Email overload - a new way of telling stories

Love it or curse it, email provides either the super-lubricating oil or the over boiled

jam in the gears of any organisation, depending on the skill of the writers and the
culture within that organisation. I often ask the question, 'How the hell did we
manage to communicate before Outlook and Googlemail ? Or put a man on the moon, or organise Live Aid? The fact is we did and, some would say, communicated a whole lot better in the process. Certainly we wasted far less time, and had less 'noise' to deal with.

So we need some help don't we? There are a few valiant attempts these around. One of the simplest is  Emailcharter.org is TED initiated. er... initiative which is great but I've maybe put a different take on it, from a storytellers point of view.

So, following are 30 additional tips which will reduce the time we all spend wrapped up in our email morasse and hopefully gives us more time for productive and creative thinking (and...work of course)

1. Use subject lines and titles that mean something, precisely. It gives people a

clue about what they have to do with it. And helps retrieving information from the
fossil record of their in-box at some later date.

2. Switch off email incoming warnings. There is nothing that important that can't

wait an hour or so. If it is mission critical then use the telephone! They still work.

3. If you really have to write a long email put a 'contents' at the top and tell people

what’s in the rest. And what they need to do, if anything. If nothing then tell them
that too.

4. Think! Do I have another way of distributing this information; Intranet, blog, or

bless us, by getting off our behinds and walking over to the individual or using the
phone. Word of mouth - that works too.

5. One sentence paragraphs are fine, absolutely.

6. Use Headings.

7. Use Bullet points.

8. Put the main information you want to convey at the top of the message. And

work down in descending importance - from mission critical to, why am I actually
writing this at all?

9. Ask continually 'Why am I writing this at all'.

10. Write warmly, not like a robot, which is a bit jerky and boring.

11. Bring your personality to work.

12. Remember the Three ‘Tee's ClariTy - BreviTy - PersonaliTy.

13. Make sure the links you may put in actually work.

14. Don’t attach whole documents, just paste the relevant bits into the message.

not ask the reader to download the whole of a 20 page PDF that you have to read through just to get to the one with one relevant paragraph, which is worse than useless.

15. Use the spill chacker.

16. Don’t use texteese unless it’s for a colleague (you actually know)

17. Don’t send ‘thank you’ replies.

18. Don’t abuse the priority buttons.

19. One subject per email… or find another way of doing it.

20. Always bear in mind that you are, in general, asking somebody to put your

email on their to-do list, and they may already be up to their eyeballs in their own
to-do’s. Virtually every email is a sales letter to get somebody to do something they were probably planning on doing even if it is just to read the damn thing.

21. Wait 5 hours before replying to emails that wrankle. DO NOT hit the reply

button immediately. Email is the fastest way to unintentionally upset people known to woman, or man. 80% of communication is non-verbal and it is very easy not to see or appreciate the smile or irony behind the phrase somebody may think was very clever or witty when they wrote it. And if they are being a bit tart,.......... then a short pause helps everyone to cool down a bit.

22. If you can’t reply fully immediately tell them when you can and then do it.

Under promise over deliver.

23. Your colleague is a customer too. Treat them as if they were your very best customer

24. 90% of emails are persuading somebody to do something. So be nice.

25. 80 % of emails travel less than 50 meters. Why not get off your ...... and go to

see them and have a chat. Guess what? That works too. Probably better and it
certainly helps for the next time you need some help.... and it is healthier.

26. Emails are not 'buck passers' or 'insurance policies'.

27. Think, before you CC, do the c-ceed really, really need to see this.

28. Use CC only when absolutely necessary. If they aren’t the prime recipient why

are you CC’ing them at all?

29. Use the Intranet more. If you can’t, then fix it quickly. Spending £50K on a

great intranet will save at least that in less than a month in productivity for any
organisation of over 100 people - FACT! 50 % your employees time is spent
looking for information

30.Try using other technology. Twitter, SMS, anything that works;

If you don't know how then get a technology coach.

Good luck getting people to buy into this. Have fun and drop me line with any

other suggestions, stories or stuff that works for you.

The question 'Why?' The biggest source of stories there is?

Harvesting of stories within an organisation or discovering the story behind the person is the first step to using the power of story for whatever it is you wish to achieve.

So try asking any of these next thirty questions and then, immediately the ask the question  ‘why’ in the key to unlocking the hidden gems and stories that really engage.

Do you go by a nickname?
Who is the most famous person you’ve ever met?
What’s the one sound that drives you crazy?
What book has had the biggest impact on you?
What’s your preferred method of getting the news?
When driving, do you listen to CD’s, tapes, the radio or nothing?
Are you a window person or an aisle person?
Are you a dog person or a cat person?
How do you relieve stress?
Who would you consider to be your hero?
Where do you most often find yourself singing?
What’s your favorite thing to do on a rainy day?
What’s your favorite holiday?
What’s your favorite smell?
What’s you favorite restaurant?
What’s your favorite part of your job?
What’s your favorite childhood TV show?
What is your favorite daily ritual?
What is your favorite quotation?
What’s your favorite food to cook?
What’s your favorite movie to watch over and over again?
What was the first job you ever had?
What color was your refrigerator growing up?
When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
When was the last time you played hooky from school or work?
What was the best prank you ever pulled off?
What was the last CD you bought?
What was the last movie you saw?
What was the best prank someone pulled on you?
What was the last concert you attended?
Who was your worst roommate?
What was the best concert you ever attended?
What is the best book you’ve read about your field?
What was the highlight of your (insert holiday here)?
If you could pick any actor to be the prime minister, whom would you choose?
If you could add a single option to your car, what would you add?
If you could have dinner with any three people, whom would you choose?
If you could get back any article of clothing you once wore, what would it be?

Not sure how to 'up' your storytelling prowess or just looking for some inspiration?

Well I've put together my top ten tips, well tips that seem important today anyway. I'm sure there will be more tomorrow. I just wish I could remember them myself sometimes.

Storytelling, as many will tell you, is not just a skill you can hone, it becomes a way of life, a way of looking at the world which is both endlessly fascinating and rewarding. The following ideas can embed themselves in your day to day life quite quickly, so watch out. Any I have missed out please feel free to comment and add.

1.        Allow everything you do or see to story you. Everyone you meet. Everything you do. Everywhere you go. Find a way to learn from them. Opportunities are endless. All you have to do is pay attention and observe .

2.        Become an expert at learning from your experiences.  ‘We learn not from our experiences but from intelligent reflection upon those experiences.’  Be sure you’re taking adequate time to extract the lessons and the story.

3.        Catch yourself growing. Achieving a level of awareness where you can monitor your own growth.  Spying on yourself, journal your progress,  soliciting regular feedback from people you trust.

4.        Qualifications are overrated. A PhD only means you know an awful lot about very little . You want to master something? Try DOING it. You want to master something?  Try INTERVIEWING people who’ve already done it. You want to master something? Try FAILING at it a few times first. You want to master something? Try PRACTICING it every single day. Do you really need to go back to school?

5.        Crystallise experience. Certain moments stand out. They change you forever. They take you to a place far, far away that you never quite return from. Your challenge is being able to look back – say, months or years later – and say, ‘Wow. So THAT’S why that happened to me…’ that is a truly powerful story.

6.        Everything is a story  source. The more unique experiences you have ... The more unique people you meet … The more unique things you see, watch, hear, read, taste … The more unique places you go ... the more unique you will become. In the words of Glen Phillips, ‘There is nothing that doesn’t matter. Every word is a seed that scatters. Everything matters.’ How many seeds did you scatter this month?

7.        No mistakes, only lessons. How long something stays a mistake depends on how quickly you begin to learn from it. There are no mistakes. Show me a mistake you made and I’ll show you TEN lessons you could learn form that mistake, thereby eliminating it as a mistake. Are you screwing up enough?

8.        Pay Attention. Simple as that. It makes your world grow bigger. It enables you see wider and fuller each day. Are you more concerned with the song the bird is singing or what type of bird is singing the song?

9.        Remember that every experience is a qualification. Use everything to your advantage. The more you’ve done, the more you can do. After all, the word ‘expert’ comes from the Latin experiri, which means, ‘experience.’ Have you left the house today?

10.  Experiment persistently, fail rapidly and learn to recognise that  failure quickly 

Don't listen to people who...

There are many people who just love to give advice, comment, contribute, to alter your story and colour it with theirs.

The naysayers, the sabateours, the buzz in your ear, the grit in your oil. 

We are a product of a million different experiences. From watching our parents, our siblings and remembering the day we fell out of the tree. Our work places, our schools, our classmates, our teachers and a million different things have shaped us and folded us. Why should anyone possibly have the same values as me, or each other? We don't, of course we don't, but we all are driven by the lizard brain within to impose those values on everyone we meet, as it helps us make sense of the chaotic world. In fact it doesn't help at all. It simply creates misunderstanding, confusion and conflict, intolerance and ignorance., disengagement and debilitation. 

So, maybe take some advice from a reformed naysayer?

Don't listen to people who
........................................... have no idea what the hell they’re talking about
 ...........................................try to destroy your dreams.
........................................... tell you what’s right or wrong.
........................................... tell you what to believe.
........................................... have nothing else to whine about
............................................think they know what you need.
........................................... say you’re making them look bad.
........................................... nastily try to induce insecurity in others.
........................................... tell you that you can’t make it in this business.
............................................who’s imagination can’t encompass what it is that you want to do.
........................................... claim ‘their way’ is ‘thee way.’
........................................... haven’t done anything themselves
............................................don’t listen to you.
........................................... don’t listen to themselves
............................................say (insert group of people) are ALL like that.
...........................................tell you to change what you’re doing.
.......................................... tell you the market is saturated.
...........................................think you’re out of your mind.
...........................................believe there are ‘only two kinds of people in the world.’
.......................................... are overwhelmed with jealousy.
.......................................... haven’t been right about shit in years.
.......................................... use their own personal values to censor other people.
...........................................went somewhere once and think they know everything about it.
......................................... .shovel smoke for a living.
......................................... .aren’t listening, they’re just waiting to talk.
.......................................... answer with the lies they tell themselves.
...........................................say they studied for a weekend and passed.

Don’t listen to people who … make absurdly long lists telling you what types of people not to listen to. Instead, make your own ?

The Magic of the question 'Why' for Storytellers

Harvesting of stories within an organisation or discovering the story behind the person is the first step to using the power of story for delivering whatever it is you wish to achieve.

When asked to recount persoanl stories not many people get it at first, often they think people won't be interested or that their story isn't entertaining enough. Ofthe these are the really powerful ones.

So try asking any of these next thirty or so, seemingly innocuous questions but then, immediately. ask the question  ‘why?’. It's one of the skeleton keys to unlocking the hidden gems and stories that really engage. Try it on yourself. It works like magic.


Do you go by a nickname?
Who is the most famous person you’ve ever met?
What’s the one sound that drives you crazy?
What book has had the biggest impact on you?
What’s your preferred method of getting the news?
When driving, do you listen to CD’s, tapes, the radio or nothing?
Are you a window person or an aisle person?
Are you a dog person or a cat person?
How do you relieve stress?
Who would you consider to be your hero?
Where do you most often find yourself singing?
What’s your favorite thing to do on a rainy day?
What’s your favorite holiday?
What’s your favorite smell?
What’s you favorite restaurant?
What’s your favorite part of your job?
What’s your favorite childhood TV show?
What is your favorite daily ritual?
What is your favorite quotation?
What’s your favorite food to cook?
What’s your favorite movie to watch over and over again?
What was the first job you ever had?
What color was your refrigerator growing up?
When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
When was the last time you played hooky from school or work?
What was the best prank you ever pulled off?
What was the last CD you bought?
What was the last movie you saw?
What was the best prank someone pulled on you?
What was the last concert you attendIf you could add a single option to your car, what would you add?If you could have dinner with any three people, whom would you choose.
If you could get back any article of clothing you once wore, what would it be?

And the list goes on.....

10 not so well known books for Storytellers

Following are ten hidden gem book s that might spark that storytelling creativity amplification process;


1. The Creative Attitude: Learning to Ask and Answer the Right Questions by Roger C. Schank and Peter Childers

2. Free Play: Improvisation in Life and Art by Stephen Nachmanovitch

3. Jamming: The Art and Discipline of Business Creativity by John Kao

4. The Creative Process: Reflections on the Invention in the Arts and Sciences by Brewster Ghiselin

5. Wake Up Your Creative Genius (Quick Read Series) by Kurt Hanks

6. Career Management for the Creative Person by Lee Silber

7. The Creative Brain: The Science of Genius by Nancy C. Andreasen

8. Creators on Creating (New Consciousness Reader) by Frank Barron

9. Everyday Creativity and New Views of Human Nature: Psychological, Social, and Spiritual Perspectives

10. Everyday Creativity and New Views of Human Nature: Psychological, Social, and Spiritual Perspectives by Ruth Richard

and  not an amazon link in sight!!!

Be you - a (very) short story

The Humanity of a Story

A very overweight middle-aged lady in Starbucks just now was waiting for her salady wrap thing and a plate of chocolate cake was put on the counter for somebody else. In the loudest voice ever she says' F**K it, I'll have two of them too'.

Reminded me of the quote

'Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else.' --Judy Garland