Storytelling Symposium
What do Apple, Malala, Nike, and Barack Obama have in common? They all use the “wizard” device in their storytelling to more effectively reach an audience.
In the Brooklyn Story Lab Storytelling Symposium, we teach you about:
The roles of the “hero” and the “wizard” — and why your organization should never be the hero.
The UN Sustainable Development Goals and connecting your social-good work to a larger, global infrastructure.
The editorial calendar, and how to predict what kind of stories to create in advance to best capture viral waves.
The art and science of storytelling, and how the union of those two elements is critical.
From pre-verbal cave paintings and epic song cycles to Joseph Campbell’s theory of truth neutrality and fake news, we cover a brief history of storytelling — why it’s historically and culturally significant, and how you can reach a larger audience.
And most of all, we teach you how to think and behave like a media company, so that you can increase 1) your visibility and thus 2) your impact.
There is also a workshop component, as well as case studies galore, from an elephant-translocation project in southern Africa to a Latin American initiative that uses tech and biomimicry to create water out of fog.
BSL offers virtual and in-person versions of the Storytelling Symposium — in class sizes of up to 25, up to 50, and more.
Virtual symposia for an organization range in cost from $2,700 (up to 25 participants) to $4,500 (up to 50 participants). For more than 50 participants, get in touch with us here.
In-person symposia for an organization range in cost from $4,500 (up to 25 participants) to $7,200 (up to 50 participants). For more than 50 participants, get in touch with us here.
In 2026, we will begin producing quarterly symposia for individuals — stay tuned for more information on those events.
“Don’t tell me the moon is shining. Show me the glint of moonlight in broken glass.”
— Anton Chekhov, Russian playwright