CREATIVITY IS
A PRACTICE,

NOT A PERSONALITY.

I'm Matt Derda. Musician, writer, marketer, and workshop facilitator. I've spent twenty years studying how ideas work.

Storymind, the band, the writing, and the consulting all come from the same place. Different outlets, same brain.

GET CREATIVE

LISTEN TO MUSIC

MUSIC

Songs, videos, live shows, and Matt Derda & the High Watts.

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STORYMIND

Exercises, experiments, and ideas for getting unstuck.

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WRITING

Essays, reflections, and things I’m figuring out in public.

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STORE

Band merch, workbooks, shirts, and other things I’ve made.

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HERE'S WHAT'S NEW

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FEATURED EXERCISE

THE WRONG IDEAS EXERCISE

Write down 15 intentionally terrible ideas for a problem, project, or decision. Step away for a few minutes. Maybe when you come back some of those ideas might be hiding something useful.

What this does: Trains idea fluency and helps you move past obvious answers by lowering the pressure to be right.

TRY MORE EXERCISES

WORK WITH ME

Workshops, messaging, and creative project support for teams that need better ideas or a clearer way forward.

WORKSHOPS

Interactive sessions for team building, communication, and creative thinking

MESSAGING & POSITIONING

Clearer stories, sharper language, and practical messaging frameworks for brands and products.

CREATIVE PROJECT SUPPORT

Help shaping content, campaigns, ideas, and projects that need a clearer direction.

I’ve helped teams at PepsiCo, Tableau, AWS, Google, and plenty of places in between tell stories and solve difficult problems.

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