A Storytelling Manual for Anywhere and Everywhere
By: Juliette Mitchell of Architypal
We’re often so busy moving forwards that we don’t stop to look back, or to celebrate how far we’ve come. But, at the end of last year, I decided I wanted to do both those things. It was time to stand back, take stock, and gather together my thoughts on everything I’d learnt from my clients, and everything they’d learnt from me.
It wasn’t just about pausing for a second and then picking up where I’d left off. If I got this right, it would be a neat, well-formed ‘full stop’ at the end of my business. I was wrapping up Architypal, my writing consultancy for architects, and I wanted to do it intentionally and meaningfully. I wanted to leave something behind after eight intense and enjoyable years, and I wanted to make sure my experiences, my ideas and my story didn’t fade to nothing.
By May 2025, my manifesto for a better way of communicating was out in the world. It was called The Storytelling Manual for Architects, and it was made with paper, ink, and an eye for the joy of the real world – something to sit beside you when you’re in need of inspiration, and something to sit on the bookshelf giving you gentle encouragement for many years to come.
So far, so good. I’d created a beautiful, tangible thing which was sparking lovely reactions, spreading on LinkedIn and through word of mouth, and proving that – yes – architects really are interested in becoming better advocates for themselves and their profession. Very quickly, I knew my book was making a difference.
But it turns out that a physical book alone doesn’t cut it these days. It’s a lovely thing to hold, yes, but it’s also expensive to ship and slow to cross the world. If physical copies were being embraced in all corners of the UK and a sprinkling of other places, I knew, freed from the forces of gravity and the logistics of our postal system, it could – and would – travel faster and further, and it would slot more easily into people’s lives.
Letting go of the idea that The Storytelling Manual for Architects was only ever destined to be a physical book didn’t take me long (I’m a realist and a practical person at heart), and in the end it was a no-brainer. This is the twenty-first century, after all. And, besides, the words are the thing, not the way we package them up.
I love the roll call of countries The Storytelling Manual for Architects has now reached – Nigeria, UAE, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, USA, India, Portugal, Italy, Germany and Malta, to give you just a random sample. And I love how nimble, inclusive and intrepid the ebook is compared with the physical one. If it can find its way into more hearts, more minds and more conversations, then that’s what matters in the end.
The ebook of The Storytelling Manual for Architects is available from Amazon [https://www.amazon.co.uk/Storytelling-Manual-Architects-heartfelt-manifesto-ebook/dp/B0FFN7SMW8/] or wherever you buy your ebooks (£9.99 or equivalent in your local currency).
The paperback is available here [https://architypal.co.uk/product/the-storytelling-manual-for-architects/] (£16 plus shipping – £2.80 within the UK, £7.30 to anywhere in the world).
We are proud to feature and promote in our architecture magazine Juliette Mitchell’s inspiring Storytelling Manual for Architects
