The Five Essential Elements (the H.E.A.R.T.) of the Perfect Pitch With Ben Wiener

How to Pitch Like Your Life Depends on It

Want to create a winning startup pitch that actually lands funding?

In this episode of the Business of Story, storytelling strategist Park Howell interviews Ben Wiener, managing partner at Jumpspeed Ventures and author of the Amazon #1 bestseller Fever Pitch, a business thriller that brings pitch storytelling to life.

Ben is a venture capitalist, founder, and startup mentor who developed the H.E.A.R.T. Pitch Framework to help entrepreneurs tell stories that inspire action. Learn how to combine emotional resonance, narrative structure, and investor psychology into a simple five-part formula for communicating big ideas.

Whether you’re raising capital, launching a product, or convincing stakeholders, this episode will show you how to structure your pitch like a compelling story and radically improve your odds of success.

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Your Story is Your Strategy with Renee Frojo

How to Put Your Story in Service to Your Business

You are dedicated to building your brand and know how important brand storytelling is to generate the personal, professional and revenue growth you desire.

But you feel like marketing your business has become a grind.

Like the joy that once fueled your entrepreneurial journey has vanished behind funnels, frameworks, and fatigue?

Renee Frojo, former journalist turned brand storytelling coach, helps service-based entrepreneurs like you rediscover your purpose and passion by using your most underutilized asset: your personal story.

Renee’s mantra is simple but powerful: your story is your strategy. She shares how to turn real-life moments, your doubts, your wins, even your buyer’s remorse, into brand-building gold that creates emotional resonance and trust with your audience.

Whether you’re a coach, consultant, or creative entrepreneur, this episode will help you simplify your content strategy, strengthen your message, and fall back in love with your brand.

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The Human Story in AI-Driven Sales with Gaurav Bhattacharya

AI is advancing rapidly, making our lives as storytellers easier in numerous ways.

But at what cost?  Are we losing our human touch?

Gaurav Bhattacharya, CEO and co-founder of Jeeva.ai, shares how sales teams can harness the speed and scale of AI while preserving the essence of their storytelling.

You’ll discover how intelligent agents are freeing salespeople from tedious tasks so they can focus on what AI still can’t do: build trust through authentic human connection.

Gaurav shows you how agentic AI—tools with autonomy and awareness can help your team qualify leads, personalize outreach, and 10X your performance without losing your humanity.

He also explains why the most successful sellers still master timeless skills like empathy, reflective listening, and human-centric stories to build their businesses.

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How to Build Deeper Human Connections Online With Robin Nathaniel

AI has become freaky good. On one hand, the realism can blow you away.

But on the other, it can freak you out, an example of which you’ll hear on this show. So, how can your human stories be heard in a world flooded with AI sludge, automated posts, hollow comments, and voices that all sound the same?

Our guest today, Robin Nathaniel, author of Social Media SYNC: A Framework for Intentional Human Connection in the AI Era, is a former hip-hop artist turned social media strategist.

He shows you how to blend the best of AI tools with your authentic voice, so you can simplify your content creation and deepen the impact of your storytelling.

To use a singing metaphor, I think of AI as the inhale of air a singer uses to expand their lungs, ready to belt out a tune. But only the person can bring the tone, voice,  nuances, inflections, and passion to the song.

That’s what separates us from the bots. Robin will show you how to make your content sing.

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How to Catch Your Stories With Aaron Calafato

What if the shortest distance between two souls is a story?

That’s the big idea we explore today on The Business of Story with my guest, Aaron Calafato,

Aaron is a master of short-form, autobiographical storytelling. His podcast, 7 Minute Stories, has reached over 30 million people worldwide.

From performing off-the-cuff monologues in NYC cafés to now coaching C-suite execs and fast-growing startups, Aaron teaches the art of “story catching.”

It’s about paying attention to the world around you and harvesting those meaningful moments most people miss.

Aaron shares how to catch compelling stories in the wild, build a mental library of moments, and use those short, powerful narratives to connect deeply with audiences — from the boardroom to the podcast booth.

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Where to Find The Right Audiences for Your Brand Stories With Rand Fishkin

You can find over the past nine years and 516 episodes of The Business of Story brilliance from story artists around the world on how to tell a captivating brand and business story.

If you’ve followed their guidance, starting with the foundational story structure of the ABT (And, But, Therefore) narrative framework, then you’ve enjoyed greater engagement and conversion.

But even your best stories might be falling flat because knowing when, where and to whom you’re telling your story is as, if not more, important than he story itself.

Rand Fishkin, cofounder and CEO of SparkToro and author of Lost & Founder: A Painfully Honest Guide to the Startup World, shows you how to find your ideal audiences and how to deliver your stories in the way they want to receive them. (more…)

Leadership Storytelling Similarities Between the Righteous and Riotous With Randy Olson

What do presidents Abraham Lincoln and Donald Trump have in common?

You might say, “Not much.”

But according to my guest today, they share a rare superpower: narrative intuition—the innate ability to communicate with compelling structure that moves audiences to action.

Dr. Randy Olson is an evolutionary biologist turned filmmaker and author of the eye-opening new book Lincoln BUT Trump: Narrative Metrics and Similarities Between Heroes and Villains.

In it, Randy reveals how two simple metrics—AND Frequency and the Narrative Index—can measure the strength of your messaging and diagnose the difference between boring information dumps and persuasive storytelling.

You’ll discover why leaders who win hearts and minds, whether you like them or not, don’t necessarily have better ideas—just better narrative form.

So if you want to elevate your communication, cut through the noise, and lead with clarity, you’re in the right place.

Let’s explore the science—and the story—behind impactful narratives.

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How to Build an Unforgettable Brand Using Neuroscience with Rande Vick

Do you want your brand to stick in the hearts and minds of your audience? Not just get attention, but be unforgettable?

But you’re frustrated that even your best messaging isn’t gaining the traction it could because it’s not in sync with how the brain actually processes stories? 

Today, we decode the biology behind belief and behavior so you can build a brand story that truly resonates.

You’ll learn from Rande Vick, founder of the Vick Agency in Los Angeles and author of the groundbreaking new book Neurobranding: The Brain-Based Method to Make Your Brand Unforgettable.

With a background in sales, marketing, music, and a growing obsession with behavioral psychology, Rande reveals how to apply neuroscience to build stories that bypass resistance, ignite emotion, and embed your brand into long-term memory.

Tune in and learn how to wire your brand for influence with the science and art of story.

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How to Effectively Position Your B2B Brand With April Dunford

As a B2B brand leader, you know that clear, compelling market positioning is everything. If you can land your product in the mind of your prospect with precision, then you stand a fighting chance in even the most crowded markets.

But let’s face it: getting your positioning right is hard—because if you can’t explain what makes you different, then you risk becoming just another option that gets ignored.

Today, you’ll meet April Dunford, a startup exec turned positioning powerhouse.

She’s helped over 200 B2B companies sharpen their message, launch winning products, and drive billions in acquisitions. April unpacks the proven frameworks behind her bestsellers Obviously Awesome and Sales Pitch to help you craft positioning that sells.

Whether you’re scaling a growth-stage startup or leading a legacy tech brand, you’ll leave this episode with the tools to own your space in the market—and tell your brand story in a way only you can.

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How to Unlock Brand Alignment to Accelerate Your Business Growth With Brandon Coleman Jr.

When Michele and I got married 37 years ago, she had a Toyota Camry that had been rear-ended.

Although they repaired her car, it never drove right again. It crabbed its way down the road because the wheel alignment was off.

It rattled, tore through the tires, stressed the chassis and its fuel efficiency was probably halved.

So imagine what happens to your business efficiency when your brand is out of alignment.

Today we have a brand alignment expert, Brandon Coleman Jr., author of Brand On! The Hidden Power of Brand Alignment, and host of the Brand On podcast.

He is a renowned branding legend with the acute ability to cut through clutter to amplify others’ potential.

His gifted awareness and enthusiastic, all-in spirit have fueled exponential success on thousands of brand alignment engagements across many different industries spanning five decades.

Brandon will show you the communication potholes to avoid to make sure your brand is in perfect alignment to accelerate your business growth. (more…)