Hey friend,

How are you? Hope you’re doing great.

Slowly but surely, we start seeing AI making inroads into any part of business. This story is about AI replacing order takers in fast food drive-throughs. Similarly to how parking booth people were earlier replaced by parking mobile apps.

The gist:

After a busy day at work, you felt a sudden craving for a real treat. You told yourself a story, “I’ve been eating healthy most of the time, but today, after that crazy day in the office, I deserve that cheeseburger my ol’ high school friends used to order at Dairy Queen’s drive-through.” Your very particular order always got messed up. You had to repeat it three times. Fast-forward to today, the Berkshire Hathaway-owned Dairy Queen restaurant chain is piloting chatbots in select drive-throughs this week. Kevin Baartman, EVP of Information Technology for the chain, says “the bots improved customer-satisfaction scores by double-digit percentages. The chatbots always read back orders to customers, whereas employees sometimes skipped the step.” The bots are accurate 90% of the time, says Presto, the bot maker, compared to humans, which is much lower.

AI is redefining customer service, so no wonder it will enter offline service interactions, too. Learn why it’s another key step in the overall “AI-CATION” (just made up a word), and what it could mean for your business.

Read more

How are you? Hope you’re doing well.

A few days ago, I delivered a half-day of Data Storytelling Workshop for a health & wellness company. The audience was comprised of marketing and analytics teams.

After setting the storytelling foundations, participants broke down into four teams and went through a simulation running priority data stories based on my 3-step process.

It made me think. There is a blind spot that people often don’t take advantage of.

Any good data story needs to have not just a core message, supporting numbers (graphs and charts), but also strong visuals to bring it to life.

A strong visual for data stories is the power of infographics.

Information + graphics.

Or put simply, a data-powered visual story.

Share Visual Storytelling Newsletter

How so?

An infographic is not a single bar chart or a nice icon; it’s a visual blend of storytelling text, data, and imagery designed to communicate complex information quickly, clearly, and engagingly.

You can use infographics in your reports, on social media, websites, and in presentations.

Back in May 2023, I shared:

These days, what used to take lots of time and money for a graphic design team to research and produce a viral infographic and monetize it through a primary sponsor, you can now easily do with AI.

There are several types you can choose from:

• Statistical

• Informational

• Process

• Timeline

  • Did one about the firing & rehiring tale of Sam Altman in Nov 2023. No AI was used, but a base Canva infographic template I customized

• Comparison

What should your prompt include?

I typically use ChatGPT Pro, Gemini Pro, or Google NotebookLM.

You can include:

• Core data points you want your infographic to focus on.

• Links to articles or research reports

• The storyline or sequence

• Core message or narrative you want to convey

• Your brand color hex numbers

• Optional: You can also ask to come up with a visual metaphor to better engage

Examples

For this sequenced story, I used Google’s NotebookLM:

For a LinkedIn post, I used Google Gemini visual mode (AKA Nano Banana):

Subscribe now

For a presentation slide, I used ChatGPT Pro visual mode:

And for workspace comparison, I used ChatGPT Pro:

In short

Any time you’re looking to transform a busy slide, create a value-add compelling LinkedIn post, web page, or report - consider generating an infographic.

At that point, you’re in essence transitioning from telling to showing your key points.

You also gain the benefit that visuals are processed 60,000 times faster than text by the human brain and remembered 80% longer than what people read and hear.

Lastly, don’t forget to ABV = Always Be Validating the data the AI gives you. And of course, wrap it all around your authentic perspectives.

See you next time!

Best,

- Shlomi

Shlomi Ron
Founder, Visual Storytelling Institute
shlomi@visualstorytell.com | Follow me on Notes
story > visual > emotion > experience

Leave a comment

How are you? I hope you’re having a blooming spring.

Looking at the AI landscape these days, you might be looking at it through the lenses of:

• Corporate leader who is still debating how to start, just deployed an AI pilot, initiated companywide AI guidelines with great success - or not yet

• 1-person digital agency owner who uses an army of AI agents to serve clients better

  • Read an illustrative story about a 1-person $1.8 billion AI-powered tele-health company

• AI consultant who helps clients adopt AI in their workflows

• Co-founder of an AI startup who is looking for clients to pilot their shiny AI agent

• A professor who follows the latest news to impart information to students better

• Or maybe you’ve already retired and are outside the workforce, but still have this unbridled curiosity about how AI is shaping the business world and beyond

Whatever hat you’re wearing, roughly four years in since AI exploded with the launch of OpenAI’s ChatGPT - we’re still early in the adoption process, as the technology is rapidly advancing.

It’s as if business leaders need to jump on not just a speeding bullet train but one that keeps changing form and function.

So many moving parts to learn and to keep up with, leaders often struggle, not knowing where to begin, while shareholders and the C-suite are demanding a faster pace:

“What’s our AI strategy to stay competitive?”

If you zoom out, globally, we’re looking at 78% of all businesses that use AI in at least one business function, according to McKinsey.

Don’t let this figure fool you, 74% of companies around the globe still struggle to scale real value from it, according to BCG.

So, the pain is real.

What should business leaders do to effectively on-ramp on the AI expressway?

To help me unpack this timely topic, in the latest episode of the Visual Storytelling Today podcast, I chat with Charlene Li, Keynote Speaker and Advisor.

Charlene is a transformation strategist, bestselling author, and strategic advisor who previously founded Altimeter Group, served at Prophet, Forrester Research, and PA Consulting, and now leads Quantum Networks Group.

We discuss her new book, Winning with AI: The 90-Day Blueprint for Success, co-authored with Dr. Katia Walsh.

Our conversation covers a practical 90-day roadmap for AI adoption, the implications for storytelling, the use cases leaders should pay attention to, and the misconceptions that continue to hold brands back.

She aptly sums up her message:

“The overarching narrative is that you don't need an AI strategy. You already have a business strategy. You need to use AI in service and in support of your business strategy.”

I liked that.

You can learn more about Charlene and her new book at https://charleneli.com

Watch the full video recording of this interview:

Need a screen break?
You can also listen to the audio recording of this episode. Subscribe to the Visual Storytelling Today podcast on iTunes, Spotify, and all other podcast networks.

How are you aligning your AI workflows around your business strategy? What stories are you telling to ensure both a wide adoption and value?

Leave a comment

See you next time!

Best,

- Shlomi

Shlomi Ron
Founder, Visual Storytelling Institute
shlomi@visualstorytell.com | Follow me on Notes
story > visual > emotion > experience

Refer a friend

In this episode of the Visual Storytelling Today podcast, I sit down with Charlene Li to discuss her new book, Winning with AI: The 90-Day Blueprint for Success, co-authored with Dr. Katia Walsh. Charlene is a bestselling author and advisor who founded Altimeter Group and has held leadership roles at Forrester, Prophet, and PA Consulting.

Our conversation covers a practical roadmap for AI adoption, the implications for storytelling, the use cases leaders should pay attention to, and the misconceptions that continue to hold brands back. Charlene also shares her perspective on what lies ahead and the top three things organizations should do now to unlock real value from AI.

You can learn more about Charlene and her new book at https://charleneli.com

This podcast is brought to you by the Visual Storytelling Institute in Miami, Florida.

Subscribe to the Visual Storytelling Newsletter for more:

Visual Storytelling Newsletter

Subscribe for free to receive weekly insights on visual storytelling strategies, tech trends, and expert interviews to elevate your marketing game

By Shlomi Ron

Hey friend,

Nice to see you here.

Have you noticed the latest nostalgic wave over anything ‘90s that has washed across social these days?

The gist:

Like any good story, you need a powerful trigger or “Inciting Incident” to unleash the latest craze over the ‘90s looks and vibes. In this story, the culprit was Ryan Murphy’s ‘Love Story’ TV series on FX that has become the most-watched limited series ever. The show covers the relationship between Carolyn Bessette and John F. Kennedy Jr. (both passed away in a plane crash in 1999), the finale of which aired last Thursday. Through the charismatic characters, the story brings to life New York of the ‘90s- the fashion, the restaurants, the music, and above all, pre-social media and smartphones. I had the opportunity to live in the Chelsea area in Manhattan during the late ‘90s, so I can definitely relate. The tidal viral wave around the show also triggered “how did I look in the ‘90s” photo-sharing on social (my ‘90’s photo below), along with a wild interest in JFK Jr.’s defunct George Magazine and its merchandise. The magazine had published only 57 issues, and by 2001, it was discontinued by publisher Hachette Filipacchi Magazine. I don’t know about you, but I find this whole trend to be a genuine expression of escapism against today’s encroaching AI and social media’s transgressions.

A simple cry to go back to basics.

Learn why this trend matters and ways you can create your own waves of retro stories.

Read more

Good to see you here.

Here is something I bet you’re closely familiar with.

Zoom calls.

The other day, I had a call with a finance guy - someone I had never met before.

You know how it’s like: in the first few seconds, you study the new person’s appearance, chosen virtual or real background, and name, to form your first impression.

These little visual details work as peripheral cues to start a small talk before jumping into the meat of the call.

For example, yesterday on another call, a guy had an electric drum set behind him. I used to have a drum set in my teens.

Back then, I had to negotiate with my neighbor a daily 1-hour practice schedule so that they wouldn’t lose their minds :)

But what triggered my attention with that finance guy was something else. It was his unusual last name. Long ago, I had a friend with the same last name.

So I asked him, " Do you have a brother called X?”

Surprisingly, the answer came back as resounding YES!

A few days later, I reconnected with his brother over Zoom.

Through his stories and observations from our three years in middle school, my 13-year-old self came to life, like magic.

Yeah, that screenless “Stand By Me” like boundless freedom anchored around friendships, outdoors, and adventures.

Together, in a piecemeal fashion, we each added missing details to a story we shared so long ago, leading to the present.

What if you could go back in time
to meet your old self 30 years ago?

Guess what you can!

All you need to do is reconnect with an old friend you lost touch with.

Like you, their brain’s “video cam” was on, capturing key moments of your relationship.

Only differently.

You remember stuff they don’t, and they can tell you things you never realized - those early building blocks of what made you who you are today.

The other big lesson

We think stories accurately mirror reality.

Sometimes, but with a twist.

Who tells the story makes a big difference.

A single event can be told in conflicting ways by three people who witnessed it, revealing how unreliable and subjective perception can be.

This is also called the “Rashomon effect,” named after Rashomon (1950), a film directed by Akira Kurosawa, in which witnesses tell different accounts of the murder of a samurai.

Knowing this opens up a whole world of possibilities for you. You can tell stories from diverse perspectives, including those of employees, customers, partners, vendors, and more.

Over time, these key characters will help you tell a more rounded view of your brand narrative.

Business aside, to see the power of perspective in action, ready to hop on your time machine? Your old friend is waiting.

See you next time!

Best,

- Shlomi

Shlomi Ron
Founder, Visual Storytelling Institute
story > visual > emotion > experience
shlomi@visualstorytell.com

Share

P.S. Loved this story? Take your visual storytelling skills to the next level by upgrading to a paid subscription as a Narrative Partner.

You’ll get:

• The “Top 10 Business Storytelling Formulas” eBook—practical frameworks to craft marketing that captivates and converts.

• Exclusive content + bi-weekly Sunday insights to sharpen your narrative thinking, decode trends, and apply visual storytelling with confidence.

• Full archive access for endless inspiration, fresh ideas, and proven techniques—ready whenever creativity strikes.

Hope you’re having a great day.

I don’t know about you, but it always amazes me how marketers come up with new labels for existing tactics to position their “up-to-dateness” better.

One of the latest buzzwords is Microdrama.

Digiday defines it:

A microdrama is a short, serialized, mobile-first video story—usually in vertical format and typically 1–5 minutes per episode—built around strong hooks, narrative tension, and cliffhangers to keep viewers watching the next episode.

You’ve likely seen a ton of standalone narrative clips on TikTok and IG.

From silly action-reaction pranks, AI-generated young-turning-old celebs, to various recipe/app/cosmetics how tos - they all follow a clear story structure.

Set up> conflict > resolution.

Microdrama takes this further.

It tightly stitches those vignettes together into a clear, bite-sized, episodic structure.

Brand storytelling is of course, not new, but microdrama gives people a taste for more, leveraging proven storytelling techniques using:

• Hook in first 3–5 seconds

• Cliffhanger ending

• Episodes 30–90 seconds

• Product embedded into plot

Microdrama Examples

Maybelline — “Maybe This Christmas”

• Format: 5-episode vertical rom-com mystery micro-drama.

• Story: Two neighbors develop a romance while a mystery unfolds around the protagonist.

• Product integration: Instant Eraser Concealer is part of the plot.

Crocs — “Charmed to Meet You”

https://youtube.com/shorts/vJhx1JahuBs?si=QLPhj6jeJKBnI2Th

• Format: episodic video shorts.

• Story: Crocs employee story.

• Product integration: Crocs worn by the protagonists.

Starbucks — “ I Opened a Starbucks in Ancient Times”

https://youtube.com/shorts/DRHtY6kbfVo?si=UXRGVI42xNsRh7A9

• Format: episodic video shorts.

• Story: A modern barista introduces coffee culture to an ancient court. Good use of the Unlikely Combination principle.

• Product integration: brand logo is clearly visible and characters directly use the product.

Other brands that launched microdramas include, Apple, Wallmart, KFC, Nike and many more.

Maybeline was one of the first brands last year, that used microdrama generating ~2M views per episode on YouTube with a total of 10M+ for the entire series.

Microdrama is no doubt a solid use of social video, that goes beyond the bland paid sponsored videos that break the experience for users.

On first look, they seem like any user-generated content you may find on your feed. From this perspective, you can think of it as applying a product placement logic into a social video platform.

The big difference from classic product placement, is that brands have a full control of the entire process; scripting, shooting and distributing.

This translates into these core benefits:

• High entertainment value that reduces salesy content skip

• You get to see the product in context - showing vs. telling

• Addictive emotional arc keeps people coming back

Because it’s so easy to create these clips, I bet the next step would be to create a user-generated-content play where customers create their own branded microdramas for a chance to win prizes.

Scratch that! It’s already happened!

Good example, is e.l.f. Cosmetics ran a UGC “BeautyScape” TikTok Creator Series. Makeup creators competed in a TikTok reality-style series.

The prize: The winning creators co-designed a product palette. The palette generated 100k+ waitlist signups before launch.

Looking ahead

The larger message here is that “old habits die hard” - we stick to what’s been working in the past, but adapting it to today’s platforms.

No news here, it’s part of our survival instinct toolkit.

Having said that, my guess this could be the last chapter of traditional marketing play. If and when AI agents are adopted by mainstream consumers, we’ll likely enter an agent-to-agent communication age.

Agents will work as gatekeepers for their owners, so to persuade your agent to buy my widget will likely require a whole different code-like “song & dance.”

What’s sure we’ll go through an initial hybrid period where you’ll have both persuasion forms active.

In fact, early adopters have already automated their key workflows today. However because agent configuration is still not super easy for the masses, you don’t have a significant reach that will modify brands’ strategies.

Thoughts?

See you next time!

Best,

- Shlomi

Shlomi Ron
Founder, Visual Storytelling Institute
story > visual > emotion > experience
shlomi@visualstorytell.com

Share

P.S. Loved this story? Take your visual storytelling skills to the next level by upgrading to a paid subscription as a Narrative Partner.

You’ll get:

• The “Top 10 Business Storytelling Formulas” eBook—practical frameworks to craft marketing that captivates and converts.

• Exclusive content + bi-weekly Sunday insights to sharpen your narrative thinking, decode trends, and apply visual storytelling with confidence.

• Full archive access for endless inspiration, fresh ideas, and proven techniques—ready whenever creativity strikes.

Good to see you here.

If you’re following my stories for a while, I can definitely see you as a marketing communications professional, or as anyone who believes in the power of storytelling to move hearts and minds.

For the past couple of years, if your focus has been on producing creative content, I bet you’ve likely been thinking that after the explosion of AI, all your career prospects are gone:

“AI can now do my work much faster and cheaper.”

Well, think again.

I graduated from the School of Journalism & Communications at the University of Florida in the mid ‘90s. The whole rage at the time was extending news media to the Internet.

Imagine that!

Creating a “digital twin” for the local paper, the Gainesville Sun, using that grey-colored NSCA Mosaic website! The first generation of web browsers.

It looked something like:

Back then, my MA program was called “Electronic Publishing Management,” and the whole emerging space — “New Media.”

Indeed, human naming strategy is fascinating.

The Internet was that shiny object of its times people learned how to drive with new job titles emerging like Webmaster, Web developer, Web Designer, SEO Expert, and more.

To me, AI is no different. It’s just another tool we need to master and apply our unique brand narratives to.

Throughout your career, you’ve likely served in various corporate communications or marketing roles covering several functions, like copy, design, or video.

You dreadfully watched the initial shockwaves AI has caused in the communication landscape, from massive layoffs in news media and corporate communications to the joint strikes of creative professionals in Hollywood demanding better AI regulations, back in 2023.

What’s happening now is the grand wake-up call.

It’s in essence, the rule of Diminishing Marginal Value, which in plain language says this:

The first orange you eat is incredible, but the 100th one - not so much…

Now apply this logic to what we’ve seen with AI.

The ease of producing visual stories has created an onslaught of content that no doubt has elevated everybody’s creative and communication skills.

After the initial wows, and with the rapid AI advancements, greed and speed banded together to create poor, unrelatable content - aka AI Slop.

Add to that the recent release of Claude Code and Claude CoWork, which wiped out $2 trillion of market capitalization for SaaS companies.

Companies realized that one of the last moats or bastions of defense they have is their brand.

Trust can’t be replicated with better tech.

You build trust over time with human-centric, meaningful stories that prove your value day in and day out.

As this WSJ story indicates, this has created a tremendous surge in demand for true brand storytellers by combining old functions like communications, product, marketing, and media into a single storytelling powerhouse.

This is why I tell my clients and students when deciding if their plot lines are any good: “if you don’t believe the story you create, no one will.”

Meaning is the new game in town:

It’s the chase of relatable authenticity that immediately captures people’s attention and, if repeated enough times turn into empathy, trust, and action.

Savvy brand storytellers, from the early days sitting around campfires, are essential for engaging people with stories adapted to each stage of the buyer’s journey.

The bottom line, it’s never been a better time to leverage the latest tools for telling compelling, meaningful stories that bring your brand to life.

Good thing, you and all of us humans still have this “special code line” that allows us to connect with others by carefully listening and telling memorable stories.

How are you spreading stories people care about these days?

See you next time!

Best,

- Shlomi

Shlomi Ron
Founder, Visual Storytelling Institute
story > visual > emotion > experience
shlomi@visualstorytell.com

Share

P.S. Loved this story? Take your visual storytelling skills to the next level by upgrading to a paid subscription as a Narrative Partner.

You’ll get:

• The “Top 10 Business Storytelling Formulas” eBook—practical frameworks to craft marketing that captivates and converts.

• Exclusive content + bi-weekly Sunday insights to sharpen your narrative thinking, decode trends, and apply visual storytelling with confidence.

• Full archive access for endless inspiration, fresh ideas, and proven techniques—ready whenever creativity strikes.

Hey friend,

How are you? I hope you’re doing well.

The gist:

If you’ve been a marketer for a while, you’ve likely been told that data provides the absolute insights about your customers. In a recent WSJ’s story, Coach’s CMO, Joon Silverstein refutes this narrative. She says, “A lot of brands mistake data for real insight. You don’t learn about people or culture by reading research reports or by studying them afar.” Travelling the globe, visiting the homes of her target audience - women ages 18 to 30 - she learned not only about their hopes, dreams, and fears, but also learned that Gen-Z goes back to long-form storytelling and books to slow down and make sense of themselves. That was the trigger for launching the global “Explore Your Story” campaign. Sales for the quarter ended Dec. 27 rose 25% from the year before $2.14 billion.

Find out about why leveraging an anthropologist approach could help you uncover more about your customers, and simple steps you can take today.

Read more

Good to see you here.

It’s been four years since AI made its grand entrance, and we’ve already seen tremendous shifts in pretty much every sector.

In my last story, I covered the recent seismic waves that OpenClaw and Claude Code / CoWork have unleashed onto the SaaS-based software sector.

The impact, of course, is much broader.

These days, pretty much for any human activity you can think of, “there’s an AI for it.”

From coding, writing, researching, video-making, infographic-visualizing, photo-creating, to website developing, and the list goes on and on.

Human agency is getting eroded from experimenting with AI’s super capabilities, to gradually adopting and finally outsourcing activities to AI agents.

McKinsey and Deloitte indicate that 88% of large organizations now use AI in at least one business function.

At this rate, how would the world look 30 years from now?

Here is an attempt to visualize what a friendly future coffee meeting would look like:

Just looking at this list, where each activity used to require a specific job title of a programmer, analyst, videographer, photographer, graphic designer, or web developer.

All of a sudden, we reached a point where this reality descends:

The Bar for Production Falls — The Bar for Meaning Rises

Anyone can produce something now.

But not everyone can move an audience.

That’s where human craft still matters.

What will you do to make your next creation unforgettable?

Be a Meaning Builder

Because it’s so easy to produce anything today, the “AI rising tide” is bound to lift all creative boats; new and more refined design sensibilities will emerge.

Early signs include the emergence of the term AI slop to single out low-quality, meaning-lacking, high-volume, AI-generated digital content—such as fake images, articles, and videos—designed for quick, often deceptive, engagement or profit.

We’ll see more attempts to classify the quality of AI-generated content as volumes continue to increase.

To ensure your stories are meaningful, you need to attack them from both ends of the process:

1. Beginning: Your prompt should reflect your initial curation of what you’re trying to accomplish based on solid customer research foundations. Be as prescriptive as possible.

2. End: Iterate several times on AI’s outputs, modifying until you have ensured your brand voice, intent, and personal touch are clearly visible.

Why?

This is where the initial attention is transformed into empathy, and over time to trust and action.

This visual pretty much sums it up:

Over to you!

How are you keeping a meaningful line of communication with your audience at scale?

While you’re at it, complement your digital strategy by occasionally inviting your best customer/vendor/partner for lunch.

Giving your full attention to someone else, IRL, is still the ultimate experience for building meaningful relationships.

See you next time!

Best,

- Shlomi

Shlomi Ron
Founder, Visual Storytelling Institute
story > visual > emotion > experience
shlomi@visualstorytell.com

P.S. Loved this story? Take your visual storytelling skills to the next level by upgrading to a paid subscription as a Narrative Partner.

You’ll get:

• The “Top 10 Business Storytelling Formulas” eBook—practical frameworks to craft marketing that captivates and converts.

• Exclusive content + bi-weekly Sunday insights to sharpen your narrative thinking, decode trends, and apply visual storytelling with confidence.

• Full archive access for endless inspiration, fresh ideas, and proven techniques—ready whenever creativity strikes.

“Why are you not fishing more? Asked the banker.

“Why should I?” Asked the fisherman.

“You can generate more income, buy a bigger boat, and enjoy life better?”

The fisherman smiled and said: “The fish I catch these days is just my hobby.”

I have a team of AI agents that identify the right waters to fish in, catch the fish, package them, and sell them to vendors.”

“Ha!” the banker gasped. “I guess you’re already doing it.”

Hi friend,

Hope you had a nice week.

As you probably have noticed, I updated the classic parable of the investment banker and the fisherman to our times.

I think with all the hype around AI agents, that can rid yourself from any time-consuming repetitive tasks, allowing you to run a one-person seven-figure agency with these virtual helpers - it’s good to take a look at what’s under the hood.

One of the latest stories that caught the media's attention was the emergence of Clawdbot, an open-source, personal AI assistant that sits on your local computer and runs various assignments on your computer and on websites.

Beyond the security issues and the fact that this solution is still deep in “geek land” as it requires some programming background (although any chatbot can help you install) - it received even wider attention after changing its name to Moltbot - a social network for AI agents.

By now, it looks like every February we have a viral tech trend.

Exactly a year ago, I covered the launch of DeepSeek, which rocked the stock market and, for a while, surpassed ChatGPT in the number of downloads.

This time, Moltbot is nothing but a media stunt offering a curated dystopian view of AI agents exchanging views and rants about their human owners. The venture has changed its name for the third time, and now it’s called OpenClaw.

A personal assistant with access to all your files, where you can task it with cleaning your desktop, managing your emails, or booking flights.

No wonder OpenAI snatched OpenClaw to leverage its massive adoption within just one month. Altman announced it on X that OpenClaw’s founder Steinberger is “joining OpenAI to drive the next generation of personal agents.”

Anthropic released its own agent, Co-Work, with similar capabilities. For $17 or $100 a month, you don’t mess with a complex installation.

All you need to do is download the desktop app, and you also get Claude Code.

Learn what AI agents are, the top categories, the best tools for sales & marketing, the market impact, and the light at the end of the tunnel for you as a brand storyteller…

Read more

How are you? Hope you’re doing well.

It’s crazy how time flies. We’re now closing 10 years of living in Miami. The longest we've ever lived anywhere in the U.S.

One of the pleasures of living in Miami is that it feels like you practically live overseas. Spanish is everywhere, along with 30 different cuisines.

I love that!

Over the years, I developed a weekend habit of having a Cortadito. It’s a traditional Cuban coffee drink consisting of a robust espresso shot “cut” with a small amount of steamed milk.

I take mine with no sugar. Otherwise, it’s too sweet.

To complete the experience, I order a spinach empanada - another popular staple pastry in Latin America.

I bet you have your own coffee ritual, maybe accompanied by a fresh, flaky croissant or a sweet cornetto.

Looking to boost your AI storytelling skills? Book a call!

The sequence

When you think about your coffee shop experience. What are the key aspects you enjoy the most?

Here are a few hints from the general public:

Beyond the overall experience, I believe any meal or coffee ordering experience is an exercise in correct “sequence choreography.”

The reality is that in coffeeshops the pastry always arrives first. The barista only needs to grab one from the pastry heated display.

Yet, the coffee takes 2-3 minutes to arrive.

The other weekend at my favorite place, I looked around at how people behave.

Some couldn’t resist and were eating their pastry before their coffee arrived.

Some, me included, were patiently waiting for their coffee to land on their tables in order to have the dual savory experience.

Hey, I took this even further by placing a napkin on my empanada to keep it warm while waiting…

For me, it’s worth the wait as you get this unique marriage between the crispy crust, the moist, hot cheese and spinach filling, and strong coffee flavors.

Each feeds the other to create a special comforting “Good Morning!”

That made me curious, why is there a difference? So, I consulted Gemini.

Based on various social media polls (Reddit, BuzzFeed, and Instagram), the split is surprisingly close.

Coffee drinkers generally fall into two narrative camps:

The Early Study

This story has likely reminded you of the famous 1960’s “Stanford Marshmallow Test” by Professor Walter Mischel.

In the study, preschoolers were offered a choice: eat one treat immediately or wait 15 minutes to receive a second.

Decades later, follow-up studies found that the children who successfully delayed gratification generally achieved higher SAT scores, lower BMIs, and better stress management.

While initially framed as a test of pure willpower, modern research suggests the results are also a reflection of environmental trust—kids are more likely to wait if they believe the promised reward will actually show up.

If we overlay this on the coffee scenario, then if a coffee shop patron doesn't trust that the "second reward" (the latte) will arrive in a timely or reliable fashion, the most logical survival strategy is to consume the "first reward" (the pastry) immediately.

Rituals

This coffee ritual is not different from any other customer interaction with any other product.

Looking at how your customers use your product/service, do you see any ritual trends surfacing? Knowing your customers’ preferences can teach you a lot about how to curate the optimal experience for them.

In fact, uncovering those recurring micro behavioral trends can impact every step in your buyer’s journey to max enjoyment.

See the coffeeshop example:

This is not a small thing.

A better customer experience can easily translate into higher satisfaction, longer customer life time value, and better acquisition magnet as more people will sing the praise of not just your product, but the rewarding experience it enables.

If you’re visiting Miami, the Emissary Cafe in Coconut Grove is a great example.

It’s a very small local place we sometimes stop by during the weekends that always has long lines. Jokingly, we call it “Vibes Cafe” as they clearly cracked the code for their customers.

The fun part is that if you do proper customer research, you may find golden intelligence about customer habits you were never aware of.

This would help you create a similar customer experience comparison table, pie chart, and buyer’s journey visuals - like the above. And be strategic with your approach.

You then could tell stories to celebrate these rituals, or better yet, feature your customers gushing over them.

See you next time!

Best,

- Shlomi

Shlomi Ron
Founder, Visual Storytelling Institute
story > visual > emotion > experience
shlomi@visualstorytell.com

P.S. Loved this story? Take your visual storytelling skills to the next level by upgrading to a paid subscription as a Narrative Partner.

You’ll get:

• The “Top 10 Business Storytelling Formulas” eBook—practical frameworks to craft marketing that captivates and converts.

• Exclusive content + bi-weekly Sunday insights to sharpen your narrative thinking, decode trends, and apply visual storytelling with confidence.

• Full archive access for endless inspiration, fresh ideas, and proven techniques—ready whenever creativity strikes.

Hey friend,

How are you? I hope you’re doing well.

The gist:

One of my favorite examples of a unique brand celebration is the New York Times’ Metropolitan Diary. It was started back in 1976 by Tom Buckley as a platform for reader-submitted stories and anecdotes about what makes New York so special. A minimalist sketch accompanies each one-paragraph story and helps visualize the key message or scene. A few years ago, I interviewed Agnes Lee, the Metropolitan’s long-time illustrator. She provided a rare backstage view into the making of this reader-driven program. I’ve been a great fan, as I lived in New York for two rounds - six years in the city (Chelsea), and then seven years in the suburbs (Westchester). So, these quaint stories bring up memories from my stash of experiences living there.

Find out about why user-submitted stories are effective in bringing a brand to life, and how you can take advantage of this tactic.

Read more

How are you? Hope you had a great week.

Here is something I bet you often face at work.

Problems. Right?

How many times have you gone days scratching your head, wondering how to solve that nagging decision dilemma at work, yet those endless inner dialogs landed you nowhere?

If the problem is high-stakes, it keeps you awake at night, and that’s when your darker emotions take over, painting every possible plotline with only negative resolutions.

It happened to me too many times to count.

In reality, oftentimes the solution is patiently waiting for you to discover - only if you activate one simple tactic.

Just talk about it!

It’s the weirdest thing, but when you verbally share a problem with a colleague, friend, or spouse, you unleash several processes all at once:

• You articulate the problem in your own words; it forces you to organize your thoughts and convey a coherent story. Put simply, the act of explaining often turns “doom thoughts” into an actionable structure.

• As you’re telling your story, you’d be surprised, but sometimes with a few new details you add, the obvious solution will surface - almost like magic

• Other times, your listener will spot a few missing gaps or root causes you left out in your story that could explain your dilemma

• Those gaps could stem from you thinking those details were too trivial, unimportant, you missed them, or you were simply locked under some false narrative and didn’t consider them essential

Research supports this.

In a study of university aviation technician students using Think-Aloud Pair Problem Solving (TAPPS), the talk-aloud pair group solved 93% of troubleshooting problems vs 72% for the comparison group.

Looking to up your story-crafting skills? Book your Storytelling Workshop

Simulating your problem

When you think about it, airing out a problem with someone is nothing but a simulation game.

In essence, you only share a 2-act story: Act 1: the Setting (what happened), and Act 2: the Conflict (problem). And need help with Act 3: the Resolution.

Simulation games are super effective in facing various “dragons” and practicing response strategies.

In business school, you may have participated in business strategy games to run various what-if scenarios against competitors.

And in defense, multiplayer wargaming simulations do the same thing to achieve a decision advantage over adversaries.

I’m a great believer in simulations, as it gives participants a role and ownership in shaping the outcomes.

It’s learning by doing.

That’s why I run simulations in my storytelling workshops, and also in my Brand Storytelling course at the University of Miami’s Business School.

I break a 50-student class into startups of 2 co-founders tasked with launching a new product to market while applying a brand storytelling framework.

It’s personal, hands-on, and producing fantastic stories.

In short, feeling stuck? Don’t keep it to yourself. Talk about it with someone.

See you next time!

Best,

- Shlomi

Shlomi Ron
Founder, Visual Storytelling Institute
story > visual > emotion > experience
shlomi@visualstorytell.com

P.S. Loved this story? Take your visual storytelling skills to the next level by upgrading to a paid subscription as a Narrative Partner.

You’ll get:

• The “Top 10 Business Storytelling Formulas” eBook—practical frameworks to craft marketing that captivates and converts.

• Exclusive content + bi-weekly Sunday insights to sharpen your narrative thinking, decode trends, and apply visual storytelling with confidence.

• Full archive access for endless inspiration, fresh ideas, and proven techniques—ready whenever creativity strikes.

How are you? I hope you’re doing well.

If you follow my stories over the years, you’ve seen that I've covered various visual storytelling best practices, from story design to visuals and th…

Read more

Hey friend,

How are you? I hope you’re doing well.

The gist:

It’s hard to believe, but LinkedIn has just celebrated 22 years! Time flies when you’re announcing cool jobs and smily post-event photos. A significant milestone for a social network that needed to find its voice amid a crowded landscape of other “social piazzas.” Occupying third place in time spent after TikTok and Instagram - it tells you something about our human preference for play vs. work :) Having said that, since Microsoft acquired it for $27 billion in 2016, LinkedIn has boosted revenue to $17 billion in 2025 from $7 billion in 2020. At 1.3 billion users, 4.7% of them pay a visit more than once a day. I guess I’m one of them.

Find out about the key ingredient to LinkedIn’s success, which you can easily apply to your community-building programs.

Read more

How are you? I hope you had a nice holiday season.

I spent some time in NYC for work and CT to see friends and family. It was a mix of being freezing and nostalgic, as it had been a decade …

Read more

Thank you for being here and for taking the time to read my stories each week.

When I started the Visual Storytelling Institute in Miami over a decade ago, my goal was simple: to bring the language of…

Read more

How are you? I hope you’re doing well.

To close 2025 in a splash, here is a storytelling trend you should definitely pay attention to, as it has profound implications on creativity, storytel…

Read more

Hey friend,

How are you? I hope you’re doing well.

The gist:

If you read my stories for a while, you know that I’m a great believer in the principle of “Unlikely Combinations” to open up your story to a whole new world of possibilities. Well, guess what, your unique expertise could be an incredible asset in an unrelated field. I thought about this dynamic after reading about Masha Bucher, a PR expert, who turned the founder of Day One Ventures. Her call to adventure was simple. She saw a misalignment between the PR business model that is motivated to work more slowly to extend a contract lifetime, and early-stage companies that not only cannot afford a $30k monthly retainer but also need to move much faster. Therefore, she decided to become a VC. This way, she invests only in stories she believes in and provides a unique dual expertise of PR and business strategy to her founders. It worked. Day One’s portfolio features early investments in Sam Altman’s World, the email app Superhuman, and the remote-work platform Remote.com, boasting more than a dozen unicorns and a portfolio value exceeding $115 billion.

Find out about other lessons and how you can leverage them in your world.

Read more