Jay Dixit - writing teacher

Jay Dixit – Resume

Jay Dixit is an award-winning writer, storyteller, and writing teacher with 20 years experience. Jay studied psychology at Yale University, where he graduated cum laude with distinction in the major. His senior thesis was published in The Journal of Social Issues and has been cited more than 300 times, and two of the magazine articles he wrote as an undergraduate are still taught in Yale’s nonfiction writing classes.

After graduating, Jay served as Senior Editor at Psychology Today, and his articles have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Rolling Stone, Slate, and Wired. Jay also conducted George Carlin’s last interview, which the legendary comic called the “most complete” interview of his life, and his work appears in the anthology The Best of Technology Writing.

Jay has served as a creative writing professor at Yale University, where he taught The Art of Storytelling as an undergraduate writing seminar. Jay is also the founder of Storytelling.NYC. For the last ten years, Jay has taught storytelling classes, writing workshops, and corporate training seminars in New York City and across the country. Jay is a winner of The Moth, a live storytelling competition based on New York, and his story “My Father’s Love” appears on The Moth Radio Hour and NPR and forms the basis for the motion picture In Transit.

Highlights

Experience

Storytelling.NYC. New York NY (2011 – present)

  • Founder, Storytelling Teacher: I lead storytelling classes, writing workshops, and corporate training for companies across the country.
  • I’ve taught storytelling training programs at Citibank, Amazon, IMDB, LG Electronics, Ogilvy & Mather, Xaxis, Redfin, The Snow Leopard Trust, and The Neuroleadership Institute.
  • Creator of The GHOST Method, a framework for teaching writing that emphasizes the primacy of character, emotion, and story over the composition of pretty sentences.

The NeuroLeadership Institute. New York NY (2016 – present)

  • Senior Science Writer: Write feature articles about psychology and neuroscience for publications such as The Harvard Business Review, Strategy and Business, Quartz, and Fast Company.
  • Write academic papers on psychology and neuroscience published in science journals.
  • Write scripts for corporate training videos for distribution to tens of thousands of employees for clients such as Merck, Microsoft, and Altria.

Downtown Project. Las Vegas NV (2013 – 2014)

  • Founder, Program Director: Designed a creative writing school—including teaching curriculum and business strategy — for Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos, as part of Downtown Project, his $350 million effort to turn downtown Las Vegas into a creative hub for artists, writers, and entrepreneurs.

WILLIAM MORRIS ENDEAVOR. New York NY (2012)

  • Editor-In-Chief: Created, wrote, and edited Flashbulb: Dispatches from the Frontlines of Science, a daily publication covering breakthroughs in science, technology, and innovation, including psychology, neuroscience, behavioral economics, robotics, and artificial intelligence.

Psychology Today Magazine New York, NY (2006 – 2010)

  • Senior Editor: Generated, reported, and wrote feature articles, including 14 cover stories.
  • Wrote articles about the psychology of happiness, personality, love, dating, procrastination, and decision-making.
  • Generated article ideas, recruited writers, and edited articles from first draft to final page proofs.
  • Interviewed research psychologists about experimental research and covered breaking news in psychology and neuroscience.
  • My cover story “The Art of Now” was the most e-mailed article of the last two years.
  • My cover story “Scents and Sensibility” generated the highest newsstand sales in the magazine’s history.
  • Interviewed celebrities such as Jerry Seinfeld, Tim Roth, Willem Dafoe, Tony Robbins, Will Shortz, Donald Trump, and Spike Lee.
  • Conducted George Carlin’s last interview, a 14-000 word Q&A he said was the “most complete” interview he’d ever done.

The New York Times, The Washington Post, Rolling Stone, Wired, Slate, etc. New York NY (2000 – 2014)

  • Writer/Contributor: Wrote feature articles for The New York Times, The Washington Post, Rolling Stone, Wired, Slate, Salon, Psychology Today, and The Village Voice.
  • Covered standup comedy for The New York Times.
  • Wrote front-page stories for The New York Times City Section, including “Take My Life, Please,” and “Saving a Comedy Club.”
  • My article “Cats with Ten Lives” appears in the anthology Best of Technology Writing 2006.
  • My article “The Ideological Animal” won South Asian Journalists Association’s feature writing award.

eHelp Corporation San Diego, CA (1999 – 2000)

  • Technical Product Evangelist: Represented the company at software trade shows and industry events nationally and internationally; gave presentations and product demonstrations to groups of 500.
  • Analyzed market trends and competitive landscape; formulated strategy; established product positioning.

Philadelphia Magazine Philadelphia, PA (1998)

  • Research Editor: led the seven-person, magazine-wide research department. Verified all factual information.
  • Generated story leads, conducted research, interviewed sources, and wrote articles.

Education

Yale University New Haven, CT (1994 – 1998)

  • B.A. cum laude in psychology with distinction in the major, 1998.
  • Won the Anti-Defamation League’s Bess Myerson Journalism Award.
  • Wrote two articles, “www.nazi.com” and “Gangbuster,” that are still required reading in Yale classes.

Skills and Hobbies

  • Photography: Portrait and event photography
  • Languages: Fluent French and pretty good Spanish
  • Storytelling: Telling stories on stage at The Moth
  • Sports: Alpine skiing; ultimate frisbee