partner, Mike, share an office and have been married for 44 years.  Mike and Gloria enjoy spoiling their four grandsons and then returning them with sugar highs to their parents. We call Gloria’s story “My Desk”. To learn more about the Montana Economic Developers Association, visit medamembers.org Our next storyteller is a world-traveler from a small town. Heather McCartney is a 5th generation Montanan. She works as an outreach and consumer education specialist with the non-profit child care resource and referral agency, Family Connections. Her passions include hunting for good decaf, long reads, and connecting people to great resources. She lives in Choteau with her conservation officer husband, her artistic and whimsical daughter, five freeloading chickens, three cats, and a dog named Bear. Green is her favorite color. We call Heather’s story “Family Connections”. To learn more about Family Connections, visit familyconnectionsmt.org. Russ Fletcher is an old retired guy who escaped from San Francisco 25 years ago to live in Missoula with his retired attorney wife, Alexis.  They have two children. His son lives in San Francisco and works for Google. His daughter has “Come Home” from L.A. and works for Hulu. Russ spends a lot of his day looking at a computer screen, drinking coffee, and pondering the future of Montana. Russ calls his story “How I Found My Last Best Job in a Missoula Dive Bar”. To learn more about Russ’s passion project, Montana Associated Technology Roundtables, visit matr.net. Teresa Schreiner is the Investment Director at the Great Falls Development Authority. She’s a former ‘Butte Rat’ who teases that she came ‘kicking and screaming’ to Great Falls with her husband, although loves to sell folks on the Electric City. Teresa just celebrated ten years with her larger than life husband, Casey, who equally challenges her efforts. Together they have three scrappy and smart little boys that love to give them a run for their money: Aiden, Liam, and Finn. Teresa calls her story “Nose Down Ass Up”. You can learn more about the Great Falls Development Authority by visiting growgreatfallsmontana.org

Credits:Record Club is a Kelly&Kelly production. It is produced by Chris Kelly, Max Collins, Lauren Bercovitch, Dave Shumka and Jodie Camilleri. Record Club was created by Lizzy Karp + Ken Tsui and recorded at a Here There event. Special thanks to the following generous souls for sharing their stories:Featured in the podcast:Adam Reid, Arinn Westendorf and Justyna KrolAlso spoke at the live show: Andrea Warner, Emily Williams, Fatima Dhowre, Jackie Wong, Michelle Morgan and Tracey Friesen. With music by Desirée Dawson.

Spirit of Punk Live storytelling The final part of our two-part series of live stories we recorded in conjunction with the Spirit of Punk at the end of last year at Buck Mulligan's bar in Melbourne. The principle of Spirit of Punk is simple. All you need to do is show up and read a piece of your work no longer than the duration of a Ramones song. How easy is that? The recordings are live so there are some little mic disturbances here and there. But more than anything there is the unmistakeable courage of writers taking to the stage to read their non-fiction stories. Writers in this episode  Confessions of a Boarder by Lacey Smith I came to write this piece to answer the main questions everybody asks me when I mention that I endured boarding school. Many people have an idealistic view of boarding house life: beautiful buildings, a good education, working air conditioning etc.; I felt the need to set the record straight. Lacey Smith is an Australian-Canadian writer and podcaster, currently working on her first novel. At 14 she was selling merchandise for a satanic metal band but has now put those wild days behind her. She lives in Melbourne with her long-suffering husband and their Westie, Maisie.   Hell Bent by Noeleen Ginnane End 2019, nearly a wrap on my Diploma Writing/Editing, Swinburne. I’d relocated on 15 November, before which 15 June. Exhausted. Broke as a freak. ‘Provide 500 words, memoir,’ teach said, as if you could whip that up with a thought, pause and muse. I panicked, pulled out past sufferances; re-felt, altered, submitted it. ‘I’ve written since forever,’ Noeleen Ginnane tells us. ‘It kept me sane, teen years. If I hadn’t wagged school so much to write, I’d never have failed it as well as I did.’ Modestly published in Australia, and (erotica) in the U.K. and U.S., Noeleen’s ‘only recently confessed to/begun living the writer I am.’ She has been published in: I can’t Breathe - Fremantle Arts Review, The TV - Western Word, Mother In Top Gear - Perth Child Magazine, Quiet – Oz Poetic Society,  Sweet Selection, Army Style, Blossoms Full Bloom, Sweatbox, Aunty Said - In The Buff (UK), Aunty Said - Best Women's Erotica (USA), Batman and The Fisherman, My Mother's Torment - Reader's Digest   The Stink by Laura Wild I have terrible taste in romantic partners. This memory always makes me laugh and it’s a story I tell friends when we get bogged down. At least our pillows are clean, mate. Poorly navigating the internet one LiveLeak video at a time, Laura Wild is an Australian writer currently studying at Swinburne University of Technology. She lives in Melbourne, Victoria with her partner and the four houseplants that have managed to survive her ineffectual care. She has been published in Backstory Journal and Other Terrain Journal.    Acknowledgements: Memoria is written,  produced, edited and presented by Natalie V. Special thanks go to Jen Farrow for her recording tech on the night and Nic Brasch for letting us record his event. Thank you to the writers who took part in this episode: Lacey Smith, Noeleen Ginnane and Laura Wild. The stories in this episode are sound edited by Natalie Vella. Music in this episode is by Blue Dot Sessions,   Sage the Hunter, When in the West and The Envelope. Illustrations by Peta Manning. Her book, See Me Doodle, is out now. Support the show.

The Writers XL bring Shelly's boyfriend onto the podcast to test out comedy inspired by everyday life. Join us for some tricks and tips on how to brave the stage when going live.

Spirit of Punk To begin our new season, we have something very special for you. A series of live stories we recorded in conjunction with the Spirit of Punk at the end of last year at Buck Mulligan's bar in Melbourne. The principle of Spirit of Punk is simple. All you need to do is show up and read a piece of your work no longer than the duration of a Ramones song. How easy is that? The recordings are live so there are some little mic disturbances here and there. But more than anything there is the unmistakeable courage of writers taking to the stage to read their non-fiction stories.. So to kick it all off, here is Nic Brasch to tell us how he started the Spirit of Punk. And as with every Spirit of punk event, Nic follows his introduction by reading one of his own pieces. Tonight, Nic reads his flash memoir, I Can Tell Anyone Anything. Writers in this episode I Can Tell Anyone Anything by Nic Brasch My story is prompted by some advice I got from the writer, Christos Tsiolkas, who told me, ‘You can tell anyone anything’, after I had related an experience related to my sister’s suicide. His advice was spot on. Nicolas is a writer, a teacher of writing, Chair of Writers Victoria, and the founder and host of Spirit of Punk, an open mic event for emerging writers. Mind Your Own Business by Erica Murdoch You think that you know everything there is to know about your parents. You have them pigeonholed and all worked out. Or so you think. Then life throws a curveball and you are left breathless, skeptical and scared. And underneath it all maybe not surprised. Maybe the clues were there all along and you just chose to ignore them. Erica is a freelance writer and has completed an Associate Degree of Professional Writing and Editing at RMIT She has been published in Fairfax Media, Weekend Notes and N-scribe. Kindness by Annie Drum Kindness is a story about somebody in her family. Annie Drum is a Ballarat-based writer whose work has appeared in anthologies and poetry chapbooks. She writes short stories and poetry and is working on a novel as well as a young adult novel. Purchase her short story collection, Like Trees. Nadine by Helena Spyrou Harking back to my youth when almost every week I would listen and dance to live music in pubs around Melbourne. Helena Spyrou is a Melbourne-based writer. She has been previously published in a number of journals, including Meanjin and Going Down Swinging. She works for the Union movement. Support the show.

It is an honour and a privilege for episode thirty-two of The Presentation Boss Podcast to have special guest Matthew Dicks join us all the way from Connecticut, USA. When he agreed to be on the show, Thomas admits he did squeal just a little bit. He is a huge inspiration to both Kate and Thomas through his work as a storyteller, podcaster and ruthlessly efficient human being.Despite the fifteen hour time difference, a valuable and enjoyable relationship has built between Kate, Thomas, Matt and his wife, Elysha. There is most likely nobody on the planet better at both telling stories from the stage and being able to forensically dissect storytelling down to its barest elements, devices and psychology. This is going to be a damn good conversation on the show today; the definitive guide to storytelling in a presentation.About Our Guest Matthew Dicks is an elementary school teacher and the internationally bestselling author of several books including his latest, Twenty-one Truths About Love, Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend, Something Missing, and Storyworthy: Engage Teach, Persuade, and Change Your Life Through the Power of Storytelling.He's the founder and artistic director of Speak Up, a Hartford-based storytelling organization that produces shows and teaches storytelling to corporations, nonprofits, universities, and individuals. He's a record 45-time Moth StorySLAM winner and 6-time GrandSLAM champion. Matt is also a podcaster, wedding DJ, minister, and stand-up comic. He loves eating ice cream cake, playing golf poorly, tickling his children, staring at his wife, and not sleeping.What You'll Learn• What a story IS, and what a story IS NOT• Why transformation in a story is so important• The value in telling stories about small moments vs big events or life stories• How storytelling fits into a corporate presentation be it internal or outwards to stakeholders• The first step someone should take if they're ready to add stories into their presentationsMentioned In The Show• Matthew's Website: http://www.matthewdicks.com/• Matt's Awesome Book: Storyworthy: Engage, Teach, Persuade, and Change Your Life through the Power of StorytellingOther Great Things of Matt's Worth Showing You• Matthew's TED Talk: Homework For Life• Matthew's newest book: 21 Truths About LoveResources and Links• Email us: podcast@presentationboss.com.au• The Presentation Boss Podcast: https://presentationboss.com.au/podcast/• Kate on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kate-norris/• Thomas on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomas-krafft/• Presentation Boss on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/presentationboss/• Presentation Boss on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/presentation-boss

Ai Addyson-Zhang, Ph.D. is the creator of Classroom Without Walls, which provides entrepreneurs and digital marketers with the tools and strategies they need to get a foothold in the rapidly growing online marketplace. A former associate professor of communications studies at Stockton University, Ai realized that she could reach and educate people beyond the confines of academia. Her desire to reinvent traditional classroom teaching led to Classroom Without Walls, which she livestreams every Wednesday at 2PM PST. In this episode, Ai discusses what pushed her to trade her physical classroom for a virtual one, reveals what surprised her about modern social media usage, and has you really consider what you want out of livestreaming. The Finer Details of This Episode: Ai lays out the many ways people are utilizing livestreaming in their brands or businesses today and explains what it was like for her to go live for the first time. Why it’s worth taking the time and effort to assemble a clean and reliable streaming setup. What spurred Ai to leave her conventional teaching career and embrace a livestreaming platform? Ai explains what really surprised her about her former students’ relationship with social media. Ai’s tips for expanding your livestreaming audience and drawing guests to your show. The reason you should figure out methods of repurposing your own content. Quotes: “If I want to teach this, I cannot just be a teacher. I have to be a practitioner.” “I really think… our educational system doesn’t really encourage our teachers to become practitioners.” “Taking action gives us clarity, momentum and confidence.” “Quality is a lot, lot, lot more important than quantity.” “Treat every single person as a VIP.” Guest Links:Classroom Without Walls - https://www.classroomwithoutwalls.ai/ Ai on Twitter - https://twitter.com/aiaddysonzhang Ai on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/aiaddysonzhang/ Visit Brandon’s website at www.BrandsOnBrandsOnBrands.com Join the Brand Growth Community on Facebook at www.brandonbrands.com/community And please leave a rating and review on iTunes!

Learning better charisma by telling better stories. Learning to stop telling yourself the BS stories that hold yourself back. Jack Napier joins for a great conversation on game --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/rian-stone/message

Kathleen shares her story about her families' belief in a life with big possibilities and dreams - and not being defined by disability. TRANSCRIPT: When Grace was born she was born with some issues, we didn't know right away it took a few months. But for some reason my husband and I took on this belief that we were not going to be defined by whatever this was that was going on with Grace. And it was partly because at that time we had a three year old son and we just kept thinking like ok so we are going to have some serious issues going on with Grace we are going to have to give her lots of attention we get that. We understand, like we went to counseling and we understand we are going to constantly grieve the loss of her dreams or our dreams for her, etc. etc. But we kept thinking we've got this three year old boy too, we can't just be focused on Grace. And we can't define Ben by Grace. And I didn't want to be defined by Grace. Like I saw myself having friends and connections and doing things that were unrelated to disability. So we really had this mindset that we can't be defined by this disability. And I will tell you that it is profoundly hard to work against that because for my daughters condition there's an organization out there, she has a neuromuscular condition so its MDA. So immediately, MDA gets involved right at the hospital, they want to be involved in your life and they want you to give money and all this other stuff, right? And if you have someone who's born with Down syndrome it's the exact same thing, right? And I'm sure it is with autism and all of these groups. And I understand that all of these groups do really great work and some of them like the MDA fund a lot of important research for treatments and cures and all that stuff. So I am not down playing the importance of that, but what happens as a parent is you're inundated from the get-go with ‘be a part of the disability community.' And that was hard for us because we were thinking like ok, we are not this is not who we are, like we don't define ourselves this way. We had this belief in Grace from the get-go and I remember a doctor looking at me like I had four heads. And I told them all Grace is going to go to college and she's going to do whatever she wants in life. We had these huge beliefs that Grace could do anything, in some ways it was bad because Grace isn't going to college. And to have this mindset of that being what defines a successful life, is not good. If she doesn't go to college that doesn't mean she isn't important or wonderful. The good part of it is we just always had dreams for her. And we believed she could do a lot of things. So we weren't even in therapies and we love OTs, but you know you get to a point and you can't applaud what accomplishment she just made, you immediately have to fix the next thing. But we wanted to be focused on the positive. And we would say often we don't want to be the poster family for MDA, we don't want to be the poster family for disability. And that's how we lived our lives. And then after that, we found a school. And literally this school — I went in one day, they never looked at Grace in terms of disability. It just wasn't an issue. Grace went in and she needed a walker at this time to go in. She went in with her walker and they did, I don't want to call them interviews, but it was just to see if the child was ready to go to school at that point. And she went in with her walker and she did what most two and a half year olds do, which was cry like anything because their mom just left them and they're in this room with all these kids they don't know and never met before and these teachers. They accepted her and I want to make sure I quote this correctly, but I remember going into school one day for these little teas that they do, it was a Montessori school, Mercy Montessori. And they invite you into a tea that your child does for you. I went in and we were sitting in this little circle in these teeny tiny chairs. And the kids are all on the floor. And Grace is on one side of me and another kid is on the other side of me. And the other child puts his or her (I don't remember) hand on my leg and says “now she is going to need to use your leg to stand up so she's just going to stand up that way.” I was like oh my gosh, like he didn't say she can't get up. What that little child said was this is how she does it. And then I followed her to her work, which is what they call them at Montessori. And her partner said to me, it was a little boy. So you will see that I do it this way and Grace does it this way and we just both get it done. And it was amazing. Now one of the things that I did do is they asked me if I wanted to address the class, when Grace first joined and talk about Grace's concerns or issues or anything. And I said no I don't want to do that because then what everyone hears is that Grace can't do this, or you need to help her with this and I just felt like everyone will figure it out. Between the teachers and the students, they all figured it out. And it was just beautiful. And we stumbled across that. We really did. We were just looking for Montessori setting because our OT said I think it would be good for her to be in a Montessori setting. So that's all we were looking for and this is what we found and it was wonderful and it was in line with what we valued as a family, but we also failed. So swimming upstream, we finally cave at one point. MDA said we'd really like to hear your family's perspective it's a little different then a lot of our other families. And I thought well that's fine we could do that because they're letting us talk about our perspective. Well it was awful, and I had to cut it short because basically they wanted me to tell a sob story about our daughter in order to get money, right? And I hate it, I get it but I hate it. So the man came to our home and started to asking me these very specific questions that were to go down this sob story path. And I just had to say look we're not going down that path. You either say what we want to say or we end it right here. So he let us say a few things and I think it was a very abbreviated I think film for what they were looking for. But we learned a really valuable lesson that you have to hold strong, you have to understand what other peoples' values are, because even when you cave, maybe you cave into someone who really shares your values. But there are going to be lots of places where you feel like you're going to cave and you do cave like we did, and their values are not our values and we didn't get that. If we had gotten that, we probably wouldn't have caved. The other thing that I would say is, you know, as a family we do struggle. My husband worries about the finances, (I'm not crying I really have something in my throat) — I worry about the friendships, whose going to be in Grace's life. We've taken Grace and Ben to several countries, multiple times. And Grace's disability has never stopped us from doing anything. She's had this amazing life and that helps move me upstream. Where we are today is, we no longer have our dreams for Grace, we have Grace's dreams for Grace. Her dreams are to become an actress on Broadway. So we are not going to crush Grace's dreams ever. She can try to do that as long as she wants. We will support her to the best of our ability to do that. Eventually she'll figure out that, you know what, I just want to be in Cincinnati and if I can be in something related to theater and history I'll be good. And I think she'll come to that on her own. So we're on this path now where she's doing a lot of things around that.. She's doing a one-woman show, that she and myself and some else has written, and she's going to perform that hopefully in the spring. She's doing this with an actress who actually was in the movie that's just out with Robert Redford “The Old Man and the Gun” I think it's called, and she works with Grace every week. Grace has invited her to go to some plays and she has gone to these plays with us. So this is a person who until Grace's high school acting teacher gave me her name, she had no sense of anyone with a disability. But she understands what it is to be an African American woman in the theater. And so she knows how you can be marginalized that way. We also - we support her to have people who know her. So Grace today is in the church choir, she's not in a special needs choir. She's probably not the best singer, in fact I've kind of thought she might be the worst singer until the other day and someone was a cantor and I though, yeah maybe not. She's working with Starfire to do a StoryCorps. So people are seeing Grace now as the person in the choir but also the person who is doing this StoryCorps thing. And when Grace is not at choir, people stop us on the way out of church, “Where's Grace?” She's missed when she's not in choir. So those are really great ways of Grace being in the community. So slowly but surely — Grace is in a valued role. And I think that's all I wanted to say. That's our family.

Leah Purcell's purpose had always been to look after her mum. And while she had dreams of the big city and becoming an actor, being a Goa-Gunggari-Wakka Wakka Murri girl from the bush made that unlikely. Leah had a baby at 17 with an abusive man which made her acting dreams impossible. That was until her mother's greatest gift, her death. Warning: This episode contains some swearing. This story was first told at The Wheeler Center Gala in Melbourne, in 2018.  The Producer for the ABC was Emma Gibbs.

Gus Fitzgerald was just 10 when he was swept out to sea in rough and wild surf conditions. His father calmly followed, walking down the beach. Then Gus realised, his dad wasn't going to save him. It was up to him. When he lost his father to cancer, Gus had to learn another lesson, how to stay afloat without him altogether. Warning: This episode contains some swearing. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander listeners are also advised it includes the name of someone who has died. This story was first told at SPUN Stories a live storytelling podcast created in Darwin by StoryProjects. The Producer for the ABC was Emma Gibbs. If you or anyone you know needs help or advice there is support available: Lifeline on 13 11 14 Kids Helpline on 1800 551 800 MensLine Australia on 1300 789 978 Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467 Beyond Blue on 1300 22 46 36 Headspace on 1800 650 890 QLife on 1800 184 527

May 28 was a bit of a blur for Bridget Judd. She remembers her mum's phone call and that she knew when she answered the news wasn't going to be good. She had lost her beloved father. Being a journalist, Bridget is used to finding the language to describe events. But this time she found herself in silence and unable to find the words to speak. Warning: this episode contains references to suicide, which may cause distress. This story was first told at SPUN Stories a live storytelling podcast created in Darwin by StoryProjects. The Producer for the ABC was Emma Gibbs. If you or anyone you know needs help or advice there is support available:   Lifeline on 13 11 14 Kids Helpline on 1800 551 800 MensLine Australia on 1300 789 978 Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467 Beyond Blue on 1300 22 46 36 Headspace on 1800 650 890 QLife on 1800 184 527

"I could grow old with you, you know, I could really grow old with you," Tim Bishop's partner said to him. This was in the early days of their relationship, and Tim knew he was in for something. His man was from Cabbage Tree Island and knew his land as the land of his people since time immemorial. But one day it came time for Tim to take a road trip back to his man's family alone. Warning: there is some swearing in this episode. This story was first told at Queerstories, a national LGBTQI+ storytelling project and podcast. The Producer for the ABC was Emma Gibbs. 

Leah Purcell's purpose had always been to look after her mum. And while she had dreams of the big city and becoming an actor, being a Goa-Gunggari-Wakka Wakka Murri girl from the bush made that unlikely. Leah had a baby at 17 with an abusive man which made her acting dreams impossible. That was until her mother's greatest gift, her death. Warning: This episode contains some swearing. This story was first told at The Wheeler Center Gala in Melbourne, in 2018.  The Producer for the ABC was Emma Gibbs.

"I could grow old with you, you know, I could really grow old with you," Tim Bishop's partner said to him. This was in the early days of their relationship, and Tim knew he was in for something. His man was from Cabbage Tree Island and knew his land as the land of his people since time immemorial. But one day it came time for Tim to take a road trip back to his man's family alone. Warning: there is some swearing in this episode. This story was first told at Queerstories, a national LGBTQI+ storytelling project and podcast. The Producer for the ABC was Emma Gibbs. 

It was while he was high on LSD on the day of his wedding to Jenny that David Marr had a realisation: he was gay. David knew what he’d done was wrong, marrying was a mistake. Despite this devastating insight, he felt an absolute calm, almost relief. While he was a passionate advocate for the 2017 marriage equality plebiscite, David wasn’t sure he wanted to get married again. Warning: there is some swearing in this episode.  This story was first told at Queerstories, a national LGBTQI+ storytelling project and podcast. The Producer for the ABC was Emma Gibbs.