672. Fine-Tuning the Art of Storytelling

Tony Gnau

Tony knew his passion for storytelling early on. Journalism school, and probably sports writing, would be his path. Along the way, he learned the importance of life experience in focusing and fine-tuning his passion.

Tony Gnau is a three-time Emmy-winning journalist with a career spanning 20 years. He’s also the founder and chief storytelling officer at T60 Productions, a video production company. T60 has won 13 Telly Awards for its work. He also is proud to say he was a 4-year walk-on football player for the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles.

How Did You Start Using Your Talents?

Growing up in suburban Chicago, Tony loved sports, and he loved writing. He knew early on that he wanted to be a journalist, probably a sports writer. In journalism school at USC, he wrote for a local newspaper, then landed a TV news job right after college. There, he learned to shoot and edit video, how to cover hard and breaking news. Like most local TV reporters, he learned to be a one-man band. He also carved out time to pursue his growing interest in feature stories, especially about interesting people.

The Most Impactful Turning Point?

Along his TV news career path, weathering a series of local news directors and their changing demands, he was mulling over a move to yet another TV market. He asked himself, “Is this what my life is going to be? Jumping from market to market whenever there is a change in news management and they want me to do something different?” What he really wanted was to return to his hometown of Chicago and produce feature stories about interesting people. But he knew Chicago is a hard news town. It was also the early days of internet popularity, and Tony knew there would be a way to tell stories via online video. He bet on that potential.

The Most Powerful Lessons Learned?

“I think you learn along the way as you pursue your passion. You might have an idea of what your passion is now, but once you get started in it and start working on small projects, you might fine-tune it a little. You might think your passion is one thing now, but then you will discover, once you get into it, that it is a little different than you suspected. That can be an exciting thing!”

Steps to Success from Tony Gnau

1. Start doing the thing you truly want to do by beginning gradually. Don’t tackle it all at once. But start!

2. Learn your skill or your craft by doing the work. Pour yourself into mastering it.

3. Pay attention along the way and make small tweaks or even big changes as you learn from your actual experience. Feel free to fine-tune your approach.

4. Recognize the fear factor, but do not let it hold you back and slow you down.