The storyworthy Learning Zone

I’ve been working on a story for The Moth about the beginning of my relationship with my wife and some of the more uncharacteristically awkward and foolish decisions that I made in those...

I don't follow the British royal family and their machinations in any way - nor do I think anyone really should - but I've been unable to avoid the news of Prince Harry's new tell-all memoir.

The...

There are many reasons to be nervous onstage. One of the more popular reasons offered - and possibly the only reason I've ever heard someone offer - is that people are nervous about public speaking...

 A friend of mine was recently debating about how she should respond to a man on Hinge - a dating app - who had just liked her photo.

• Casual but interested?
• Flirty and fun?
• Short and sweet?
• ...

When stumped by a life choice in 2023, let me suggest you choose “expansion” over happiness.

Jungian therapist James Hollis argues that major personal decisions should be made not by...

When it comes to humor, I teach 25 easy-to-use strategies to write jokes, develop humor, and make people laugh.

One of my favorites is something I call “Definitions.”

Simply put, define...

A client told me a story that I thought was emblematic of everything I teach:

His company recently purchased a facility in Europe, so he traveled there to visit the campus and meet the folks now...

There are many ways to create suspense in a story, but here is one of the simplest ones:

Delay naming objects or people. Describe them first.

A few examples from actual stories I tell:

A small hand...

On Thanksgiving morning, I was writing about giving thanks, and I found myself wondering about what I had been thankful for in previous years. So I looked back on Thanksgivings from the past to see...

Last week I was speaking to about 40 college students – future teachers – on the topics of writing, student engagement, and the realities of the teaching profession. It was a group of...

I’m often asked – yesterday, in fact – about what I do when I’m consulting with a corporation, an advertising agency, or a business owner.

More specifically, how can a...