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I've been a professional storyteller for 30+ years, and here I share occasional thoughts on the art and science of engagement, storytelling, making killer presentations, living your maximum creative life ... and other stuff that excites me (and -- hopefully -- you). It could also be about a dramatic movie, a stunning piece of music, or something from a book that's kept me wide awake ...
Stories are the stuff of my life, and by signing on here, hopefully they can be a bigger and better part of your personal and professional life, too.
PS: Like something you see here? Please be a good friend and share it with your people. Thanks!

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Why this Chinese auntie is the bravest person I've met in my life.
I’ve been lucky enough to meet astronauts, war heroes, even firemen who’ve run into burning buildings to rescue kids and kittens. Once, I interviewed Gene Cernan, the the first man to walk in space outside his Gemini rocket, and the last man to leave his footprints on the moon. I’ve shaken hands with Victoria Cross recipients and army bomb disposal experts, and daring motorcycle stunt riders. But none of them can hold a candle to the steely, unshakable bravery of Elizabeth Ch

Stu Lloyd
18 minutes ago5 min read
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Trouble in Paradise: a British officer and his Japanese mistress.
The Malay Regiment -- a British Army unit in Port Dickson on the beautiful west coast of Malaya -- officially came into being in 1935. It was lauded as a showcase of how to create an effective local army. But not all was going swimmingly, as this episode involving a British NCO shows ...

Stu Lloyd
Sep 264 min read
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How Singapore lost the war long before the first shots were fired.
You've probably heard about Britain sending out an under-cooked fleet to the Far East as a show of great force and hope to the local...

Stu Lloyd
Sep 199 min read
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Larry Kovalevsky takes us back to Old Shanghai: White Russians, sailing on the Whangpu, and nothing at all on Pudong side...
The Great Flood of 1931. This is Nanjing Rd which was flooded for months. Photos: Courtesy Larry Kovalevsky. The Kovalevskys were part of...

Stu Lloyd
Aug 2910 min read
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VJ80: Surrender Story #3 - Gunner Dick Lee, Royal Artillery.
Gunner Dick Lee -- a boy doing a man's job in the Royal Artillery. He was dive-bombed by a Japanese plane in Malaya, blown off his...

Stu Lloyd
Aug 153 min read
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VJ80 August 2025: Surrender Story #2 - Sgt Cyril Gilbert.
I had a truly enjoyable afternoon with Cyril in Singapore several years back (when he was a spritely 85-year-old). He hated a beer and a...

Stu Lloyd
Aug 152 min read
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VJ80 August 2025: Surrender Story #1 - Capt Hugh Pilkington.
'Pilk' of the 6th Royal Norfolks in 1939, just after signing on. (Photo: Courtesy Paul Pilkington.) Capt Hugh Pilkington survived the...

Stu Lloyd
Aug 152 min read
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Bird's Big Burnout
For many people the Australian band Mental as Anything are all about colourful clothes, colourful on-stage antics, and colourful memories...

Stu Lloyd
Aug 87 min read
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Driving the Indian Pacific Train
On the straight and narrow - the NR17 which pulled us across the country. (Photo: Western Australia Trains). Several years ago, as a...

Stu Lloyd
Aug 48 min read
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Some summer holiday flying stories
A lot of folks in the northern hemisphere are flying off for summer holidays at the moment (while in the southern hemisphere we can only...

Stu Lloyd
Jul 192 min read
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Being shot in the face was the best part of his day: 1 July 1915.
Capt (later Major-General) George Bruce. Note the scar on his cheek. Photo: Orson Fry. This month marks the birthday of this great man,...

Stu Lloyd
Feb 122 min read
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Sydney Olympics Closing Ceremony: 'The Macy’s Parade on LSD'
It's early 2000, and Reg Mombassa has had an eventful start to the Millennium. He’d parted with his employer of 23 years, prolific Aussie...

Stu Lloyd
Jul 23, 20245 min read
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Thanks, ChatGPT, I'm flattered (and a little nervous).
Taking the lead from fellow author Kim Kelly, I went to ChatGPT and asked (he? she? it?) about what sets my writing apart from other...

Stu Lloyd
Jul 22, 20246 min read
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The Year of Living Differently
It's been a very different year. I quietly retired from the training and development work (in storytelling and business creativity) I've...

Stu Lloyd
Dec 22, 20233 min read
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She packed my bag for 5 days, but we were apart for 631 days. Here's why.
'What have you been up to lately, Stu?' is a question often casually and innocently asked as people re-emerge blinking in the sunlight...

Stu Lloyd
Apr 19, 202311 min read
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A Surgeon Writes to His Fiancee: 'We Are Actually At War'.
On 8 December. 1941, Capt Tom Smiley, RAMC, was working at the Alexandra Military Hospital, Singapore. Just months before, he had got...

Stu Lloyd
Apr 15, 20232 min read
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The Day of Infamy 7 December 1941: Singapore Was Bombed Before Pearl Harbour
7 December 1941. An orgy of orange suffused sea and sky as the tropical sunset made its lazy curtain call on another idyllic Sunday. Only...

Stu Lloyd
Apr 15, 20235 min read
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ACTION STATIONS OVER SINGAPORE
HMS Repulse and HMS Prince of Wales were sent to Singapore as a deterrent force. One week later, hope was sunk ... 10 December 1941,...

Stu Lloyd
Apr 15, 20233 min read
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How Jacinda Ardern Leads with Stories.
I find Jacinda fascinating in terms of leadership and storytelling intersecting.

Stu Lloyd
Oct 19, 20202 min read
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Are You Making These 3 Major Marketing Messaging Mistakes?
It's time to think beyond storytelling just in narrative terms. Everything your company or brand says or does emits a signal.

Stu Lloyd
Sep 18, 20203 min read
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