Mark Stencel

Photo illustration of two flies that appear to be kissing

Happy Valentine's Day from Words Work Lab!

Ready to caption our custom cartoon in the comments? 😃

Get more of the laughs you love on our website page we like to call, "A Cup Full O'Laughter": wordsworklab.com/community/a-...

#happyvalentinesday #communication #humor #cartoons

Thank you, we appreciate you! See you in 2026. From Words Work Lab.

Thanks to our members for joining us on our mission to create a positive community about #communication. Just launched Fall 2025, Words Work Lab is made possible by you, our community.

And thanks to our team, contributors, advisors, supporters, and everyone who believes in our work! #happynewyear

Photo of an aurora in a night sky, with the article title written across it, In Search of Magic: From Writer to Teacher and Writer Onward, by Sally Huggins Toner, WordsWorkLab.com contributor

Remember your favorite teacher and wonder about their journey?

Words Work Lab contributor #writer @salliemander.bsky.social shares her experience about empowering others to express their inner voice: "In Search of Magic: From Writer to Teacher to Writer Onward."

wordsworklab.com/lab-works/in...

On today’s #podcast, Caroline Schor-MacDicken talks with Jake Stormoen to explore how he crafts #stories through performance, world-building, and jewelry making. wordsworklab.com/events/the-p...

Caroline and Jake chat about creating characters and a world he imagines, then brings to life, and more!

Photo of artwork depicting Washington Irving's story The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

🍁 With Autumn here it's time for "Tell Me More: Washington Irving" wordsworklab.com/community/a-...

📖 Mostly remembered for The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (1820), Irving created much more. A prolific #writer, he coined many #words used today, like Knickerbocker. Want the deets?

🔦 Visit Words Work Lab

In Praise of Imperfect, Human Prose I recently celebrated a milestone birthday and decided to throw a Y2K-themed party because theme parties have no age limits. After the party, I perused the articles and was struck by how different mag...

Enjoy today's inspiring perspective from Words Work Lab communicator contributor, Jennifer Mino-Mirowitz. She writes about the beauty and uniqueness of imperfect, human prose and we couldn't agree more.

wordsworklab.com/trend-spotti...

#comms #communication #commswithpurpose #writing

📺 So you’re watching behind-the-scenes of your fav movie and the director says, “It took us a while to find our MacGuffin.” And you say, “What who now?”

“MacGuffin” was once an #entertainment in-industry term but is used more widely now...Get the story on MacGuffin wordsworklab.com/unpacking-hi...

Events Interviews, appearances, and podcast conversations featuring today's communication leaders

Also, there are more terrific podcasts on Words Work Lab here: wordsworklab.com/events/

Science, communication, and the power of Play-Doh... Enjoy this fun conversation with Caroline Schor-MacDicken and Katie Konans on the @wordsworklab.bsky.social podcast. wordsworklab.com/events/the-w...

Image graphic of a toy car hanging off a rock, depicting the term cliffhanger.

Cliffhanger (aka cliff-hanger). We’re all familiar with the term from books, movies, etc. How did this “to be continued” plot device originate? Visit our Speak Your Highest Comms for the whole story and for other words that have intriguing evolutions: wordsworklab.com/resources/sp... #communication

Image graphic of the Words Work Lab podcast, featuring episode with Gigi Thibodeau, writer, editor, educator, and poet.

On today’s show with @gigi-thibodeau.bsky.social, we talk about using all five senses to inspire creativity, #writing, and the creative process. Hear Caroline and Gigi chat about how to nurture your writing throughout life, plus time travel through memories!
wordsworklab.com/events/podca... #comms

Graphic collage that shows a yellow sticky note on a corkboard with a drawing of a dinosaur that's labeled Thesaurus Lex, and a funny caption.

Enjoy A Cup Full O’Laughter on us! Check out Words Work Lab for “phunny photos”, quotes of note, and Tell Me More trivia. Because a little humor goes a long way. wordsworklab.com/community/a-... #humor #funny #communication

A significant trend: "Communicators are spending more time on sharing the How’s and Why’s of their topics, not just the What..."

These Words Work Lab podcasts and other events are as inspiring as promised! Make time to listen. You'll enjoy it and learn a lot at the same time. #communication #podcasts #storytelling

“You want to be trusted for what you know — don’t be the person who helps dumb things down.” Words Work Lab contributor @lisamtp.bsky.social shares lessons from her career as a reporter, writer, editor, comms director, and publicist — collected here in these “Five Comms Commandments”

"Shared by all [communicators] is the challenge of compelling storytelling and communicating with intention...."

Join us at wordsworklab.bsky.social and wordsworklab.com/join/

I wrote about why you need a tip jar in my personal newsletter this week. I made maybe $2k from tips in the last 6 months. Not that reliable but also...it's $2k!

I use Buy Me a Coffee for my tip jar. Let me explain why.

preview.mailerlite.io/emails/webvi...

The new ‘army’ of journalists: Creators and influencers impact our industry - Editor and Publisher As creator and influencer journalism reshapes news, traditional media is learning from social-first journalists who connect deeply with audiences. Platforms like YouTube, TikTok and Substack are now k...

"Influencer is a marketing term," says @lizkellynelson.com, founder of the "Project C" newsletter. "Why are we, as journalists, promulgating that to describe the kind of work we do?" More from Liz in this article from Editor & Publisher...

An insightful model from @lizkellynelson.com....

Are content creators the new bloggers of the 2020s? As influencers gain trust as news sources, KMF25 brought together a panel of social media experts to discuss how creators are gaining news audiences by building trust & engagement ⬇️

According to this counter, BlueSky will soon hit 30 million. bsky-users.theo.io

Launch your career as an independent creator journalist, guided by me and a stellar crew!

I'm teaching a module on business basics and how to make sure that you can afford to go solo, both emotionally and financially. (Forever a strategist, in both work and life.)

More deets, and signup ⬇️

^ I attended an in-person version of the "Going Solo" workshop at the 2024 Online News Association conference. It was incredibly smart, actionable, and well organized. Highly recommend!

Are you interested in independent creator journalism? Sign up for "Going Solo," a 6-week workshop starting 2/27 led by the best in the biz: @lizkellynelson.com, @ryankellett.com, @blairhickman.bsky.social, @caitlindewey.bsky.social, @lexroman.com and Lynn Walsh. Details: www.projectc.biz/goingsolo

"Never edit just to edit. Some of the best editing jobs I’ve ever done have been the pieces of work that I’ve edited the least."
-- Glenn Stout, coach, consultant and freelance editor, in a @niemanstoryboard.org interview with Carly Stern

The path forward for diminishing local TV news? Less TV. - Poynter In the latest episode of ‘The Poynter Report Podcast,’ media veteran Elliott Wiser dramatically reimagines local TV news to ensure its survival

Have you heard the latest episode of The Poynter Report Podcast?

An industry veteran discusses how local TV news can charter a path forward in an era when younger audiences have little interest in watching a traditional news cast.

Listen now:

www.poynter.org/business-wor...

Editor’s choice: 15 of the best Poynter articles from 2024 - Poynter A retrospective of a cult classic journalism movie. An editor who was fired for talking to us. A tipster’s massive find. What a year it was.

"An editor who was fired for talking to us. A tipster’s massive find..." ...and more. Managing editor @itsren.bsky.social gathers up the year's best offerings from @poynterinstitute.bsky.social. Read on. www.poynter.org/commentary/2...

Worth noting, the role of the newsroom public editor/ombudsman/reader representative has been vanishing. But there is still an Organization of News Ombudsmen & Standards Editors (ONO): newsombudsmen.org

The Top 5 NPR Public Editor newsletters for 2024 You like it when we're hard on NPR

From sanewashing to ageism... Here's a look at how NPR Public Editor @kellymcb.bsky.social and her team respond to complaints and concerns. Kelly also leads the ethics and leadership work at @poynterinstitute.bsky.social. (And h/t to NPR's @edeggans.bsky.social)

The challenge: "[W]ith so much information (and misinformation) flying around, it’s clear the traditional approach isn’t cutting it. People are overwhelmed, exhausted, and, in many cases, just tuning out." Lynn Walsh of @trustingnews.bsky.social tells us what news people can do about it....