Steve Woodruff, Author

#181: Why A Clear Brand Story Gets You Heard and Referred

Back in 2013, I was working with different executives for the Sustainability Leadership Program for Arizona State University. I was one of three speakers and after I was introduced, the executives’ reaction was, “Oh, the soft skills guy!”

Little did I know, there was already warfare between technical hard skills and communications soft skills. A recent report from the World Economic Forum revealed the 10 most in-demand skills in business according to LinkedIn. Hitting the top spots are creativity, persuasion, collaboration, adaptability and time management.  Apparently, as technology advances, the employers’ need for soft skills from their employees also advances.

At the core of each of these skills is the ability to tell a clear and concise story.

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Wanita Zoghby-Fourie, Founder of The Online Business Academy

#180: How to be an Authentic Brand Storyteller on Social Media

This week, we’re doing something different from the past 179 episodes. It’s my turn to be on the hot seat and my guest, Wanita Z-Fourie, will be the one asking the questions. In this show, we discuss how to use storytelling to grow your following.

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Lisa Rothstein, The New Yorker Cartoonist

#179: How to Draw out Your Genius With Visual Storytelling

Have you ever been telling a story and your words failed you? I don’t mean that you didn’t have a word for what you’re thinking or feeling. But they weren’t enough to express exactly what you wanted to say, or your audience wasn’t understanding the message.

The illustration Lisa drew for me to outline my TEDxGilbert Talk

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Pete Walsh, Family Business Performance Coach

#178: How Leadership Storytelling Will Build a Family Business

Sometimes, what should be a source of pride, financial security, and wealth for the family becomes a source of heartache, dysfunction, and conflict. The want for power and control is what separates families in business together. This is why it’s essential to have leadership coaches who can teach the essence of storytelling in building a successful family business.

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Andrea Cadelli, Author

#177: The Power of Self-Narrative to Design Your Future

This episode holds a special spot in my heart because my father, Keith Clinton Howell, passed away recently. We recorded this episode three days after he was buried and I felt he was the one who led today’s guest to the show. My guest is someone who went through severe losses –family members, a job she really loved – and came out kicking. Surprisingly, hitting rock bottom and going through the lowest point in our lives can help unravel our most powerful story. (more…)

Mike Adams, Author

#176: The Seven Stories You Need to Tell to Sell

Many sales and business professionals ask themselves questions every day.

“How do I earn the trust of my audience?”

“How can I become an effective salesperson?”

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Andrea Waltz, Author & Keynote Speaker

#175: How to Reframe Failure Into Stories of Success

One of the most fearful words that has ever existed is “failure”. It hinders even the most ardent dreamer from pursuing their dreams. This fact made me thoughtful of an important question: if we remain fearful, will our dreams ever come true?

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Arthur Samuel Joseph, Founder of Vocal Awareness Institute

#174: How to Find Your Storytelling Voice

The actual aesthetic of our voices is something many of us have worried about at some point or another. We’ve all seen or heard a recording of ourselves and thought, “Is that really what I sound like?”

The good news is that perception can be changed. Yes, we can even change how we hear our own voices through simple exercises and mindset changes. And more importantly, we can change the way others hear and understand our communications through vocal awareness.

In this week’s show, we’re diving into how to use our voice as an instrument to become a better business storyteller.

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Richie Prynne, CC Smugglers Front Man

#173: How to Use Brand Storytelling for Guerrilla Marketing

Richie Prynne, a young street performer (also known as a busker), formed the British Blues-Americana band CC Smugglers in his early twenties. He knew it was hard to make it as a band these days, and that they’d have to get creative with their marketing to really stand out.

Their big idea? ‘Guerrilla Busking.’ They’d pop up and play to queuing crowds waiting to go into similar shows. The long list of targets included the fans of SeaSick Steve, Old Crow Medicine Show, The Devil Makes Three, Jools Holland and more. And it seemed to be working. Crowds would congregate to listen to them play, and then they’d tell their friends about it. The strategy instantly became fundamental to their innovative brand promotion.

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Jon Ferrara, Nimble CEO

#172: How to Craft Your Brand Story to be Nimble

As a business storytelling speaker, a customer relationship management (CRM) system is pretty important for me to organize my prospects. But I find my relationship with the CRMs I’ve tried to be frustrating, cumbersome and not particularly effective.

I recently heard about another up-and-coming CRM called Nimble and decided to give it a go. I was pleasantly surprised with how easy it was to use. Yet I wondered what their story was. How were they able to stand out among the other CRMs? I thought I’d challenge Nimble’s CEO to see if he could use the Story Cycle System™ to define his core advantage and humanize his technical offering.

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