Increasingly, I’m being asked to teach storytelling.
Which makes me happy, because it’s my favourite subject.
So I delight in passing on its remarkable power in influencing, persuading and inspiring.
Witness this big smile when I was teaching Storytelling for Scientists at the University of Birmingham.
For a similar session, which I have coming up back in Cambridge, I wanted to illustrate the power of pictures in storytelling.
So I had a look online, in the usual way, popped into the library, did some thinking as I took a stroll…
But inspiration stubbornly refused to come.
So I fell back on a tried and tested technique.
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Normally, when I wake up, I start work straight away.
I like to get on with whatever lectures, workshops, or writing is the priority for that week.
It was many years ago I learnt that mornings are by far my most creative and productive time.
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So rather than get straight to my computer, recently I’ve been taking a few minutes just to let my thoughts wander.
Particularly when I have a problem to solve. Like this one, on illustrating, how impactful pictures can be.
I sat in the chair in my office, looked out at the shifting light of dawn…
And inspiration struck in a wonderful way.
Earthrise. (Picture credit: NASA)
That iconic 1968 photograph, taken from Apollo 8, of the Earth, rising behind the moon.
It was described as “the most influential, environmental photograph ever taken“...
Is credited with giving rise to the global conservation movement.
And so was perfect to illustrate the power of pictures in storytelling, particularly from a scientific perspective.
Problem solved. Happy me.
Splendid!
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The next day, I had to work out how to set an exercise using artificial intelligence.
The problem has been bothering me for a few days, but…
Wake up, repeat the sit and think strategy…
And it was problem sorted once again.
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If you're interested, I'm going to ask the group to use AI to write the opening paragraph of a book on communication.
We could then critique it to see how the bot had done.
(Using my new book, Compelling Communication, as a reference, of course. Remember: no writer worth the name ever misses out on an opportunity to plug their work!)
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But shameless self-promotion aside, back to the point of this blog:
By identifying, and making the most of my peak creative time…
I solved various problems which had been bothering me.
And, I might just (albeit smugly) argue…
With some style.
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So, if you want to enhance your creativity and productivity:
It’s critical to work out what time of day you're at your sharpest and most innovative…
And - crucially - build in the time to harvest the fruits of those beautiful moments.
