ABT Narrative Training Program – In a media-driven society… Narrative is leadership.

After 15 years of communications R&D, 12 books, and nearly 1000 Working Circles…

The TOOL is the ABT, the FRAMING is SIGNAL-to-NOISE, and the TRAINING is the ABT MINI-COURSE.

THE TOOL: THE ABT

The ABT Narrative Template is this:

___ AND ___ BUT ___ THEREFORE ___

Randy Olson began formulating it in 2011, derived initially from the co-creators of the animated series South Park, but eventually tracking it back to screenwriting legend Frank Daniel who first identified the ABT elements in a speech in 1986.

The foundational establishment of the ABT as a model for communication was laid out in Dr. Olson’s 2015 book, “Houston, We Have A Narrative.”

Randy presenting on the ABT at TEDMED.

THE FRAMING: SIGNAL-TO-NOISE

The world brings you experiences that are mostly noise with some signal mixed in. This is the non-narrative AAA (And, And, And) form. The biggest challenge for effective communication is to weed out the noise, thus purifying the signal.

The tool for this is the ABT (And, But, Therefore) Narrative Template. This is what we do in our training — teach you how to use the ABT, show you the importance of social interaction in working with it (you can’t do effective communication alone at your desk), and help you begin to achieve the ultimate goal of Narrative Intution.

THE TRAINING: THE ABT MINI-COURSE

Our Narrative Training model has been evolving for 15 years, since the publication of Dr. Olson’s first book, “Don’t Be Such A Scientist” in 2009. It has gone from 1) Connection Storymaker Workshop to 2) Story Circles Narrative Training to 3) The ABT Course to finally 4) The ABT Mini-course.

The mini-course goes from a Monday to a Friday where we lead you through 5 drafts of your one sentence ABT. Your first draft tends to be mostly noise. Your final draft is ideally mostly your purified signal.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE DETAILS ON BOOKING THE TRAINING

“The only thing wrong with the ABT training is it needs to be taught to every medical student in this country.”
Student Evaluation
_{Emory University Medical School}

“Pre-ABT training we had 10 people and less than $1 million annual budget. Post-ABT training we now have over 30 people, over $5 million in grants. Yes, the ABT did this for us.”
Craig Dahlgren
_{Director, Perry Institute for Marine Science}

“The ABT is a paradigm shifting framework. For our year-long Climate Ambassadors Program (training mid-career scientists for climate communication), we wisely started the year with the ABT Narrative Training. It definitely changed the game, creating a framework not just for communication but organization and strategizing throughout the year and beyond.”
Julie Claussen
_{American Fisheries Society}

The Narrative Gym Concept

Just like physical fitness, we like to talk about narrative fitness. The concept of ABT training is to think of the narrative part of the brain as a muscle that needs to be conditioned over time. You can no more develop narrative strength in a single session than you can go to the gym for one afternoon and expect to walk home buff. The development of narrative strength requires a long and sustained effort, which is why we draw on the fitness analogy.

Clients

Summary

For organizations…

The Narrative Training Program

Our Narrative Training Program is designed to get you started on the road to narrative fitness. It consists of 3 phases: Theory, Practice, Application

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For individuals and organizations…

ABT Mini-Course

A 1-week intensive workshop in which you’ll learn ABT fundamentals and how to apply them to communicate your vision more effectively.

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About Us

The ABT Framework, developed by Randy Olson, is the cornerstone in his efforts to enhance scientific communication and beyond. It focuses on using the tripartite core of narrative structure—And, But, Therefore—to clarify and amplify messages, making complex information more accessible and engaging. Working with co-instructor Matthew David, the framework has been widely adopted across numerous scientific and governmental institutions.

Dr. Randy Olson
Head Dodo

Matthew David
Co-Instructor

Liz Strauss
Structuralist

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Narrative Training?

Figuring out narrative structure is the most important challenge in communication. It requires the building of intuition through repetition. That’s what we teach.