Afleveringen
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How Do Opinion Writers Win Hearts & Minds?
Thatâs the challenge that faces New York times opinion writer Thomas L. Friedman each day. Tom is a master at the art of provocative persuasion, and I had the pleasure of meeting him a few years back in Minnesota. He's the author of "Thank You For Being Late", the recipient of 3 Pulitzer Prizes and, most interestingly, the most engaged journalist (in terms or trafic and comments) that the New York Times has ever had. In this episode, I take a quick but compelling look behind the scenes at how he writes, so that we can become better at sharing our own opinions in the workplace.
EPISODE LINKS
Thank You For Being Late: Tom's fireside chat at Google Thank You For Being Late [BOOK] Original video of the "Heating & Lighting" Clip Tom's column in the NY TimesEPISODE TRANSCRIPT
How Do You Win Hearts & Minds To Your Way Of Thinking?
Thatâs the challenge that faces New York times opinion writer Thomas L. Friedman.
How Do You Win Hearts & Minds To Your Way Of Thinking?
Thatâs the challenge that faces New York times opinion writer Thomas L. Friedman.
Tom Friedman is a master at the art of provocative persuasion and I had the pleasure of meeting him a few years back in Minnesota.
If thereâs one journalist who has mastered the art of making you think, argue, andâmost importantlyâact, itâs New York Times opinion writer Thomas Friedman. Love him or loathe him, you canât ignore him. With a style thatâs as sharp as it is relentless, Tom has spent decades shaping the way we understand globalization, the Middle East, and the environment, winning three Pulitzer Prizes along the way. He doesnât just report on the worldâhe forces you to wrestle with its contradictions, its complexities, and its consequences.
But Friedman isnât just a commentator; heâs a case study in what it means to communicate with conviction. His writing isnât just opinionâitâs an invitation (or sometimes a shove) into a bigger conversation. And itâs that ability to provoke, persuade, and polarize that makes him the most engaged journalist in New York Times history.
I loved his book âThank You For Being Lateâ because he explained so articulated why business leaders were feeling so over-whelmed â something I see every day â and he described how itâs because we are living at the intersection of 3 crises and theyâre happening all at once.
Mooreâs Law, Markets & Mother Nature.
Weâre in the middle of a crisis of technology, globalisation and the environment.
But you call it Mooreâs Law, Markets & Mother Nature because youâre Tom Friedman and alliteration reads much better in a column!
For business leaders, thereâs a lesson here.
In a world drowning in content, the ability to articulate a worldview with clarity, passion, and undeniable impact is more valuable than ever.
So how do you tell stories that donât just inform but inspire?
How do you challenge peopleâs thinking without alienating them?
And how do you craft a message that sparks conversations long after the last word is read?
Tom Friedman thinks he has the answersâor at least, even if you donât believe him, heâll make you want to find them.
So how does one of the top journalists in the world become so successful?
Whatâs his philosophy and his process?
Listen to this.
Itâs a clip I found from The Chicago Council of Global Affairs when Tom was promoting his brilliant book âThank You For Being Lateâ â heâs giving a similar piece of advice that he gave me about how to write an opinion column for the New York Times.
This is superb. Listen carefully.
[TF @ CHICAGO AUDIO CLIP]
Heating & Lighting.
When you meet Tom if youâre lucky enough to get his business card (I wasnât) youâll notice something pretty unusual about it. It doesnât say Tom Friedman, Opinion Writer for the NY Times, 3 Pulitzer prizes â alongside his details.
It just says, Thomas L. Friedman, âHeating & Lightingâ.
I love that.
As storytellers in business â or if youâre in the opinion writing business â like a consultant â dare I say âThought Leaderâ then thatâs exactly what we do.
We create heat and we shed some light.
We simplify complexity.
Einstein once said, âIf you canât explain something simply, then you donât know if well enough.â
And how do you create some heat? Add enough emotion to you story to provoke a reaction? (Because thereâs nothing worse for opinion writers than being relegated to the beige / vanilla area of no-mans land when your ideas arenât strong enough â or your opinions are concise and compelling enough).
How do you do it?
Tom told me it all comes down to one of two emotions.
Humiliation. And Dignity.
In his world, heâs either speaking out about humiliation (in the way that someone â or something, such as the planet, is being mistreated) or he is celebrating the dignity of the human spirit.
And the way that he does that sparks so much emotion that his words always create heat.
Thatâs what makes him arguably the best opinion writer the NY Times has ever had.
So the next time youâre trying to think about how to influence or inspire an audience â maybe youâre using the 50-25-25 rule that we talked about in the last episode â then just ask yourself, how can I create some heat and some light for this audience?
How can you surprise them?
Maybe even - how can you tell them a story they think they know â but in a way which theyâve never heard before?
And⊠how can you give them a view of the world which isnât impressing your opinion on them â itâs helping them to see their world differently.
And thatâs a really important distinction.
Let me say that again...
Despite being a âthought-leaderâ in business (letâs call it) â audience donât really care what you think â they care about how you can help them to see the world differently.
Thatâs the difference between someone who presents â and someone who persuades.
Good advice hey?
Heating & lighting.
Thanks everyone for listening â have a fabulous day and Iâll see you next time.
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The Truth in Ten is a cross between a podcast series and a storytelling masterclass. Each short episode shines a light on a different inspirational leader; someone who shared a short story which changed the world in some way. This is a show for anyone who wants to make a difference by sharing their story.
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How Do The Best Speechwriters Get Things Done?
There's an important client presentation coming up and you find out at the last moment that you need to give the opening presentation, but you've got NOTHING prepared! What do you do? Is there anything worse? Well fear not, in this episode I'm going to look at a rule used by Barack Obama's former speechwriter, for helping you deal with that exact situation. It's called "The 50-25-25 Rule" and it's brilliant.
Terry Szuplat was one of President Obama's longest serving speechwriters, serving as special assistant to the president from 2009-2017, and as a member of the National Security Council stagg from 2013-2017. In 2024 Terry published "Say It Well" a step-by-step field guide for helping anyone to tell better stories. Today Terry runs his own speechwriting firm, Global Voices Communications, and he teaches speechwriting at his alma mater, American University's School of Public Affairs.
This episode features one of the most practical pieces of advice I've ever heard from a speechwriter, and probably the best piece of advice I ever heard from President Obama. Enjoy.
EPISODE LINKS
My full conversation with Terry [55 mins] Terry's book "Say It Well" Global Voices Communications Say It Well - One Pager [DOWNLOAD] BetterStories.org Storytelling resources, course & assets The Get Things Done Book by Mikael Krogerus & Roman TschÀppeler
EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
How Do Storytellers Get Things Done?
[WEST WING THEME]
The purpose of a great business story is to make the audience feel something so that they do something. Hundreds of words have been written about how to tell stories at work, but Iâm pretty sure you could sum up all the advice in those books in that one sentence.
Make them FEEL something so that they DO something.
One of the most powerful pieces of advice Iâve ever heard was from a conversation between Linkedin News Editor in Chief Daniel Roth, and former president Barack Obama. Daniel asked Obama, âWhat do you tell people when they come to you asking for career advice?â
Listen to this clip (even if youâve heard it before, donât switch off) because after youâve listened to it, I want to take you behind the scenes of where that advice came from â because I promise you it will make you a much better storyteller.
[OBAMA]
Great piece of advice isnât it.
Speechwriters have a word for getting stuff done â âKAIROSâ. Itâs an unusual word and is only really taught if you study rhetoric (the art & science of influencing audiences) but the definition of KAIROS â one of the words which classical Greekâs used to describe time, can be translated as âa supreme moment at which one must act â no matter how implausible or inconvenient.â
Make the audience feel something so that they do something.
OK â so what about when you need to write an important speech or a story, and you need to inspire your audience to act?
How do you get that done?
Well who better to ask than my friend Terry Szuplat, Barack Obamaâs longest serving speech writer, who wrote for Obama between 2009-2017.
Hereâs a 3-minute clip from a conversation I recorded with Terry about his book âSay It Wellâ about how he gets speeches done for Obama. Itâs based on a brilliantly simple rule called âThe 50:25:25 Ruleâ which I really like and use all the time â and I think it might help you tooâŠ
[TERRY x JCW]
I think it was Abraham Lincoln who said, âIf I had eight hours to chop down a tree, I'd spend six sharpening my axe.â
If you want people to ACT when theyâve heard your presentation, then you need to prepare the environment to make it easy for them to act â and that means doing your research.
Properly. Up to 50% of the time.
Have to give a presentation in a month? SpendâŠ
2 weeks thinking, researching and organizing your thoughts, 1 week writing and 1 week editing and practicing.
Have to give a speech in a week? SpendâŠ
3 days thinking, researching and organising, 2 days writing, and 2 days practicing,
Just found out you have to give the introduction to a client session later today? SpendâŠ
1 hour thinking, researching and organizing, 30 minutes writing and 30 minutes editing and practicing.
The 50:25:25 rule works so well because the best predictor of whether youâll give a good presentation isnât what we do at the podium, itâs the preparation we put in before we ever get to the podium;
Itâs the work that goes into a speech before we ever write a single word.
But even more than that, when youâre prepared youâre not as nervous when itâs time to deliver your talk, because you know youâre ready.
And around Ÿ of us get nervous and anxious when we have to give a talk, so take a breath â and no matter how much time you have (or donât have), use half of it to get your thoughts in order and organise all the pieces of your talk in a meaningful way.
This is where AI assistants can really help you â by saving you time in your research phase â pulling a list of potential quotes to use, showing you were all the relevant reports are which you can pull some insights from, finding brilliant client stories that you didnât even know about to emphasise your point. In my experience working with business leaders who are putting a client presentation together, using an AI assistant for research saves them around 5 hours a week.
Thatâs a big deal!
I also use record cards â with a different point on each card â and move them around â reorganising them until the talk feels right.
SoâŠ
You want to chop down a big tree?
Youâve got to give a big talk?
Youâve got to sharpen that axe!
50:25:25
Thanks everyone â see you on the next one.
[WEST WING THEME]
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The Truth in Ten is a cross between a podcast series and a storytelling masterclass. Each short episode shines a light on a different inspirational leader; someone who shared a short story which changed the world in some way. This is a show for anyone who wants to make a difference by sharing their story.
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Zijn er afleveringen die ontbreken?
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How Do You Give A Talk You've Never Given Before?
That was the challenge facing Steve Jobs 20 years ago when he was asked by the president of Stanford University, John Hennessy, to give the 2005 commencement address. The only problem was that Steve Jobs, arguably the greatest communicator the business world has ever seen, had never given a talk like this before.
Where did he start? What did he do? Who did he turn to for advice? How did he break it down?This episode goes behind the scenes of how Steve created what many believe to be the best commencement speech ever given. I recommend you listen to the talk properly to get the full emotional impact of the content and the stories, but over the next 12-minutes, we'll break down some of the key elements of the talk and explore what you can learn from it to become a better communicator yourself.
EPISODE LINKS
2005 Stanford Commencement Address [VIDEO] My favourite Steve Jobs quote
"Make Something Wonderful" by Steve Jobs [FREE Download]EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
How Do Give A Talk Youâve Never Given Before?
This is the story of Steve Jobs commencement speech at Stanford University, 20 years ago this year, on 12th June 2005. Itâs had over 60M views and is widely regarded as the greatest commencement speech ever given.
But Steve, the most famous CEO of all time, an incredibly confident, charismatic (and controversial leader) â âreality distortion field anyone?) - he was actually really nervous and didnât know where to start â thatâs a side of him we donât see much about.
So where did he start? And how can this speech inspire us to become better storytellers?
Iâm glad you asked.
Steve was going to speak about habits, globalisation and how you are what you eat (fruitarian). Steve was used to giving technology speeches â not personal ones.
So Steve did what anyone with great potential does â he reached out to the best storyteller he knew.
Aaron Sorkin.
The West Wing. A Few Good Men. Newsroom. Studio60. Moneyball.
The first piece of advice Aaron gave him was that his talk should contain INTENTION & OBSTACLE.
[AARON]
The other piece of advice that Sorkin gave Steve was to tell three stories. Sorkin LOVES Aristotle and the 3-act structure which he presented in 335BC and has been the format of most theatrical productions ever since.
Think of Sorkinâs movie JOBS â 3 acts â 3 stories â each going behind the scenes of 3 big events in Steveâs life.
· Act I) Mac launch (1994) · Act II) Next launch (1988) · Act III) iMac launch (1998)So what did Steve do?
[STEVE 3 STORIES]
You can almost tell the whole talk was inspired by Sorkin because even though Steve speaks on average at 160wpm â he speeds up and slows down, gets loud and goes quiet â and leaves dramatic pauses at key points in the story â exactly like any scene that Aaron Sorkin writes â and puts you on the edge of your seat.
[1st STORY]
Now hereâs how Steve breaks his 14 minute talk into three bite-sized chunks making it easy for the audience]
30 second OPEN â The Intro 1st Story - 5 mins 2nd Story â 4 mins 3rd Story â 4 mins 30 Second CLOSE[CONNECT DOTS]
I analysed this talk using the AI storytelling assistants I built to help others tell better stories at IBM and I asked it why this speech connected the dots so well by engaging the audience.
Itâs because 60% of the talk is emotional & 40% is rational.
Heart & head.
Soul & data
âStorytelling is just data with a soulâ Brene Brown
The language contains 3X more emotional language than data-driven language. A key less for technology speakers right there.
(45% Pathos 15% Logos)
[2nd STORY]
Speaking about love and loss isnât easy. So Steve actually emailed a lot of these parts of the story to himself in-between January & June. He was working on this speech for 6 months. You can actually read those emails if you open âMake Something Wonderfulâ in iBooks (FREE on every Apple device) and read from p.186.
[LOVE LOSS]
âand then I got firedâ.
Master storytelling. Thereâs your INTENTION & OBSTACLE triggering that dopamine in your brain to wonder what happened next. Steve used the word âbutâ 14X â on average once a minute â to emphasize those obstacles.
âI didnât see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me.â
So you have INTENTION â youâve got OBSTACLES â and now the payoffâŠ
[LOVE WHAT YOU DO]
Steveâs work has always inspired me to do great work. Iâve got a framed email from him in my office when I set up my first business in 1998. Iâll never forget the morning I learned that heâd died â 5th October 2011 - I was in a hotel in Leeds waiting to give a keynote and I had to delay my talk by 30 minutes.
I get emotional thinking about it now.
[3rd STORY]
Talking about death is always going to be intense â so if you remember our episode on Ted Sorensen â JFKâs speechwriter â youâll see thatâs why Steve used some LEVITY here to break the tension â while he was creating INtentionâŠ
[YOUR TIME IS LIMITED]
Iâve given over 500 keynotes & presentations since Steveâs death in 2011 and Iâve ended almost every one of them with my favourite Steve Jobs quote,
âTechnology is nothing. What's important is that you have a faith in people, that they're basically good and smart, and if you give them tools, they'll do wonderful things with them.â
So hereâs to you my friends. Go read âMake Something Wonderful. Be inspired. Tell great stories.
Stay hungry.
And Stay foolish.
[CLOSE]
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The Truth in Ten is a cross between a podcast series and a storytelling masterclass. Each short episode shines a light on a different inspirational leader; someone who shared a short story which changed the world in some way. This is a show for anyone who wants to make a difference by sharing their story.
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How Do You Make Education More Entertaining?
In the 1960's TV had a problem. Kids were watching hundreds of hours of ads and cartoons but they weren't learning anything. That was until Joan Ganz Cooney came along. She revolutionised TV and invented a whole new genre when she launched Sesame Street in 1969 against all the odds. She quickly became one of the most influential people in TV.
The story of how Sesame St. came to life is a real hero's journey about fighting systems, challenging the status quo and taking the advice of kids over consultants.
In this 10-minute episode, I take a quick look behind the scenes of how Joan created Sesame Street, and I share the actual report that secured the original $8M funding.
A little inspiration perhaps for something you're trying to change at the moment... đ đȘEPISODE LINKS
Joan Ganz Cooney [Bio] Sesame Workshop - Joan's Legacy Non-Profit -
What Would Happen If I Got an AI to Interview Me?
Let's find out...
I just asked an AI to INTERVIEW ME and here's what happened!!! đ€Ż Everything in this clip is real and the only thing I have edited is the sound quality. (I can't export audio yet from the LLM so I needed to use a lav mic).
I gave the AI model my social media posts, my Linkedin profile and my podcast as a basis for her to ask me questions - so that we could have a conversation about the art & science of business storytelling.
This is only a short playful exercise using the paid version of ChatGPT-4o - but it really shows how much fun anyone can have with AI as your creative collaborator.
Too many folks are still using AI to just do basic tasks, such as writing emails or creating exec summaries of large documents - but the real power is in using it as a critical thinking assistant, or as a curator of content, to help you think about something differently.
Perfect for brainstorming.
Great for interviewing yourself! đ€Ł
EPISODE LINKS
FREE GEN-AI ACADEMY by IBM "Achieve More With AI" MASTERCLASS.com [SUBSCRIPTION REQUIRED]--
For a deeper dive inot the art and science of generative AI, my colleague Amand Ruiz has created a short course to help you know all the core concepts of Generative AI, in just 5 minutes a day.
Topics he covers:
đđźđ đ: đđ»đđżđŒđ±đđ°đđ¶đŒđ» đđŒ đđČđ»đČđżđźđđ¶đđČ đđ
Overview of generative AI and its importance in business.
đđźđ đź: đ§đđœđČđ đŒđł đđČđ»đČđżđźđđ¶đđČ đđ đ đŒđ±đČđčđ
Exploring different generative AI models like GANs, VAEs, and transformers.
đđźđ đŻ: đ§đżđźđ±đ¶đđ¶đŒđ»đźđč đ đ đđ đđČđ»đČđżđźđđ¶đđČ đđ
Comparing traditional machine learning with generative AI methods.
đđźđ đ°: đȘđ”đźđ đźđżđČ đđŁđšđ
Understanding the role of GPUs in AI and machine learning tasks.
đđźđ đ±: đȘđ”đźđ đ¶đ đ§đźđžđČđ đđŒ đ§đżđźđ¶đ» đź đđŒđđ»đ±đźđđ¶đŒđ» đ đŒđ±đČđč
Insights into the resources and processes for training large foundation models.
đđźđ đČ: đđŒđ đđŒ đđđđđŒđșđ¶đđČ đđŒđđ»đ±đźđđ¶đŒđ» đ đŒđ±đČđčđ
Discussing techniques for customizing foundation models for specific uses.
đđźđ đł: đ§đ”đČ đ đŒđđ đŁđŒđœđđčđźđż đđđ đ đđđźđ¶đčđźđŻđčđČ -
Overview of the most widely-used large language models and their features.
đđźđ đŽ: đđČđ»đČđżđźđđ¶đđČ đđ đđœđœđčđ¶đ°đźđđ¶đŒđ»đ đźđ»đ± đšđđČ đđźđđČđ
Exploring practical applications of generative AI across business sectors.
đđźđ đ”: đ§đ”đČ đđČđ»đČđżđźđđ¶đđČ đđ đŠđđźđ°đž
Understanding the components and architecture of the generative AI tech stack.
đđźđ đđŹ: đ§đ”đČ đđșđČđżđŽđČđ»đ°đČ đŒđł đŠđșđźđčđč đđźđ»đŽđđźđŽđČ đ đŒđ±đČđčđ
Discussing the rise and importance of small language models in AI.
đđźđ đđ: đ§đ”đČ đđ đđ»đŽđ¶đ»đČđČđż đŁđżđŒđłđČđđđ¶đŒđ» đźđ»đ± đŠđžđ¶đčđčđ
Exploring the role, responsibilities, and required skills of AI engineers.
đđźđ đđź: đđđ”đ¶đ°đźđč đđŒđ»đđ¶đ±đČđżđźđđ¶đŒđ»đ đ¶đ» đđ
Discussing the ethical challenges in AI development and deployment.
đđźđ đđŻ: đđżđČđźđđČ đŹđŒđđż đđ đłđŒđż đđđđ¶đ»đČđđ đ„đŒđźđ±đșđźđœ
How to develop a strategic AI integration roadmap for businesses.
đđźđ đđ°: đđđđđżđČ đ§đżđČđ»đ±đ đ¶đ» đđ
Exploring future developments and trends in AI.
đđźđ đđ±: đđŒđ»đđ¶đ»đđ¶đ»đŽ đŹđŒđđż đđ đđŒđđżđ»đČđ
Providing resources and advice for continued AI learning and exploration.
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Why Do Great Talks Do Six Things?
How do you connect with an audience who has no idea who you are? And more importantly, how can you inspire an audience to do something which they didn't expect to do - especially if that concerns giving you a lot of money?
This episode is a fast but thoughtful deep-dive into the art and science of persuasive storytelling according to civil rights lawyer Bryan Stevenson. His TED Talk received the longest standing ovation in TED history, but not only that - he received $1.3M in donations to his organization from the audience without even askibng for it! How did Bryan's 21 minute talk do that? Especially when, on paper, it looks like this talk shoud not have worked.
In this episode, Jeremy takes a few minutes longer than usual to unpack this talk, and using AI, Jeremy goes behind the scenes to look at what you can learn from Bryan in order to become a better mission critical storyteller yourself.
EPISODE LINKS
Bryan's TED Talk Equal Justice Initiative Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson [BOOK] Just Mercy [TRAILER]EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
Why Do Great Talks Do 6 Things?
When I worked at Adobe several years ago I conducted some research which tried to understand what made a great piece of content. Basically â what was the value of a story? It was based on research I did with Facebook a few years earlier when I was working on measuring the value of an audience.
The conclusion that me and my team came to, after simplifying the findings of our research, was that great stories do 6 things really well.
They INFORM, INSPIRE, EDUCATE, ENTERTAIN, CHALLENGE and SOLVE PROBLEMS.
I started to spend a lot of time with neuroscientists and psychologists, and soon started to realise why these 6 elements were present in great stories.
It was a simple left brain â right brain story.
Our emotions are triggered by our right brain (within our lymbic system) â and we then justify those emotions with rational and logical thought based upon our left brain (our neo-cortex).
Right Brain = INSPIRE, ENTERTAIN, CHALLENGE Left Brain = INFORM, EDUCATE, SOLVE PROBLEMSI was working on this research 13 years ago but it came to life again for me this week after I watched the Jamie Foxx & Michael B. Jordan film âJUST MERCYâ based on the book by civil rights lawyer Bryan Stevenson.
If you donât know who Bryan Stevenson is â you should â and you soon will!
Bryan is one of the most compelling voices in the global pursuit of justice. As a civil rights lawyer, Bryan has dedicated his life to confronting some of the deepest injustices in society. He is the founder of the Equal Justice Initiative, an organization that defends the wrongfully convicted, advocates for the poor, and represents inmates on death row. His work is not just about individual cases but about exposing the systems of inequality that have shaped the modern legal landscape.
Through his advocacy, he has fundamentally reshaped conversations about race, incarceration, and human dignity. His TED Talk has been viewed over 10M times, and his memoir, Just Mercy, (also, film) is a powerful testament to the possibility of hope even in the darkest corners of society.
Bryanâs impact is rooted in his extraordinary ability to communicate truth, inspire empathy, and persuade others to see the humanity in every individual.
So letâs have a look at how he uses the power of words and ideas to create change â and how storytelling, truth, and hope can move people, challenge systems, and influence history. For Bryan, this is about more than the law. Itâs about the art and science of persuasion and the role communication plays in building a more just world.
OK...
So I said great stories do 6 things.
After watching the movie Just Mercy I watched Bryanâs TED talk again.
Itâs a famous TED talk even among the inner circles of TED because itâs famous for having the longest standing ovation of any TED talk.
And not just that â when Bryan spoke at TED in Long Beach California in 2012, his organisation was in urgent need of $1M to continue fighting a key case in the US Supreme Court. Bryan didnât mention this once in his talk, but his stories had such an impact on the audience that he left California with $1.3M of contributions from members of the audience.
Thatâs mission critical storytelling for you.
So - just for fun (!) I fed the transcript of Bryanâs talk into the AI Storytelling Assistants I used at work to analyse talks â to see if I could understand WHY this talk had such a profound impact on the audience - and I made some pretty astonishing discoveries.
Bryanâs talk contained â you guessed it â 6 parts.
His 21 minute, 3,981 word talk meant that he spoke at 190 WPM â which pretty much means it should NOT have worked.
But it had a VERY low readability score of 8.94 (meaning he used short sentences and lots of two-syllable words) which made it easy for the audience to follow, despite the fast pace at which he spoke.
He used the word âBUTâ 18X. To add drama or contrast - about once every 70 seconds which is within 5 seconds of the average attention span of an elite-business audience.
Clever.
But let me show you the real discovery.
Stories contain 6 elements right?
Inform. Inspire. Educate. Entertain. Challenge. Solve Problems.
Letâs have a listen.
After Bryanâs short introduction he shares a funny story about his grandmother. He spends almost one-quarter of his time (21%) on this story, but itâs important because it helps to build a strong emotional connection with an audience who didnât know who he was before.
This story ENTERTAINS.
[GRANDMOTHER]
Next he INFORMS his audience with information about his identity and his relationship with alcohol
[IDENTITY]
For the next few minutes, he talks his mission and how the Equal Justice Initiative which he founded seeks to try and SOLVE some of the PROBLEMS within the criminal justice system
[DESERVE TO DIE?]
By talking about the students who he teaches about race he spends a few minutes EDUCATING the audience with some powerful statistics about the death penalty.
[DEATH PENALTY STATS]
He then CHALLENGES the audience for the next 2 minutes about why our identity is at risk â after previously setting up why identity is so important
[IDENTITY]
And in closing, he spends the final thirds of his time (35% of it â 1,421 words) sharing a powerful story about Rosa Parks which doesnât just INSPIRE the audience â it inspires them to act.
As evidenced by the $1.3M in donations he received shortly after his talk.
[ROSA]
Great stories donât just make an audience FEEL something â they inspire an audience to DO something.
Powerful stuff.
Go and watch the full talk for yourself right now.
Itâs the best 20-minutes youâll probably spend doing anything today.
--
The Truth in Ten is a cross between a podcast series and a storytelling masterclass. Each short episode shines a light on a different inspirational leader; someone who shared a short story which changed the world in some way. This is a show for anyone who wants to make a difference by sharing their story.
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How Do You Write Speeches Which Change Lives?
In this episode we put the spotlight on one of the world's greatest speechwriters - Theodore "Ted" Sorensen - so that we can understand how he wrote such iconic speeches for President John F. Kennedy. What was his process? And what can we learn from it to become better communicators ourselves?
There was a simple framework which Ted used, which I'd love to share with you in this 10-minute masterclass. It's a framework I use to train AI models today, and it's a methodology that's as relevant for speakers and storytellers today, as it was back in the 1960's.
EPISODE LINKS
Original recording of "4 Words & 5 Lines" from Ragan Speechwriters Conference (2009) BetterStories.org - The 9 Principles of Better Stories - inspired by Ted's 4+5 Sorensen "On writing JFK's speeches" (4 mins) Sorensen "On writing a good speech" (12 mins) Counselor: A Life at the Edge of History by Theodore C. Sorensen [AUTOBIOGRAPHY]EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
How Do You Write Speeches Which Change Lives?
In the last episode we looked at someone who read for a president. Today, weâre going to look at someone who wrote for a president â so weâre going to step back into a pivotal moment in history, to learn from (one of) the greatest speechwriters of all time: Theodore âTedâ Sorensen â the man who proved that a well-told story really can change the world.
I want to introduce you to the process he used which will help YOU to be a better storyteller an a more effective communicator. Heâs responsible for some of the most iconic lines, of any speech, of any generation.
[JFK âASK NOTâ]
When you think of President John F. Kennedyâs speeches in the 1960âs like that Inauguration speech, or his Peace speech at American University (best) or his vision of a moonshot that reshaped historyâthe mind behind those words was Ted Sorensen.
But Sorensen wasnât just a wordsmith. He was JFKâs trusted advisor, a master strategist who understood that great communication is about more than beautiful rhetoric. Itâs about driving action, creating urgency, and shaping the world. Sorensen was instrumental in ending the Cuban missile crisis in October 1962 â 13 days that took the world as close to a global nuclear war as itâs ever been.
Kennedy & Sorensen didnât just want to deliver speechesâthey wanted to craft a vision for a better future.
Here's what Sorensen had to say about writing the kind of speeches which could do that:
[SORENSEN CLIP â WRITING EFFECTIVELY]
Monotone! âComfortable in anonymityâ - COUNSELOR â His memoir. Excellent. I have a lovely leather signed first edition! Unfortunately I never got to meet him.
Sorensenâs legacy is everywhere today. From boardrooms to campaign stages, hi principlesâbrevity, clarity, and purposeâare timeless. He showed us how to communicate with conviction, inspire people to act, and create narratives that matter. For business professionals, executives, and storytellers, his lessons are more relevant than ever. In a world drowning in information, Sorensenâs genius reminds us: itâs not about saying moreâitâs about saying what matters most.
So, how did he do it? And how can we, as modern communicators, adopt his techniques to cut through the noise, build trust, and drive meaningful action?
--
Let me transport you back to a short speech he gave 16 years ago.
Itâs a freezing cold February morning in 2009.
-3°C.
And one hundred speechwriters are gathered together at the Ragan Speechwriters Conference in Washington, D.C. to hear Sorensen talk about the art and science of rhetoric. Ted was 80 and he needed help getting up to the platform to speak because his health was rapidly deteriorating. He could hardly see, but his mind was still as sharp as a tack. Speaking with eloquence and empathy, Ted stepped onto the platform to inspire this ballroom full of wordsmiths. His session was titled, âHow to Write a Good Speechâ.
After sharing a few stories and anecdotes for about 15 minutes, Ted delivered his not-so-secret âmagical methodâ process for crafting Kennedyâs communications. And as with all great processes it was short and sweet.
And in 4-minutes he shared some of the most powerful communications advice youâre ever likely to hear. Like all great advice â itâs beautifully elegant and so simple that you can write it on the back of a napkin.
It all comes down to just 4 words and 5 lines.
Hereâs what Ted said at that conference (Iâm reading from the transcript because the audio quality was pretty bad and might hurt your ears!):
--
âItâs not that tough to write a good speech, itâs just a matter of a few lines. Number one, the OUTLINE. I begin everything with an outline.
Number two, the HEADLINE. Whatâs going to be the headline in this speech? Whatâs new, and whatâs the news in it? What do you want the public to take from this speech?
Then number three, the FRONTLINE. Whatâs the most important point in this picture, in clear language and will emerge as the front line early in the speech.
And then a few SIDE LINES. Side lines are quotations, or poems (I like to throw poems in occasionally), or humour.
And then finally, the BOTTOM LINE. You ought to have a subtle ending that makes the audience leave the hall saying, âNow that was a memorable speechâ. So those are just a few lines.
And then I would add to that, in a way that helps people to remember, are the four features that characterise a good speech; number one, CLARITY (thatâs the purpose of the outline).
Number two, CHARITY, praise your audience, make them feel like youâre asking them to do something important because they are doing something important.
Number three, BREVITY because Kennedy believed that anything worth saying could be finished in twenty to twenty-five minutes - unless itâs a State of the Union address which by its nature goes on and on.
And number four, LEVITY. Not a speech consisting just of jokes, but Kennedy had this wonderful eye for wit, but not only would he begin his speech with a humorous comment, but he would work them into the text as well.
So itâs easy to remember those four characterisations: Clarity, Charity, Brevity, Levity.
And thatâs all there is to it!â
--
Brilliant.
Thereâs probably more wisdom in those 303 words than in many of the storytelling and speechwriting books that Iâve read over the years. Ted sadly passed away a year later from complications after having a stroke, but the gift of advice that Ted left with us that day has become part of his legacy.
I use these 4 words and 5 lines today as the foundation of AI storytelling assistants that Iâm building & training to help business leaders all over the world to tell better stories. Iâve even built a whole website dedicated to this methodology at www.betterstories.org where there are hundreds of links, books, courses and tutorials where you can dig into this in a lot more detail.
--
So the next time youâre struggling to write an important speech, especially if peopleâs lives (and livelihoods) depend on it â then just think 4 words and 5 lines.
OUTLINE: Will the shape of your story resonate with your audience? Is it âtransformationalâ? Does it contain âintention & obstacleâ? HEADLINE: Can you describe your story in ONE sentence? (10-15 words or less?) FRONTLINE: Will your story capture your audienceâs attention in the first 2 minutes (or 200 words)? SIDELINE: What sidelines can you add to your story to personalise it? (How can you make it so unique & differentiated that youâre the only person who can tell it? BOTTOMLINE: What do you want your audience to do as a result of hearing your story? Is there a clear call-to-action? Business stories donât just make an audience FEEL something, they inspire an audience to DO something. CLARITY: Have we done a good enough job at simplifying any complexity in our story CHARITY: Will the audience feel a shared purpose in the mission youâre asking them to join you on? BREVITY: Is it short enough? Why speak for 30 minutes if you can get the job done in ten? LEVITY: Have you added light relief where necessary? Especially if youâre talking about a heavy topic which can be intense. (AI ethics? Social impact?) A little humour or a few quotes could make all the difference.Ted said,
âA speech is made great, not from the words used, but from the ideas conveyed. If the ideas, principles and values and substance of the speech are great, then itâs going to be a great speech, even if the words are pedestrian.â
So there you have it.
The Truth in Ten.
Thanks for listening everyone.
--
The Truth in Ten is a cross between a podcast series and a storytelling masterclass. Each short episode shines a light on a different inspirational leader; someone who shared a short story which changed the world in some way. This is a show for anyone who wants to make a difference by sharing their story.
--
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How Do You Turn a Presentation into a Performance?
In the second episode of The Truth in Ten Podcast, host Jeremy Connell-Waite takes you on a journey to discover how the world's most famous spoken word poet, Amanda Gorman, overcame her fear of public speaking (and a speech impediment).
Just two weeks after hundreds of protesters stood on the exact same spot and stormed the Capitol Building, 22-year old Amanda had just 6-minutes to try and heal a nation with her words, with millions all around the world watching to see what she'd say.
74% of people suffer from Glossophobia (the fear of public speaking) according to the National Mental Health Institute.
This episode is not just a profile of Amanda, it's a storytelling masterclass for anyone who struggles with public speaking and wants to be a better communicator.
SHOW LINKS:
Amanda Gorman's performance of The Hill We Climb Amanda's Masterclass on Writing & PerformingEPISODE TRANSCRIPT:
How Do You Turn A Presentation Into a Performance?
On 6th January 2021 at 2:10pm on on a freezing cold Wednesday afternoon, the United States Capitol Building in Washington, D.C., was attacked by a mob of Donald Trump supporters in an attempted self-coup, two months after his defeat in the 2020 presidential election.
174 injured in the attack. 1,200 charged for playing a role in the attack. 2 bombs were discovered. 5 people died.On TV it looked like a civil war was breaking out. People were asking the question âHow could this happen?â
But just two weeks later, a nervous âskinny young Black girlâ stood on those very same steps to read a poem she wrote at the Inauguration ceremony of President Biden.
Tensions couldnât have been higher.
The world was watching.
No pressure.
[THE HILL WE CLIMB]
Within minutes, it felt like everyone on the internet was asking a different question:
âWhat was the poetâs name?â âWho was that incredible young woman?â
Her name⊠is AMANDA GORMAN.
And whatâs astonishing about this story is not that she was only 22 when she wrote this powerful poem to try and heal a nation, or that she gave such an electrifying performance when she read it in front of 40M people on US TV (and millions more around the world).
Or even the fact that she took just 6 minutes to capture global attention, seeing her poem printed in newspapers all over the world the next day. As amazing as that was.
No. It was that not long before that moment that she was terrified of public speaking. Many of us are, right?
But Amanda had good reason to be.
She has an auditory processing disorder which means she is hypersensitive to sound. She also had a serious speech impediment which made it especially difficult to pronounce her âRâsâ. Not ideal for a spoken word poet. And especially one whoâs name is GORMAN.
But not ideal for a spoken word poet!
Sheâd be writing about environmentalism and protecting âearthââ but she couldnât say âEARTHâ properly when she reads her poem out loud, so she had to use words like âplanetâ or globeâ instead.
According to the National Institute of Mental Health 74% of us suffer from Glossophobia in some form like Amanda did. The fear of public speaking.
10% are terrified of speaking in front of people. 10% of the population loves speaking in front of people. 80% fall somewhere in the middle.So how did Amanda go from a someone who only liked reading and writing because she couldnât pronounce her âRâsâ â to the confident and compelling performer who spoke truth on the steps of the Capitol Building in front of world leaders?
Letâs back up a bit first.
When she was 15, Amada saw Malala Yousafzai giving her Nobel prize acceptance speech, she was so impacted by it that she decided right there and then that she also wanted to speak on a global stage; she just didnât have the toolâs or techniques to be able to do it yet.
Amanda thought âWhatever youâre struggling with - chances are thereâs someone from the past who has walked a similar path. Maybe not exactly the same path. But someone who can inspire you to keep moving forward â especially if others are telling you that something you want to do - canât (or shouldnât) be done.â
Amanda always loved reading Maya Angelouâs poetry, and she learned that Maya, her hero, was mute for several years. One of the worldâs greatest spoken word poets, another powerful black woman â didnât just have a speech impediment, she didnât even speak for 5 years! This became an âaha momentâ for her. Amanda said, âIf Maya can do it, so can I.â
Amanda continued to struggle for a couple more years, and she continued to write furiously, but then she stumbled across another political writer. One who was also famous for writing furiously.
Alexander Hamilton.
Lin Manuelâs âHamiltonâ musical had just opened off-Broadway and Amanda became obsessed with one of the main songs.
[AARON BURR]
Learning this song off by heart and reciting it over-and-over became her training regimen.
"It just compacts the âRâ sound over and over again." said said. "I would listen to the track of 'Aaron Burr, Sir,' and try to do it over and over and over again, and I told myself, 'If you can do this song, you can speak this sound wherever.'"
With the help of a speaking coach â and a lot of bravery practicing at open micâs in front of friendly audiences â Amanda started to bring her words to life off the page.
She started to experiment more with rhyme, alliteration, rhetorical devices like repetition, meter and stressed syllablesâŠ
Her training regimen made her ask questions like âdoes this need to live on the page - or does this need to come to life on a stage?â
Because thereâs a difference.
Let me give you an example.
Listen to this part of her Inauguration poem again and youâll see what I mean, because some things are written to be performed.
[HILL WE CLIMB]
When you really want to inspire an audience, you might have something in your mind that doesnât quite make sense on the page, but it comes to life when spoken.
Like âJustice vs Just isââŠ
Impressive.
Amanda stopped seeing her speech impediment as a crutch. She started to treat it as a gift and a strength.
If you watch the video of Amanda performing this poem, youâll also notice something else...
Her speaking and pronunciation is almost flawless, but itâs not that - sheâs reading her poem.
Does that strike you as strange for a performer?
It did for me.
Performers donât read their own words!
But this is another way Amanda has faced her fears to turn her presentations into performances.
She doesnât memorise her poems for when she reads them out loud. For a spoken word poet (or any performer for that matter) that was a new concept to me.
Of course great performers memorise their words???
Nope. Not Amanda.
Remember, Amanda is still a nervous public speaker. She just needs to do a good job of hiding it.
Hereâs a real piece of golden advice for you to take away from this episode:
You donât need to worry about memorising your words - itâs how you bring it to life that matters.
Some presenters worry that having notes might make your performance sound wooden, or worse still â look like youâve not rehearsed.
No.
Having a script to read from tells your audience at that youâve done your homework and youâve come prepared.
Whatâs important is that you speak from the heart. Instead of worrying about your words and what to say next, you can focus on speaking with pride and compassion but show your flaws.
Donât worry about remembering your words. Worry about remembering WHY you wrote them.
And then transfer that feeling to your audience.
Thatâs an important distinction.
Fear (of public speaking) never really goes away⊠which is why itâs important for you to have the tools available for when youâre asked to perform in any mission critical moment.
I LOVE that Amanda included a reference to Hamilton in her inauguration poem as a nod to the musical which empowered her to find her voice (she called it her âspeech pathologyâ)âŠ
[HISTORY HAS ITS EYES ON US]
And now the musicalâŠ
[HAMILTON]
Thatâs a nice touch.
In a full circle moment, Lin-Manuel Miranda wrote Amandaâs profile for her TIME 100 Next ranking:
âIf the hardest part of an artistâs job is to fully and honestly meet the moment, Amanda delivered a master class. She spoke truth to power and embodied clear-eyed hope to a weary nation. She revealed us to ourselves.â
And sheâs continuing to speak truth today.
Amanda is still only 26 but her words, and a wisdom beyond her words, have put her on the cover of every magazine. Sheâs written Nike ads, performed at the Superbowl and been photographer by Annie Leibovitz for the cover story of Vogue.
On Good Morning America not too long ago - Robin Wright asked if she was serious about a joke she made about running for president in 2036:
[GMA]
--
The Truth in Ten is a cross between a podcast series and a storytelling masterclass. Each short episode shines a light on a different inspirational leader; someone who shared a short story which changed the world in some way. This is a show for anyone who wants to make a difference by sharing their story.
--
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How Do You Turn a Moment into a Movement?
In this pilot episode of The Truth in Ten Podcast, host Jeremy Connell-Waite takes you behind the scenes of a ten-minute presentation which won not one, but two Academy Awards! It's a presentation which Jeremy has given many times himself, and he shares some insights about where the presentation came from, and what you can learn from it.
"Sorry I gave such a long presentation. I didn't have enough time to create a shorter one!"
SHOW LINKS
An Inconvenient Truth Day After Tomorrow Nancy Duarte Interview Duarte Inc. Storytelling Resources Al Gore The Coming Global Superstorm [Book] An Inconvenient Truth [Movie] Truth In Ten [Al Gore's Slideshow] Truth In Ten [Jeremy's Slideshow] Join Climate Reality Leadership Corps--
The Truth in Ten is a cross between a podcast series and a storytelling masterclass. Each short episode shines a light on a different inspirational leader; someone who shared a short story which changed the world in some way. This is a show for anyone who wants to make a difference by sharing their story.
--
S01 E01: FULL TRANSCRIPT
How Do You Turn A Moment Into A Movement?
On 27th May, 2004 the movie âThe Day After Tomorrowâ premiered in New York.
You remember the film?
[CLIP]
Great movie.
Itâs a science fiction disaster movie with Jake Gyllenhall and Dennis Quaid, based on a book called âThe Coming Global Superstormâ.
The book warned that global warming might produce sudden and catastrophic climate change events.
It was one of the top grossing films of the year.
Anyway â after the premier there was a âGlobal Warming Townhallâ to discuss climate change. And as part of that townhall meeting, there was a panel. The former US Vice-President Al Gore was one of the panellists. And as part of that panel, he had 10 minutes to make his case, so he presented a 10-minute version of a slide show that heâd been working on about the climate crisis.
[INCONVENIENT TRUTH CLIP]
One of the people in the audience that day was a movie producer called Laurie David. She said afterwards that she was âflooredâ by his presentation.
Interesting sidenote: Laurie David was married to Larry David at the time (the creator of Seinfeld & Curb Your Enthusiasm) â and they both know a thing or two about storytelling and how to capture an audienceâs attention. (Laurie & Larry David. Bit of a mouthful at dinner parties!)
As soon as the evening was over, Laurie asked Al Gore if he would present his slideshow to her influential friends in New York and LA. She thought it was the most powerful and clear explanation of global warming sheâd ever seen, and she decided right there and then that she would make it her mission to get everyone she knew to see it too.
Now Laurie is a movie producer, so Laurie did what Laurie does bestâŠ
She assembled a small team and asked them to explore the possibility of turning Alâs ten minute slide show into a movie. As far as they knew, nothing like this had ever been done before â but Al Gore wasnât convinced.
Since losing the race to become US president 4 years earlier, heâd decided to focus all his attenion on the climate crisis, and heâd now given this presentation thousands of times.
He had slaved over this deck for years and spent hundreds of hours presenting it. This slideshow was his baby, and he didnât want to put that baby, as fragile as it was, into the hands of any Hollywood movie makers. Hollywood executives might corrupt the story. They might take their âcreative licenceâ too far and undermine the integrity of the message.
It was a real concern.
But Laurie assured Al that the message was more important than the money - and that what was at stake was the planet, saying "None of us are going to make a dime at the box office anyway!â
He reluctantly allowed her to explore the possibility so they met up with director Davis Guggenheim (ER, 24, NYPD Blue, Deadwood, He Named Me Malala and Netflixâs Inside Billâs Brain). Heâs a big deal. Heâs even made a film for IBM! But Guggenheim wasnât convinced it would work either.
Until, that is, he saw the 10 minute presentation for himself and he was âblown away." (His words). He left that meeting thinking that global warming was the most important issue in the world â and he admitted that he had no idea how to make a film out of it, but he wanted to try.
Not easy!
Guggenheimâs films usually take a couple of years.
But An Inconvenient Truth needed to be filmed and produced in a matter of months - and on a really tight budget of just $1.5M.
Remember - that this all started with just ONE 10-minute slideshow.
Have that in the back of your mind the next time youâre putting a presentation together.
Thatâs the power of a great story.
Great stories create urgency and can inspire audienceâs to act. And act quickly.
When asked about the project, Guggenheim said "We all felt like we were on a mission from God just to make it as fast as we could. We just felt like it was urgent. The clock was ticking, and people had to see it.â
So what happened next?
How do you turn a slideshow into a movie?
How do you turn all those numbers into a narrative?
Enter Nancy Duarte.
Sheâs one of my heroâs and one of the people I most look up to in the world of business storytelling.
If you donât know her, watch her TED Talk.
Duarte.
D.U.A.R.T.E.
Her Californian presentation company, Duarte Design, was approached to condense and update Al Goreâs slide deck, mostly by adding some video and animation. It was already a pretty good slide show, but it needed more drama to make it engaging on the silver screen.
Another interesting side note in this story - Al Gore was on the board of Apple! He knew Steve Jobs pretty well, so he had a pretty good presentation coach! Thatâs why Al Goreâs slides have always had a similar style to the oneâs Steve used in his keynotes.
But still, Nancy made them better. And once Al Gore saw how devoted this small but motivated team were to his cause, and how impressive the new slides were, he agreed to go ahead and make the movie.
An Inconvenient Truth opened in 2006 in New York, just a few blocks away from where Al Gore gave his 10-minute slideshow just two years earlier.
The trailer claimed it was âthe most terrifying film you will ever seeâ.
At the Sundance Film Festival, the movie received THREE standing ovations. Six weeks later, it won two Oscars.
Unheard of.
In his acceptance speech, Gore gave a brief speech. Just 48 words. Thatâs BREVITY for you:
âMy fellow Americans, people all over the world, we need to solve the climate crisis. It's not a political issue; it's a moral issue. We have everything we need to get started, with the possible exception of the will to act. That's a renewable resource. Let's renew it.â
SoâŠ
A 10-minute presentation.
An Academy Award winning documentary.
And a 48-word speech.
Right after the film launched, Al Gore founded The Climate Reality Project of the back of the filmâs surprise success. He trained 1,000 activists that year, teaching each of them how to give his 10-minute presentation about the climate crisis to their friends and colleagues.
He called it âThe Truth in Ten.â
In 2019 I became one of those leaders when I became part of the Climate Reality Leadership Corps. Iâve now given Al Goreâs The Truth in Ten presentation dozens of times to thousands of people over the last few years, and as youâve probably figured out by now, I love the title of this presentation so much that I named this podcast after it.
Because Iâd like this show to shine a light on some short stories from a few inspirational people who made a real difference â and hopefully their words and their process might inspire you to become a better storyteller yourself.
Hereâs the thing about the process behind Al Goreâs slideshowâŠ
Truth in Ten is an unusual thing to present. It breaks all the rules of presenting.
Thereâs a lot of charts (with sexy animations of course â thanks Nancy!).
Thereâs a lot of stories.
You need to explain the science clearly but you have to make it interesting and easy to understand.
Thereâs a clear Aristo-telian 3-act structure: âMust we change? Can we change? Will we change?â
Thereâs 55 slides and you need to speed up and slow down the transitions to create drama and anticipation, but that still works out at an average of one slide every 11 seconds. Thatâs fast! (And not easy to do).
Thereâs a cadence and a rhythm to the way itâs presented.
Intense slides with lots of words sit alongside dramatic photos of wildfires and floods. A few of the photos are so dramatic Iâve broken down myself a few times when presenting them.
Itâs emotional. (Both for the person presenting it and the audience listening to it).
And finally, you need to speak at around 180 words a minute â which is usually never a good idea for any audience.
This presentation shouldnât work.
But it does.
Because this is not your average presentation.
This is a 10-minute presentation which took FOUR years to create. Itâs given birth to a double Oscar-winning documentary - which to this day, is still one of the highest grossing documentaries of all-time.
Itâs a presentation which changed the world.
Political agenda aside, and whatever your view of Al Gore, he took a master-deck of 615 slides and turned it into 10 minutes of truth which got the world talking. Thatâs a feat in itself.
Anyone can speak for a long time with a lot of slides. You might bore the audience but itâs not that hard.
But not enough of us know how to impact an audience in under 10 minutes. For anyone who wants to be an effective storyteller (given how short attention spans are these days) â this is something we should you should study: inspirational people who used storytelling to turn moments into movements.
So...
Whatâs the real message behind this episode?
The purpose of every story is to make an audience FEEL something. Thatâs what transformational storytelling is all about. Whether itâs a movie, a book, a song, a play, a poem or a keynote.
And if thereâs one thing that Al Gore has taught me to do â and the tens of thousands of climate leaders heâs personally trained as part of his Climate Reality Project â itâs that the purpose of a story â
A âMission Critical Storyâ (like The Truth in Ten) â is not just to get an audience to FEEL something, itâs to get an audience to DO something.
[APPLAUSE]
