Storytelling for Leaders
Create business stories that inspire people, build connections with your audience, and ultimately advance your organization’s goals by using a repeatable, straightforward method.
Course Duration, Description, and Benefits
Duration: 3 hours (Approximately 120 minutes of video lessons and 60 minutes of exercises)
Learn how to craft compelling stories that resonate with your audience to drive people to action, set a vision, lead change, sell ideas, inspire teams, or foster more creativity and innovation.
Participants learn 1) what a business story is, 2) when to tell stories and when not to, and 3) how to craft stories for maximum impact. This includes learning techniques for:
- How to choose the right story
- Proper story structure
- The use of emotion, surprise, dialogue, and length
- Telling stories with data
- Where to find stories
The course consists of instructor-introduced concepts, practical application exercises, and supporting materials. The course includes:
- Extensive instructor videos to guide you through the content
- A downloadable course guide of slides to help you follow the instruction
- A downloadable workbook to apply the method as you take the course
- Exercises, quizzes, and case examples to help you apply the method as you learn it
The target audience for this course consists of individuals in analytical or persuasive roles at mid- to senior levels of corporations (e.g., analysts, managers, mid-level executives). The value of this course to the participants and to the organization as a whole are:
- An ability to create messages fueled by stories to advance their business goals
- Quicker audience connections by addressing their concerns and pain points
- Increased confidence in storytelling which reduces over-reliance on data which saves time and money
- Clearer communications leading to more efficient, effective, and faster decision making
Instructor: Paul Smith
Paul Smith is a principal at thoughtLEADERS. He is a former consultant with Accenture and more recently an executive at The Procter & Gamble Company. He is an internationally popular speaker and trainer in leadership and storytelling techniques. Paul is the author of the bestselling book Lead with a Story: A Guide to Crafting Business Narratives That Captivate, Convince, and Inspire. He’s also written the bestselling Sell with a Story: How to Capture Attention, Build Trust, and Close the Sale and The 10 Stories Great Leaders Tell. Paul holds a bachelors degree in economics, and an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.