My response to the question “How do I improve my storytelling?” on a forum got upvoted a lot: Practice, practice, practice. The best advice in the world only works in the context of practice. Practicing makes advice meaningful. Practice and then practice more. Then practice more. Get feedback. Seek advice. Iterate. But practice. Name anyone who mastered a performance art who didn’t practice more than most. Even if you can,[…] Keep reading →

Taste is a matter of taste, so you may not enjoy my food as much as I do, but I’ve grown confident enough in it to invite people more, including for business meetings and podcasts, including a Nobel laureate, titans of industry, and more. Some probably have walk-in closets bigger than my apartment. I’ve asked people to write reviews so you know what to expect. (EDIT: Here are pictures from[…] Keep reading →

Park Howell hosts the Business of Storytelling podcast. Today he released our interview about storytelling and how to improve your storytelling for business. Everybody agrees on the value of storytelling in all human communications. All the more in business. Listen to the conversation! Bonus that I missed saying in the interview By the way, when you listen, there’s one part where Park said, “You don’t want to know what’s in[…] Keep reading →

I’ve done a lot of podcasts lately. The latest is unique and more personal. Here’s why… As a guy who got a PhD in physics became an entrepreneur got passionate about improving in business, and teaches experiential project-based learning, I was pleased to find a guy who got a PhD in physics became an entrepreneur got passionate about improving in business, and teaches experiential project-based learning. This other guy is[…] Keep reading →

I finally watched Gone With the Wind. People routinely rate it one of the top movies. Watching it, you automatically rate it by the standards of its time. But watch the acting these iconic scenes. The morning after watching the movie, I woke up realizing how ungenuine and inauthentic the acting was. Sure, by the standards of its time, the acting was probably great. But watch this scene, the opening[…] Keep reading →

Reviews of Leadership Step by Step By Joshua Spodek Buy Leadership Step by Step on Amazon! Great leaders aren’t born with a ‘leadership gene’; great leaders develop the necessary skills and gain confidence through practice and hard work. In Leadership Step by Step Joshua Spodek presents a thoughtful approach to becoming a highly effective leader that emphasizes the importance of experiential learning. It will serve as a valuable resource for[…] Keep reading →

One of my online communities had a thread on writing a book this year. It led me to reflect on writing in a way that might help someone where I was before starting to write. I consider what I wrote relevant to practicing any craft or developing one’s passion. Here’s what I wrote: Last year was my big year for writing and finishing my book, Leadership Step by Step. It[…] Keep reading →

I started to browse The Power Broker, Robert Caro’s colossal work on city political power and Robert Moses, and couldn’t put it down. The book is huge. It used to be a fixture in New York City apartments. You couldn’t miss its big bold lettering on the big white spine on people’s book shelves. I don’t know how many people started or finished it, but I loved reading it. Caro[…] Keep reading →

Following up my first post on great opening lines to books, and getting the galley to my first non-self-published book, I found some more. “If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you’ll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind[…] Keep reading →