In this program, our instructors teach participants how to craft compelling stories that resonate with their audience to drive people to action, set a vision, lead change, sell ideas, inspire teams, or foster more creativity and innovation. Paul Smith’s bestselling book Lead With a Story: A Guide to Crafting Business Narratives That Captivate, Convince, and Inspire serves as the basis for this program.

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 is highly interactive with case studies, exercises, and time dedicated to brainstorming stories your organization most needs to develop. Participants are expected to bring their own story idea to class and develop it throughout the day.

After class, participants are enrolled in a 6-month Extended Learning Program to help turn the new skills into a habit. New training modules arrive every two weeks and include exercises and prompts to help review key concepts, practice skills taught in class, and learn more about additional storytelling topics.

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- and senior-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 excessive data thereby saving time and money
• Clearer communications leading to more efficient and effective decision making and reduced decision making time

Watch an introduction to our Storytelling for Leaders course in the below video. You can also take an online eLearning version of the course by clicking HERE.