“Is this ANNything?” Ann Handley and Jay Acunzo Work Out New Drafts

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Oct 14, 2024

Ann Handley, a WSJ bestselling author and dynamic speaker in marketing, joins Jay Acunzo to explore the creative process. They discuss their collaborative storytelling on social media, emphasizing the joy of spontaneity in writing. The duo shares insights into crafting relatable narratives and the challenges of modern marketing tactics. They also highlight the significance of immersive storytelling and documenting everyday moments to enhance creativity. Their dialogue is a refreshing peek into the iterative nature of writing and engagement.

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ANECDOTE

Toddler Encounter Sparks Thread Story

Jay Acunzo shared a story about a toddler approaching him and the parent's discomfort over social norms for children.
This sparked a collaborative, playful storytelling exchange on Threads with Ann Handley, continuing the story creatively.

INSIGHT

Intentional Play Fuels Creativity

Jay feels increased pressure to succeed after life changes, making play and slowing down harder.
Ann notes creators must be intentional about making content just for joy as career attention grows.

ADVICE

Use Future Self for Editing

Ann advises writers to delay editing their work immediately to benefit from perspective of future self.
Revisiting drafts after time allows seeing flaws and improving work significantly.

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This week, we’re joined by our first-ever recurring guest. The brilliant Ann Handley (WSJ bestselling author of Everybody Writes and globally touring keynote speaker) joins us for a very special episode of “Is This Anything?”, the mini-series, where friends and collaborators join me to work out new ideas, unproven drafts, and hidden ideas to see if it is, in fact, anything.

But because it’s Ann, we’re renaming it Is This ANNything. Get it? Do you get it? (If you didn’t like that, you’re really not gonna like this episode…)

First, we discuss a story we co-wrote on Threads, sharing back and forth posts to build on each others’ previous ideas. Read that story here (you need to click into the first Thread for the threading to make sense. Oh, Threads…)

Then, we share drafts of our newsletters, each at different stages, and workshop improvements.

It’s a refreshing look at two prolific writers and speakers (and one bestselling author!) in the middle of their process.

Read Jay’s final newsletter version here. (Ann has not written the draft publicly as of this episode’s publish date.)

Listen to Ann’s first appearance on How Stories Happen as she dissects a published piece: “How do we all sign our work?” - Episode 3 with Ann Handley

RESOURCES:

⚫ Learn more about Ann at her website and subscribe to her newsletter

⚫ Follow Ann on LinkedIn and Instagram

⚫ Buy Ann’s book, Everybody Writes

🔵 Subscribe to Jay Acunzo's newsletter at jayacunzo.com

🔵 Join Jay's membership program for business storytellers and service providers, the Creator Kitchen

🔵 Follow Jay on LinkedIn, Instagram, or Threads

🟢 Produced by Ilana Nevins

🟢 Cover art designed by Blake Ink

ABOUT JAY:

Jay Acunzo is an author, speaker, and differentiation-and-thought leadership consultant on a mission to help you make what matters to your career, company, and community. He's an advisor to experts, execs, and entrepreneurs who want to resonate deeper with others, not just reach them. To do so, he helps you turn your expertise into IP and your IP into differentiated messaging, exceptional speeches, and celebrated creative projects, equipping you with the communication techniques and power of today’s top thought leaders—because he believes in standing out through substance and stories, not hollow hype.

A leading voice in B2B content marketing for many years thanks to his roles at brands like Google and HubSpot, companies like Mailchimp, Salesforce, Wistia, and GoDaddy have turned to Jay to strengthen their storytelling, while dozens of individual authors, speakers, consultants, and service providers hire Jay as their dedicated thought partner and exec. producer to help develop their premise, IP, speaking, and shows.

Jay lives in the Boston area with his family as a proud Yankees and Knicks fan. In the 60 seconds per week he's not creating stuff for work or making his kids laugh, he likes to shoot hoops, sip nice bourbons, cook with his wife, and daydream about telling stories like that of his storytelling hero, Anthony Bourdain.