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Why this practice exists and what it asks of you.
One night, 50 000 years or so ago, a common ancestor of ours decided to play connect-the-dots with the stars. At first gradually, then all at once, a familiar shape appeared in the night sky.
Later that night, around the campfire, she took a leap. She invented a way to share her vision by drawing on the wall of the cave and presenting it to her people.
By every measure, this was the first keynote presentation. Delivered by an unsung heroine.I've named her Story Sapient. And my work is an homage to her.
The popular association of sapiens is with the theory of evolution and the term Homo sapiens. I avoid the connection deliberately. Two reasons.
First - many species of early humans showed storytelling behavior long before modern humans.Second - sapiens implies that we are born knowing. However, anthropological evidence, our own childhood memories, and the energy, attention, and love that goes into raising our kids all suggest the opposite.
If the documented accounts of feral children have taught us anything, it is that we cannot become complete human beings through individual effort alone. Yet the opposite story has held immense popularity for the last 150 years, especially in the West.
It is not convincing to the critical mind. And it is not constructive for the work of creating value and building a shared reality.
Nevertheless, we are born with a curious potential to tell stories - stories that allow us to become what we now take for granted: functional and valuable members of a society.
But there's a catch.
The potential is in each of us, yes. But its development and realization in the world can only occur through quality communication and collaboration with others.
Your ability to read, understand, feel, and act on these words is no accident.
Through a gradual process of observation, attention, and innovation, Story Sapients from every corner of human history and geography have consciously developed, perfected, and preserved psychotechnologies — yes, psychotechnologies — for navigating the world and communicating what matters. For our collective survival. For our collective wellbeing
As we study and practice the craft of becoming more aware and more skillful in how we communicate our personal vision of reality and of the future, we will learn many things.
More importantly, we will unlearn many things. Together.
And in the process we will create a shared space for your curious potential to become Story Sapient.
"Life is communication." — Alan Watts
Andrea-Franco Candela
Creator and facilitator of Story Sapient
I was seven when I started to experience what Watts meant — the year my family moved from 90s Italy to post-communist Bulgaria. Without knowing the language or the culture, I quickly learned that survival truly is a game of communication. I've been studying and practicing the craft ever since.
In the last eleven years I've been practicing the craft as a professional copywriter, creative director, communication strategist, and keynote writer and consultant for brands like Mercedes-Benz, Coca-Cola, Philip Morris, Pernod Ricard, A1, Midatech Pharma, Post Bank, Vivacom, and Endurosat.
Story Sapient grew from what those conference rooms taught me - presenting ideas, polishing arguments, winning pitches and projects, and most importantly, losing them. Failures teach what wins can't - what to unlearn. The result is a discipline and practice built from those lessons: communication drawn from cybernetics, game theory, cognitive science, systems thinking, creativity, and the craft of storytelling.
Let’s have a conversation about what’s on your agenda and how I might be useful.
