Rodeos and Opposable Thumbs

Storytelling stuff worth sharing

Hello friends—

As I write this, I am waiting for a roofing contractor to arrive and give me an estimate. Another contractor comes tomorrow. Wish Rebecca and me well. The roofing game in Florida is brutal.

Let us turn away from shingles and toward storytelling!

Storytelling Tip o’ the Week

I had the great privilege of being a coach at Own Every Room Live this past weekend, out at Westgate River Ranch Resort (and Rodeo!).

Sidenote—the next Own Every Room will be March 2025.

Being out in the middle of nowhere is great for intensive training. We dug deep, and the rain held off even as we beheld an incredible lightning display during our firepit storytelling session.

The lead coach, Scott Mann (retired Green Beret and professional badass), said some version of this idea multiple times, and I knew I had to share it with y’all. (Yes, “y’all.” I was at a rodeo, after all!)

Check it out…

“I’m not interested in ‘speakers.’ Speakers are always selling you something. They are up there for themselves. I’m interested in storytellers. Because storytellers are up there for the audience. They take off their armor, share their experience, and tell their story in service of the listener. A speech is inert. It’s a thing you ‘deliver.’ A story is alive. It is something you tell. And its aliveness means it can adapt in real time to serve the needs of your audience.”

Even though we focused on live, spoken storytelling this past weekend, the tip applies to any of you out there weaving tales in whatever mode. Written, spoken, sung, danced, solo, collaborative, live, recorded, zoomed… doesn’t matter. Whatever your story, the writing and editing is for you, but the telling is ever and always for the audience.

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Cannon and Cannon

I mentioned last week that the next batch of classes at ACE are open for registration.

I also mentioned that my father, Bob, is joining the ACE team and teaching a whole slew of tech and computer classes.

In October I’m teaching Storyteller’s Bootcamp, and in November/December I’m teaching Playwright’s Playground. I just checked, and I’ve still got about half a dozen slots open in each class, but they will fill fast!

You can check out the catalog and get signed up with either Cannon HERE.

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The Podcast

A reminder to check out my conversation with Bob Danna over in podcast-land. His memoir My Curious Life, which I published through Ibis Books back in April, is available HERE.

And if you need convincing, you can check out Bob’s terrific Kirkus review HERE.

You can also see Bob in action as a featured speaker on September 25 at this super cool online event, LearnOps Summit 2024.

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Quotable

Stumbled across this gem as I was prepping for my rodeo storytelling weekend…

Story, as it turns out, was crucial to our evolution -- more so than opposable thumbs. Opposable thumbs let us hang on; story told us what to hang on to.

—Lisa Cron, Wired for Story

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Take it from a Green Beret…

I mentioned professional badass Scott Mann above. He’s currently criss-crossing the country on a book tour, as he’s about to launch his next offering.

I got a sneak peek, and I tell you what… if you’re looking for a motivational kick in the pants, grab yourself a copy!

There’s an entire genre of “leadership” books out there. A lot of them repackage the same old tired tropes and bumper sticker philosophy. A lot of those allegedly self-made gurus, upon closer or even just cursory examination, turn out to be grifters.

Scott—who is self-aware and blunt about his disdain for theory—comes at leadership from a visceral and practical point of view that is not only immediately actionable but also heartfelt and inspiring. It’s not just a leadership book; it’s a “live your life by design” book.

You can pre-order HERE, and it officially drops October 1.

Thanks as always for reading, and have a great weekend!

Jason “Aspiring Professional Badass” Cannon