Workshops & Training

Leaders who know who they are, why they lead, and what they value will be better leaders. When they can share these stories authentically they will increase loyalty and drive, steer a clearer path through troubled waters, and will build lasting, powerful relationships with all stake holders. Learn how to learn from your best self, and how to share the stories that let people know you are a person of integrity and values.

An unused hammer is a lump of heavy metal good for holding things down and not much else. Unused, unheard stories aren’t much different. Learn how to bring effective listening and powerful stories to every corner of your organization, to your customers, your volunteers, and more.

We live in a culture where the loudest often wins. This means many voices are muted. Listening organizations invite everyone to the table, where all voices can contribute and be heard. This workshop focuses on deep listening skills, meeting facilitation, how to encourage the unheard, and more.

Storytelling, when combined with images and data in a presentation, is an immensely powerful tool to connect, influence, and persuade. Learn what stories to use when and how to make your presentations effective and memorable.

Every non profit organization needs effective fund raising. Well- crafted stories give your donors something to feel proud of. When you build a fund raising campaign around stories, as well as statistics, you will capture not only minds but hearts.

It’s easy to say “let’s use storytelling in our organization!” but where do you start? The Five Critical Organizational Stories are your roadmap for all the stories you will need. When you understand where you come from, why you’re doing it, who does it, what works and what doesn’t, and where you’re going you have a set of stories you can use and re-use for just about any audience.

Workshop include The Five Critical Organizational Stories booklet for all participants.

Speeches and talk read from the page don’t need to be stilted or disconnected. Use storytelling techniques to enliven your read presentations.

So many people think they don’t have any stories to tell or that they can’t tell them well. Good stories and storytelling are within almost everyone’s reach. This workshop leads participants through a exercises that will help them find stories, craft them, develop their own voice, gain confidence, and have a solid sense of how, when and where to share their stories.

Work is never static; things change on a daily and sometimes hourly basis. This workshop will help team and organizational leaders become more nimble in their responses by strengthened their improvisation skills. Through exercises, games, and scenarios participants leave with a more flexible ability to respond appropriately in a variety of situations.

“Storytelling” has become an organizational catchword, but what does it mean to be an effective storyteller? This highly-participatory workshop helps organizations identify the stories they are already telling and those they need, hone those stories so they are ready for use, and craft their stories for a variety of situations and audiences.

Effective leaders are effective communicators. Storytelling is among the most powerful tools to communicate ideas, create relationships, explain change and more. Leadership storytelling if for those who want to take their communications skills to the next level. Highly interactive and applied.

In today’s economic climate nonprofit organization must work harder to be noticed by funders, potential stakeholders and even prospective clients. Your staff may be feeling the strain of doing more with less.

Having a well-crafted and authentic story will help you persuade granting organizations that you are the right nonprofit in your field for them to fund, help your stakeholders communicate your mission more effectively and make your outreach to clients that much more powerful. What’s more, when your staff knows your story and believes in it, they will be more passionate about their work in the face of adversity.

This highly participatory introductory workshop will help you identify some of your organization’s key story elements, craft those elements into several narratives appropriate for different audiences and conquer the challenges of telling your story.

Every organization has its shortcuts, in-jokes, and metaphors. The they are collected and cataloged they can reveal truths about organizational culture. When they are understood, recognized as the powerful symbols they are, and careful applied, they become a short cut for building cohesive groups, talking about difficult topics, and finding new ways to communicate ideas. This is a highly interactive workshop where participants will identify organizational metaphors, analyze them, and plan ways to use them intentionally going forward.

There are times in every organization when things are not easy. When management can talk about these issues with authenticity and compassion, it helps all stakeholders feel seen and can ease transitions. Effective storytelling skills are a vital tool for difficult times. Learn how to deepen your listening skills, hold space for others, tell your own stories of challenge with authenticity, and create a more supportive work environment.

You and your staff work hard and do amazing things, but anyone can get blocked or frustrated on occasion. Through play we move beyond boundaries, learn new things about ourselves, our organization, our values, and each other. Expect to stretch your creative boundaries with improv, games, creativity exercises and more. Participants will learn several new creativity techniques applied to communication and team building.

We live in a culture that downplays the importance of listening; it is instead more important to be heard, no matter the cost. Effective, authentic listening increases empathy and connection, build relationships, helps with planning and problem solving, and vastly decreases the time lost to muddled communication. This is a highly interactive workshop helping participants develop better listening skills.

Many workplaces try to minimize the human factor by encouraging only upbeat conversation and behavior. When we allow ourselves to be vulnerable we are, in fact, being very brave. Stories with vulnerable elements deepen relationships, help sort through difficult issues, and allow everyone in the room to bring their whole selves into the conversation.

Some speakers are compelling and others just aren’t. This training will help you become a better public speaker, with emphasis on narrative development, pacing, timing, body language, eye contact, and more.

While memorization can be an effect technique for public speakers, there are other ways of learning the story that give you greater flexibility in the performing moment. Learn how to use story bones, hooks, your body, and images to move through your story without memorization.

The stories are out there but how do you find them? This training guides you through the steps to set up safe, authentic storytelling spaces. Whether your organization is going through troubled times and you need to know what’s going on beyond employee surveys or you want to reach out and bring new talent on board, whatever your need, effective story collection reveals  truths you can’t get to any other way.

Public speaking is a top phobia, but it doesn’t have to be one of yours. Learn how to overcome your fear of public speaking, channel your energy, be heard in challenging situations, and more.

It’s common knowledge that a well placed and executed story is highly persuasive, but how to do you find, craft, and apply those stories? This training will give participants the skills they need to use stories more effectively both outside the organization and in.

From the time we are very young, our understanding of the world is shaped by stories. So it is in the workplace now. When an organization is intentional about the stories it shares with new hires, as part of trainings, and as the foundation of the company culture, it inevitably becomes a more integrated workspace. Employees have a common language of history, mission, vision, and values. This training helps an organization craft stories with intention for internal use.

When we hear others stories we cannot help but feel empathy and compassion. It’s hardwired into our brains. Use storytelling to help diverse workplaces be more tolerant, accepting, and welcoming of everyone.

As much as we may want to, we don’t leave our personal lives at the door. Every single person in your organization comes to work with their own joys and burdens. This workshop focuses on what happens when the personal meets the professional. How can leaders use their personal stories as a way to connect more deeply with others in the organization? How can an organization support someone whose personal story is overwhelming their work life? Explore where listening, storytelling, work, and personal life merge.