Platte F. Clark

Don't just move people.
Move them to act.

Story is a technology. Not a talent. I teach leaders and authors how it's built.

For leaders: speaking and training For authors: take the free assessment

Lionsgate premiere · The Best Christmas Pageant Ever · 2024

30+

Books written or shaped

National bestsellers

250K+

Novels sold, Simon & Schuster

$40M

U.S. box office, Lionsgate, 2024

The Conviction Engine^™

A story fails at one stage,
not everywhere.

Every story that moves someone to act runs the same six stages. When a story falls flat, one of them has stalled. Find the stage and you can fix the story.

01 · Facts

The right evidence, and no more than the story needs.
02 · Flow

The order and timing that make each point land.
03 · Meaning

Where information starts to matter: conflict, character, change, and stakes.
- Conflict
- Character
- Change
- Stakes
04 · Emotion

Meaning, felt. The listener finds themselves in the story.
05 · Drive

The belief that they can act, that it will work, and that it will matter.
06 · Action

The only destination.

See the whole engine

For Leaders

Speaking and Training

Most workplace stories inform. Some even move people. Few change what anyone does next. I teach leaders why, and how to fix it.

Keynotes

Talks on building stories that move people to act, drawn from three careers: Hollywood screenwriting, novels, and more than thirty books for leaders.

Workshops and training

Hands-on sessions where your team builds a real story using the four elements of meaning: conflict, character, change, and stakes.

Coaching

One-on-one work on a single high-stakes story: a vision, a pitch, or a change your people have to act on.

Ask about speaking

Free Tool for Leaders

Find out why your story isn't moving anyone.

A one-page diagnostic. Four questions, five minutes, one story that matters to you.

Get the free diagnostic

Aggregator

Collector of the wisdom of others

Apothegist

Anchors modern best-practices to classical wisdom

Author

Surfaces best-practices from own experience

Academic

Ivory tower with lots of footnotes

Actor

In the trenches learning from the real world

Free Tool for Authors

Find your Thought Leadership Style.

The Thought Leader Compass shows the kind of expert you are and the kind of book you should write. 20 questions, about 10 minutes, free.

01 Answer 20 questions.
02 Get your Primary and Secondary Style.
03 See what your combination means for your book.

Take the free assessment

Platte F. Clark at the Lionsgate premiere of The Best Christmas Pageant Ever

About

I failed creative writing in high school.

I went on to co-write Lionsgate's biggest U.S. release of 2024, sell more than 250,000 novels for Simon & Schuster, and write or shape more than thirty books for CEOs, founders, and champions, five of them national bestsellers.

I didn't get more talented. I learned how stories are built. Now I teach others what three careers taught me: how to build a story that not only informs and moves people, but spurs them to act.

Books & Film