Matt Abrahams

#310: How to Speak Up Without Freaking Out

#310: How to Speak Up Without Freaking Out

We all have some level of anxiety when it comes to public speaking. Whether it’s a sales pitch, a conference presentation, being a keynote speaker, or even a webinar meeting – the stakes are already high and your stress levels are even higher. 

But anxiety can be beneficial when you’re presenting, helping you to stay focused and giving you energy. The trick is to learn how to manage it so it doesn’t manage you.

Here to help you take the stage so you can become a more confident, connected, and compelling speaker is the ever so innovative and collaborative educator and coach, Matt Abrahams. Matt is the Co-Founder and Principal at Bold Echo Communications Solutions, a presentation and communication skills company based in Silicon Valley that helps people improve their presentation skills. 

He has published the third edition of his book Speaking Up Without Freaking Out, written to help the millions of people who wish to present in a more confident and compelling way. He also hosts the GSB podcast called Think Fast Talk Smart, curates the NoFreakingSpeaking.com website, and teaches Effective Virtual Communication and Essentials of Strategic Communication at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business. (more…)

Jeffrey Hayzlett

#309: Should You Tell Your Story With Your Own Podcast?

#309: Should You Tell Your Story With Your Own Podcast?

Should I start my own podcast? Is probably the most asked question I’ve received from my customers over the past year. The podcast industry has skyrocketed as a result of COVID, becoming a popular place where people are flocking to for knowledge and growth.

Podcasts aren’t just for hobbyists anymore. It is a valuable piece to your brand’s marketing strategy and one of the most evergreen forms of content you can put out into the world to reach new audiences and cultivate deeper relationships with potential customers.

But in order to guarantee the success of your show – one that provides tremendous value to your audience, builds trust and awareness, and converts your listeners into customers, you need to nail the basics.

One of the most compelling figures in business today and Hall of Fame keynote speaker, Jeffrey Hayzlett, shares his insights on the subject and how you can use the power of podcasting to communicate your brand story. (more…)

Will Storr

#308: How the Science of Storytelling Actually Works

#308: How the Science of Storytelling Actually Works

There are many ways to tell a good story that can connect and captivate your customers. But what is the secret to converting and winning them over? 

The key is to truly understand the ultimate storyteller – the human brain. If you focus on understanding the basic language of the brain to tell your story, it gives you a clearer insight into the theatre of your customer’s mind. Allowing you to weave your story with their story so you can better connect and engage with them.

In this week’s show we have guest expert, Will Storr to help us peel back the neuroscience of what makes stories work. Will is the author of five critically acclaimed books including The Science Of Storytelling: Why Stories Make Us Human, and How to Tell Them Better. His journalism has appeared in The Guardian, The Sunday Times, The New Yorker and The New York Times. 

His array of prizes include a National Press Club award for excellence, the AFM award for Best Investigative Journalism, an Amnesty International Award for his work on sexual violence against men, a One World Press Award and the AIB Award for Best Investigative Documentary for his BBC radio series. (more…)

Margot Bloomstein

#307: How You Build Trust With Your Brand Storytelling

How You Build Trust With Your Brand Storytelling

Vulnerability is a strength, not a weakness. 

After a year of unsettling upheaval, more and more people are eroding their trust in big businesses and institutions. So, is now the best time to change your brand story? Perhaps. 

But it’s how you use the power of your brand voice and vulnerability that will build rapport and pull your customers closer. Even turning your biggest critics into champions. It’s all about designing for trust!

With us today is one of the most prominent voices in the content industry, Margot Bloomstein. Margot is the principal of Appropriate, Inc., a brand and content strategy consultancy. Over the last two decades, she has used her platform as a speaker and strategic adviser to work with marketing teams in a range of organizations. She now uses this success to lecture around the world about brand-driven content strategy and how to design for trust.

She is also the creator of BrandSort, developing the popular message architecture-driven approach to content strategy and author of the new book, Trustworthy: How the Smartest Brands Beat Cynicism and Bridge the Trust Gap. (more…)

Dr. Dennis Rebelo

#306: How to Win at High Stakes Business Storytelling

#306: How to Win at High Stakes Business Storytelling

How many times have you been confronted with the question, “So Tell Me About Yourself?”

It is one of the most common yet difficult prompts you face as a business storyteller, especially in high stake situations. Do you truly know how to tell your story? One that depicts the story of your life and work in an integrated way but at the same time showcases its value and worth?

Your stories can only be compelling if you have the right structure and methodologies in place so you can truly master your own narrative and capture the benefits of sharing your true self.

In this episode, we have the author of the new book, Story Like You Mean It, and creator of the Peak Storytelling Model, Dr. Dennis Rebelo to help simplify the process for you.

Dr. Dennis Rebelo is a professor, speaker, and career coach. He is known for his research-based method for crafting the narrative of who you are and what drives you and why. All important elements to consider when you’re finding yourself in high stakes presentations. Not only will it help you connect with your audiences authentically but it will convert them into action. 

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Freddie Ravel

#305: Grammy Artist Shares the Rhythm of a Good Story

#305: Grammy Artist Shares the Rhythm of a Good Story

Music isn’t just entertainment. The principles of melody, harmony and rhythm can transform your brand communications and storytelling in sales.

But if you don’t have a background playing an instrument, you may think this approach to transforming your business isn’t for you.

Grammy Artist, Freddie Ravel, joins us this week to share how you can use music to transcend the boundaries of culture and thought leadership in the stories you tell.

We typically record on squadcast.fm but had technical difficulty. So we jumped over to ZOOM. Good thing we did, because we captured this episode in living color. Freddie is so gregarious, I’m happy to share the video of our session with you as well.

Freddie is the founder of Life In Tune™ and keynote speaker whose phenomenal music background has seen him direct bands like Earth, Wind and Fire, collaborate with accomplished musicians like Madonna, Kanye, Carlos Santana, perform at the Grammys with Prince, and successfully lead the teams behind Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, Deepak Chopra, J Lo and Lady Gaga becoming the expert’s expert on successful multi-cultural and generational integration through the world’s oldest and undisputed international language of music. 

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Stephanie Stuckey

#304: How Stuckey’s is Growing by Reclaiming its Brand Story

#304: How Stuckey’s is Growing by Reclaiming its Brand Story

Every brand has a valuable story to tell. All you have to do is look to its past and find the story that made it unique in the first place.

Today’s guest will show you how. Stephanie Stuckey is the CEO of  Stuckey’s, the roadside oasis famous for its pecan log rolls. Stephanie shares her family’s comeback story and how she is using their brand story to revive Stuckey’s brand by resurrecting stories from the past to create a brighter future.

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Ginger Zumaeta

#303: The 5 Laws of High-Impact Sales Presentations

#303: The 5 Laws of High-Impact Sales Presentations

PowerPoints don’t kill ideas. PowerPoints riddled with bullets kill ideas. 

Presentations are the language of business. But the key to using PowerPoint to tell your story is to envision it from your customer’s point of view. What do you want them to think, feel and do? Their decision to move forward with working with you is strongly influenced by how you make them feel in your presentation.

If you can tell a story through PowerPoint that changes the minds and behaviors of people, you can write your ticket in the corporate world.

Here to share her expertise on how to deliver amazing presentations that will result in decisions is Ginger Zumaeta. She is the Founder and CEO of Zumaeta Group and author of the forthcoming book Deckonomics: Design Presentations that Spread Ideas, Drive Decisions, and Close Deals.

Ginger is a three-time Emmy Award-winning writer and producer. She successfully turned her TV storytelling skill into a consultancy helping companies on positioning and communicating big ideas. Ginger uses her experience in storytelling and persuasion to train corporate teams in telling better business stories to move high-stakes work forward with clear and succinct presentations that are grounded in story structure and backed by brain science.

Listen as she shares her five laws for delivering high-impact presentations and how storytelling makes it all work.

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Neil Nelson

#302: How to Make Your Stories More Accessible for Your Audience

#302: How to Make Your Stories More Accessible for Your Audience

It’s not enough just to share a good story – you have to make it accessible for your audiences. Access IS success, but we’re not talking about media channels. We’re talking content that is timely, relevant and most importantly shared from your audience’s point of view.

One man who is an expert at making his storytelling accessible to his audiences, his readers, his viewers, and his customers is Neil Nelson. Neil is the founder of Atlanta Black Star, a top-ranked national online news outlet covering politics, social justice issues, entertainment and culture for Black Americans. As a multi-business entrepreneur, Neil has played a pivotal role in the digital media landscape for African-American audiences, successfully developing numerous online platforms and partnering with Fortune 500 companies to maximize consumer engagement.

He grew Atlanta Black Star to be one of the largest digital media properties in under three years through accessible storytelling.

In this episode, you will learn how to make your brand, business, and sales storytelling more accessible to your audience. Listen as Neil shares his exact storytelling methods that quickly grew his digital media properties.

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Dr. Nadya Zhexembayeva

#301: How to Reinvent Your Business Story to Thrive in Chaos

#301: How to Reinvent Your Business Story to Thrive in Chaos

2020 forced many of us to reconsider how we do business. We adapted, and many businesses came out better than ever.  Catalysts for change are often unexpected. But it’s how you deal with and manage the chaos (and all the changes it’s calling you to do) that can make or break your business.

How do you approach change? Do you run away from it, or embrace it? In this episode, Dr. Nadya Zhexembayeva shows you how to be better prepared the next time unexpected chaos comes your way so you can not only survive, but thrive.

Nicknamed “The Reinvention Guru”, Dr. Nadya Zhexembayeva is a scientist, entrepreneur, TEDx speaker and resilience and reinvention expert who has worked with brands including Coca-Cola, IDM, CISCO, L’Oréal, Danone and many more to help them reinvent their products, leadership practices and business models to meet new market demands and prepare for incoming disruptions.

Her new book, The Chief Reinvention Officer Handbook: How to Thrive in Chaos, provides a powerful blend of cross-disciplinary research and battle-tested tools to help your brand diagnose, design, and implement a reinvention system that allows your company to stop resisting change and instead help you turn any disruption into an opportunity to reinvent your business and story. (more…)