There’s a feeling you get when the story hits just right. When the anecdote delivers the message and you get to show, not tell. When the emotion matches the message and the audience doesn’t just hear things, they understand what you mean on a visceral level.
I chase that feeling with every project I work on. I once delivered a presentation to the Mass Municipal Association about zoning in Needham as a way to promote the N-Squared Innovation District. I knew I had captured the audience when, during the lead-in, the packed audience not only laughed, put stood up to take pictures of my slides. They got it.
When I coach kids on a robotics team to present their work in an award and they’re able to tell a story about how Q-Tip can lead to a moment of discovery and the feedback comes from the judges that they truly felt the message.
Or when people come up to me and say that they started biking to work after they listened
I take stories and help make them matter to the people who matter to you. Each audience is different, whether it’s their experiences, their needs, or their motivations. Policymakers, donors, journalists, customers, employees, and constituents all care about something different. My job is to help others care as much as you do.
I started my career in journalism and over the past 20 years I’ve worked in public relations, communications, tech, and economic development. I'm not a press-release factory. I'm someone who sits with you, figures out what story you're actually trying to tell, and helps you tell it consistently, across your reports, your website, your funder pitches, your media outreach, whatever the moment calls for.