New "Go To" Presentation App: Adobe Slate

Adobe Slate for visual storytelling... you must try this application! 

This little application, available for mobile devices and via web, is the kind of application that will propel your presentations to new heights.

My initial stories were quite simple, more like family albums, then I began to organize the content differently; approaching more like a movie director. Storyboarding my outline and objectives. 

Slate will shift your visual storytelling skills to be more robust. 

Overview:

• Easily add images and video
• Create slideshows and/or grids
• Add text and styling (body, h1, h2, quotes)
• Ability to add external links (webpages, email, etc)
• Limited theme templates  
• Share link (social media, mail)
• Embed on webpage

After producing "Historically Speaking" and evaluating other visual stories it see numerous possibilities to use Adobe Slate, professionally and personally. Go beyond the newsletter and blog post. Book trailers, e-newsletters, event pre-launch, new business presentation, etc.

During the planning or storyboarding stage think more like the movie director; background imagery, video or audio clips, still images, photo grids and slideshows, etc. How to pair with text to emphasize the core message?


https://slate.adobe.com/cp/ivSk7/

Don't worry this application is available for mobile (iOS & Android) and web.  

Everyone Has a Story, We Need to Discover It

This year's Chicago Ideas Week was filled with superb speakers, workshop and IDEAS. Unfortunately, my budget would only allow a small sampling of the seven day schedule. Choosing wisely.

A must see, for me, was Bruce Weindruch's presentation/workshop "Start with the Future and Work Back." I had the pleasure of participating in the workshop earlier this year and enjoyed it so much that I had to attend, again. Mr Weindruch is the CEO and Founder of The History Factory, a different kind of creative company that leverages an organization's history to tell a new story.

Working with historical content is nothing new for me; the joy and tedium of shifting through archives–cataloging, tagging and sorting to find the most relevant material for the project connects me with the past. Everything from film, newspaper/magazine clippings, photographs and even audio can contain some very surprising details about people, places and organizations.

Begin with a few simple questions:

• What's important NOW?
• What do you want to HAPPEN?
• What INVENTORY do we need to get from the archives?

Here are a few takeaways from the "Start with the Future and Work Back" workshop.

• Look inside the organization to support today's message.
  European luxury fashion companies due this elegantly to highlight heritage, craftsmanship and creativity.
• Pull the right story for the right moment.
  One example that comes to mind is from one of my architecture tours when we site the energy efficiency of 110 year old building connecting it with a contemporary issue.
• Tag (meta tag) the historical material.
  Select keywords that connect with today's message. This is truly an art form and should be well thought and systematized. 
• Look for significant threads or commonalities in the inventory.
  Years ago, I was researching and designing a 75th anniversary event magazine for a private golf club. The archives were NOT organized. It's almost like putting a puzzle together.
• Ask "what's important?".
  The historical matter must be credible.
• Find an iconic image and shape your story around it.
  As a designer this is one of favorite aspects of any project; if you're lucky enough to find it. 
• Create compelling stories using the "threads" customized for your audiences.
  Working with the writer to create the language that will bring it all together; adding the emotion, passion and persuasion to the story (stories)
• Measure the impact of the story. Marketers will do what they do best to track and measure the effectiveness of the advertising and/or PR campaign. See what's working. 

Case studies referenced by The History Factory to illustrate these concepts; these included Brooks Brothers, Inland Steel Building and Boeing. Check out the company's video library for more nuggets about storytelling.

These tips and strategies have proven very useful, recently, on some personal projects and the research for some architecture tours. Simply stated...how can we make history fun and relevant for today's audience? 

An example is the History Channel's 10 Things You Don't Know About show, the host uses a contemporary approach to uncover ten little known facts about a topic–stuff we may have slept through during high school history class.

Remember, everyone has a story, we need to discover it.

PS: There were three Chicago Architecture Foundation docents in the audience, including myself. Watch out... our storytelling skills will only get better!

Storytelling ~ It's In Our DNA

We’ve all been hearing the word “storytelling” in marketing and social media conversation quite frequently these days.  I'm baffled why this seems to be the latest fad. After all isn't storytelling in our DNA?

For those of us who have worked in marketing, public relations and advertising, we’ve been crafting and delivering those “stories” for a {very} long time.

• Key messaging
•  Investment appeals
•  Call to action
•  Crisis communication
•  Competitive analysis
•  Market overview
•  Benefits of service(s)
•  Long-term strategy
•  Case studies
•  Testimonials

I don’t claim to be a writer but I do draw upon my experience of formatting and designing “stories” for senior level management, events, non-profits, and start-ups for a variety of audiences.  Nothing new, mankind has been communicating with imagery for thousands of years.

More than 10 million Google results are listed when you search “storytelling for business." I love the lead from a prominent social media blogger, “In storytelling for business, you want your reader to take action.”  Drop the word “storytelling” and we’re back to the principles of a communications strategy.  This is where all my copywriting colleagues should be standing on top of their desks, raising their hand with a big “OH YEAH!”

Technology is Today’s Campfire

A few months ago I was in the audience listening to a Chicago Tribune photographer talk about visual storytelling in today’s über-connected environment. Assimilating technology to the time when we sat around the campfire and told stories from one generation to the next. I wonder if YouTube, Facebook or Twitter will be considered this generation’s “campfire.”

There exists, I believe, a hunger for authenticity when technology lacks warmth. As usage of mobile devices, apps and gadgets increases rapidly, stories like the unemployed college grad who made a small fortune self-publishing her books are eaten up like jelly beans on Easter morning. Or, a YouTube video going viral in a matter of hours.

I find unspoken power of marketing and communications in combining images and text to tell a story. 

Effective visuals derived from these five core principles: archetype, face, experimental, emotion and shock. 

The most widely used being archetypical and emotional imagery.

Storytelling for business has a similar structure to that of fiction. (Figure)

What story are we crafting today? I hope it’s one where I/we get to dig deep into the photo archive.

PS: I’m also diving into “visual storytelling” and how we can craft messages and allegories with imagery.  

Here’s a reference from My Modern Met, (may not be NSFW).