I'm Cliff Atkinson.
For 20 years I taught lawyers to turn a screen into a courtroom campfire where 12 strangers gather to deliver justice.
Now I'll show you how to use your screens to gather your own trusted pod to jailbreak you from a half-life lived under glass.
What I do
I pivot media from passive to sociable.
Twenty years ago, my first book Beyond Bullet Points showed you how to pivot PowerPoint from a boring teleprompter into a persuasive cinematic backdrop.
The legendary trial attorney Mark Lanier invited me to apply the concept to a big trial, and we pivoted the courtroom screen into a campfire that gathered 12 strangers to think as one.
He won a $253 million verdict, and Fortune magazine called our work "frighteningly powerful."
Since then, I've worked on 150+ cases, helping my clients win even bigger verdicts including a $5 billion antitrust verdict.
Over my decades working on high-stakes cases, I realized what we were doing in a courtroom to pivot a passive screen into a sociable experience was the proof of concept for something bigger.
That led me through decades of research and the next stage of my work: showing you how to pivot your screens to gather a trusted pod that jailbreaks you from a half-life lived under glass.
What clients say
"Cliff, I just wanted to say a big thank you to you. Your presentation was spot on and fantastic!" — Kristin G. Hamlin, Vice President, Wells Fargo
"Our members are still talking about the great workshop." — Christina Busso, Executive Director of the Trial Lawyers Association of Metropolitan Washington, DC
"Cliff is stinking amazing!" — Mark Lanier, Trial Attorney with $20 billion in verdicts
I'm the author of evolutionary works on communication, persuasion and human performance
Beyond Bullet Points: The visual storytelling classic, 125,000+ copies, translated into a dozen languages, named a Best Book of the Year by Amazon.
By Cliff Atkinson: My central project hub where you can access my articles, video podcasts, pamphlets, books and more. Visit https://www.sociablemedia.com
The Missing Membrane: The online pamphlet that introduces our dormant biology of belonging and a pathway to reactivate it, one pod at a time. Visit www.themissingmembrane.com
The Survival of the Closest: The online book that gathers groups of 6 readers round a new campfire to tell our billion-year storyline of belonging, and to find our place in its thrilling through-line. Visit www.survivaloftheclosest.com
About Me
I hold a B.A. from Baylor University and an MBA from Richmond, The American International University in London. I served as a Captain in the U.S. Air Force, and have lived in 32 places across the world. I'm currently living between Dallas and Montreal with my husband, Louis.
Ready to talk?
Whether you're preparing for trial, building a high-performance leadership team, or curious about what I teach, let's have a conversation.
