We Have Liftoff!

Jay O’Callahan is a powerful storyteller. He doesn’t have any props, he doesn’t have a script, he doesn’t really do voices or use costumes or hand puppets or anything else. What he does have is presence.

Jay O’Callahan talks in this video at the 99% conference about storytelling and its powerful way of expressing that which cannot otherwise be told. I’ve known for a long time that storytelling can be a powerful way to express ideas; in my job as a multimedia instructional designer I’ve come across many a project where we believed the best way to get a client’s employees engaged was to tell them a compelling story about the organization, and it works.

But what O’Callahan does here is much more: he takes a story that everyone thinks they know, and tells it in a way that makes it fresh and new and…dare I say it? Exciting!