Ted Tuesday: Pixar Storyteller Andrew Stanton ("Toy Story," "WALL-E") on Storytelling

"Whether it is something you want to sell, to make others see your point or just something you want to share. If it comes with a good story, something the listener can relate to, that is true to you as the teller of the story. That is a good story! One that the other will remember and even retell to friends or relatives."

Good Morning Folks,

In today's Ted Talk Filmmaker Andrew Stanton ("Toy Story," "WALL-E") shares what he knows about storytelling — starting at the end and working back to the beginning.

Stories are especially relevant to FSO as, like Hollywood, we start with a blank canvas and a vision and begin (re)imagining for our a clients a future very different from the known and expected.

I love telling stories. I grew up listening to stories at family gatherings and always encouraged my running friends to tell stories during group runs. Even catching up with friends, for me, is about telling stories.

A good story can make a campfire that much eerier. A good story can flip a conversation at a party from completely awkward to wonderful. A good story can glue your nose to a book. And, on screen, a good story can rivet generation after generation.

So, uh, how do you tell one?

In order to tell a good story, though, don't you need to get out and live and have experiences? I mean that is a story right?

A time when...
A place where...
A person who...

Alternatively, I suppose you could just be extremely imaginative and creative and make up a story, but I think the best ones have an element of truth.

The art of making a story about what you want to share with the world.

Storytelling makes life easier for everyone. Without it, every form of communication would be lost in translation. Storytelling turns the most complicated subject into something simple. It makes a boring task enjoyable. With a little exaggeration thrown in, storytelling is the conveyance of ideas into something meaningful. It is a powerful communicator that makes ideas come alive, making room for community sharing, learning and exploration!

The film industry quickly understood that introducing language, via talking, wasn't just about dialogue. You had to tell a story. The rise of the scriptwriter ensued, with films making or breaking based on the script. It is ever so today. Films can be simple or sophisticated, but their success depends on our understanding of the messaging, the story.

Visual messaging -
keep it simple stupid or keep it visual stupid. A picture really does tell 1000 words.  You just have to select a good image that goes with a good story.

Know your Audience -
pitch your message to the audience intended. That means understanding your messaging well enough to change it for each group.

Review your Audience -
ensure you messaging is understood by asking them what you said.

Andrew Stanton, the Pixar writer and director behind both Toy Story and WALL-E, has many ideas, and he shared his expertise in his TED Talk, The clues to a great story.  Andrew Stanton has won two Oscars and is the writer behind Toy Story. His TED talk, Clues to a great story, details seven important topics for every storyteller. The full video is embedded below.



Whether it is something you want to sell, to make others see your point or just something you want to share. If it comes with a good story, something the listener can relate to, that is true to you as the teller of the story. That is a good story! One that the other will remember and even retell to friends or relatives. 

 So tell a good story, it will make an impression that lasts.

Let's all go make things happen today. I look forward to seeing you soon.

Love Life!

Mitchell D. Weiner

Chief Happiness Officer  

Ideas are not set in stone. When exposed to thoughtful people, they morph and adapt into their most potent form.TED Tuesdays on MitchWeiner.com highlights some of today's most intriguing ideas. Look for more talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design -- plus science, business, global issues, the arts and much more— HERE. 



About FSO Onsite Outsourcing

Recognized on the Inc. 5000 list of the nation's fastest growing companies for the second consecutive year, and lead by industry pioneer, Mitch Weiner, FSO's growth and success can be attributed to making a positive and powerful impact on their clients' bottom lines, as well as their employees' careers and lives.

Ted Tuesday: Amy Cuddy on The Power of Body Language

"So I think it's more interesting, especially when watching leaders, to look for warmth and trustworthiness nonverbals. Look for natural smiles, for body language that is inviting, positive, and that signals interest in the other person or people. Even a gentle touch -- one that's appropriate, of course -- like when one candidate gently touches the other on the shoulder. ~~Amy Cuddy

Good Morning Folks,

I found a really interesting Ted Talk for you this morning. One that really makes you think about something you never gave much thought to before. But in the service business, as we are, body language speaks volumes in conveying trust and making lasting impressions, good or bad. So take heed,

Body language affects how others see us, but it may also change how we see ourselves. Harvard Business School professor Amy Cuddy (#37 if 50 Women Who Are Changing The World), shows how "power posing" -- standing in a posture of confidence, even when we don't feel confident -- can affect testosterone and cortisol levels in the brain, and might even have an impact on our chances for success.

Everyone talks about the importance of "body language," but few people understand how much of an impact it actually has — not just in the way others perceive us, but in terms of how we actually perform.

Photos via Business Insider:

Professor Cuddy studies "body language"--the non-verbal communication 

that can tell us almost everything about what is going on in a given situation.  

Says Cuddy, "So I think it's more interesting, especially when watching leaders, to look for warmth and trustworthiness nonverbals. Look for natural smiles, for body language that is inviting, positive, and that signals interest in the other person or people. Even a gentle touch -- one that's appropriate, of course -- like when one candidate gently touches the other on the shoulder. A nice, relatively recent example is watching Obama when he sings the first little bit of the Al Green song "Let's Stay Together." Not only does he have a surprisingly good voice, but when I watch people watch him break into that big smile, I watch them melt -- I watch them warm up as they're watching him. It's contagious and hard to avoid. Obama has become pretty good nonverbally on both dimensions, although I think his ability to convey warmth has gotten much better as he's become more relaxed. You see more of those natural smiles. He comes across as strong without seeming like an over-aggressive alpha. And I think he knows when it's time to be really powerful nonverbally, and when it's time to play it down a little bit."

Certain "power poses" don't just change how others perceive you, Professor Cuddy says. They immediately change your body chemistry.

And these changes affect the way you do your job and interact with other people.

One thing to note in this talk already seen by five million folks around the world is Professor Cuddy's tips for giving the kind of dynamic presentation you are about to see— fuel your mental engine:

• Dopamine and epinephrine help regulate mental alertness. Both come from tyrosine, an amino acid found in proteins.
• So make sure to include protein in the meal you eat before you need to be at your best. And don’t wait until the last minute. When you’re really nervous the last thing you may want to do is eat. -

Professor Cuddy concluded her talk with a startling revelation about herself, one that led her to choke up momentarily. Then the talk ended in a standing ovation. Have look at a great speech from great speaker:


Thanks to INC, Huffington Post and Business Insider who helped me prepare his post and most of all to you, for watching.

Let's all go make things happen today. I look forward to seeing you soon.

Love Life!

Mitchell D. Weiner

Chief Happiness Officer  

Ideas are not set in stone. When exposed to thoughtful people, they morph and adapt into their most potent form.TED Tuesdays on MitchWeiner.com highlights some of today's most intriguing ideas. Look for more talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design -- plus science, business, global issues, the arts and much more— HERE. 

About FSO Onsite Outsourcing
Recognized on the Inc. 5000 list of the nation's fastest growing companies for the second consecutive year, and lead by industry pioneer, Mitch Weiner, FSO's growth and success can be attributed to making a positive and powerful impact on their clients' bottom lines, as well as their employees' careers and lives.

Ted Tuesday: The Science of Stage Fright (and how to overcome it)

Interviewing for a job? First day in a management position addressing your team? In the military and standing up in front of dozens of soldiers and trying to maintain your composer while trying to keep trying to keep their attention and respect? How scared do you get before speaking in public?

Good Morning Folks,

One thing can strike fear into the heart of the fiercest warrior, the most powerful CEO and the smartest person in any given room: having to speak in public. The thought of it makes the palms sweat, the heart beat faster and the limbs start to shake. An estimated 75% of people have a fear of speaking in public, and it’s something that nearly everyone who takes the TED stage must work hard to overcome.

 Mikael Cho

Heart racing, palms sweating, labored breathing? No, you're not having a heart attack -- it's stage fright! If speaking in public makes you feel like you're fighting for your life, you're not alone. But the better you understand your body's reaction, the more likely you are to overcome it. Mikael Cho advises how to trick your brain and steal the show.



This TED-Ed lesson, the science of stage fright, just might help. In the lesson — which is taught by educator Mikael Cho and directed by animator Robertino Zambrano of KAPWA Studioworks — looks at stage fright not as an emotion, but as a physiological response. In other words, it’s not so much something to be overcome as to be adapted to.

“Humans are wired to worry about reputation. Public speaking can threaten it,” says Cho in the lesson. “It’s the fight-or-flight response, a self-protective process seen in a range of species.”

The lesson explains exactly what happens in the body before speaking in public and, of course, gives suggestions on how to calm stage fright. The obvious: practice, practice, practice. The not-so-obvious: stretch your arms above your head before you go on to trigger a relaxation response in the hypothalamus. (Yeah, it kind of reminded us of Amy Cuddy’s idea of power posing too.)

The best way to not get stage fright is to not care what people think about you to begin with. The easiest way to do that is to simply run through the worst possible scenario that's outside of your control, then ask yourself "So what if this happens? Is it THAT bad?".

Now, of course, you may end up in a loop by imagining worse and worse scenarios as consequence, but remember that we're talking about stuff you can't control. The moment you reach something that you DO control, imagine you make it!

Have a GREAT day as I look forward to seeing all of you soon.

Love Life!

Mitchell D. Weiner
Chief Happiness Officer

...................................................................................................
“Truth alone will endure. All the rest will be swept away before the tide of time.” ~~Ghandi.

........................................................................................................