STORY HOUR

Today’s Prompt - Sell Me This Pen

In the movie, Wolf of Wall Street, Leonardo DiCaprio's character, Jordan Belfort, asks a room full of salespeople to sell him a pen. The ask tests a salesperson's ability to understand a client's needs and demonstrate why a solution would be of value. The scene illustrates a fundamental selling point: that it's not enough to have a great product or service, you also have to know how to sell that product or service.

Part of effective selling is telling a compelling story… one that will shift how a prospect thinks or acts. In this Story Hour, we invite our storytellers to tell a story that will convince us that we need something we don’t have, or should do something we otherwise wouldn’t. Learning to develop a story like this is helpful for anyone in any function—sales or not—because invariably we’ll find ourselves in moments where we need to influence others to think or act a certain way.

Register for invitations to receive calendar invites with the Zoom meeting links every month.

STORY HOUR

Today’s Prompt - Lightning Talks

One of the hardest things to do is to deliver a clear and coherent message in a short amount of time, and yet we see more and more of our clients are asked to put together a succinct talk. We thought it would be fun to invite our community to give it a shot as Story Hour is a place of practice and learning. Instead of a 5 min or less story, speakers are challenged to deliver a 5 min or less talk. Slides or another version of visual aid is allowed but certainly not required.

Register for invitations to receive calendar invites with the Zoom meeting links every month.

STORY HOUR

Today’s Prompt - Like a Moth to the Flame

Sometimes attraction is so inevitable and powerful, one is captured like a moth to the flame. For this Story Hour we invite our speakers to share a 5 min (or less) story that showcases a time when they were the moth or the flame or even just witness to this magnetic attraction.  These experiences are great fodder for story as they are often the making (or breaking) of us. 

Register for invitations to receive calendar invites with the Zoom meeting links every month.

STORY HOUR

Today’s prompt - Q&A Stories

Most presentations are followed by a Question & Answer discussion. Stories are a great tool for this section, especially when the same questions come up often. For this Story Hour, we invite our speakers to think of an upcoming or recurring presentation they have to deliver, and identify one of the questions they may have to answer during the Q&A.. At Story Hour, they will share the question and then answer the question with a 5 min (or less) story.

Register for invitations to receive calendar invites with the Zoom meeting links every month.

STORY HOUR

Today’s prompt - Data with a Soul

Brené Brown says, “Stories are data with a soul.” But we are often in situations where we need to present numbers or data, and we forget to tell a story. Numbers and data are often mind-numbing and easy for your audience to disregard… but stories captivate and stick. For this Story Hour, we invite our speakers to bring actual or imagined data they may need to communicate to an audience, and then bring it to life for us via a story.

Register for invitations to receive calendar invites with the Zoom meeting links every month.

STORY HOUR

Today’s prompt - Story and a Slide

We are huge champions of integrating stories into your presentations at work. For this Story Hour, we invite our speakers to bring an actual slide from a presentation (past, present or future). They will present their slide, including a story as part of the talk track (5 minutes or less).

Register for invitations to receive calendar invites with the Zoom meeting links every month.

STORY HOUR

Today’s prompt: A Crazy Thing That Happened

Some of the best stories are the exciting, dramatic and memorable moments in our lives. For this Story Hour, we invite our speakers to bring a story about “a crazy thing that happened.” Stories can be about the personal, the professional or anything in between. Speakers should come prepared to share a 5-min or less story.

Register for invitations to receive calendar invites with the Zoom meeting links every month.

STORY HOUR

Today we will share stories all about Stepping Outside Your Comfort Zone.

These are stories of learning, of change, sometimes of failure, and of vulnerability. These are also stories that may come up in lessons learned, interviews performance conversations.

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STORY HOUR

Today we will share stories inspired by “Sustenance: Stories about the things that keep us going”

As we hear more and more about overwhelm, burnout, and the need for people to simply check out just to survive, we recognize the power of the little things that help us keep going. Today we’ll share stories about the thoughts, moments, rituals, or tokens that help us along every day.

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STORY HOUR

Today we will share stories inspired by “Storytelling Tool: Pause”

In storytelling, silence is often just as important as the words we say. Pause is one of the most dramatic tools of story delivery, and worth experimenting with. Today we’ll explore ways to leverage pause in our storytelling. We’ll discuss how it invites curiosity, how it amplifies emotional impact, and gives weight and meaning to specific moments. Bring a story that lets you stretch into your own use of pause, or one that illustrates what can go wrong when pause is misused.

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STORY HOUR

Today we will share stories inspired by “Your Odyssey: A career journey story”

One of the most important stories that you can craft is the story of your career. You’ll need this story for interviews, networking events, keynotes, and other crucial moments. Today we’ll hear “career journey” stories. Can our storytellers keep the audience engaged? Will they be able to build a through-line that keeps the story pieces connected?

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STORY HOUR

Today we will share stories inspired leveraging Metaphor as a storytelling tool. 

Metaphors are helpful in simplifying and organizing information. They also often carry emotion and meaning. For those reasons, metaphor is a valuable tool for data stories, personal stories, career stories and more. Bring a story where you use a metaphor or metaphors to make your point or illustrate the concepts in your story.

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STORY HOUR

Today we will share stories inspired by “Stories Th(at) Work: A company, product or service story.”

How do you tell the story of your company, product or service?

Today we’ll hear stories that illustrate the why or the what of our work. If you’re a founder, share why you’re in the business you are. If you are a product or sales leader, share a story that illustrates the impact on your users or customers.

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STORY HOUR

Today we’ll hear stories of when you discovered what you want to be when you grow up. These formative stories are powerful in sharing who we are with others. Feel free to choose a story from your childhood or early in career. Think about what moments or experiences helped you figure out what you could be as a “grown-up.”

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STORY HOUR

Today we will share stories inspired by “Storytelling Tool: Pitch and Pace”

Pitch and pace are vocal tools that help us elevate stories through dramatization. Today we’ll explore ways to leverage pitch and pace in our storytelling. Dialogue, emotional shifts, and high stakes all offer opportunities to play with pitch and pace. Bring a story that lets you stretch into your own use of pitch and pace, or one that illustrates what can go wrong when pitch and pace are misused or misinterpreted.

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STORY HOUR

Pivotal moments in our lives are excellent fodder for stories. These are the moments when our values are challenged, or our mettle is put to the test. They’re the moments that redirect the trajectory of our lives—for better or for worse. Sometimes they’re as small as a poignant comment or a single phone call. Sometimes it’s the moment someone enters or leaves our lives. Sometimes it’s a seismic event that radically transforms everything around us. What are the moments that made you?

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STORY HOUR

Today we will share stories inspired by “Surprise!”

We choose this prompt because the surprises of our lives easily lend themselves to great storytelling. Surprises are rooted in the unexpected, so they are coupled with meaning making. Consider the last time you were surprised. What did it mean to you? What happened as a result?

Alternatively, stories can be engineered to surprise an audience. Consider a story you tell often. How might you restructure or reframe it to surprise your audience?

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STORY HOUR

Today's theme is Revisit: Retell a story you’ve told at Story Hour before. We choose this prompt because although we welcome repeat stories, we don’t often get them! Choose a story you’ve told before, and try to give it another spin. Imagine a different audience or context in which you might tell the story, or tweak your theme to be slightly different. We’re curious to see how stories evolve and where you’re able to take your story after a feedback session.

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STORY HOUR

Today's theme is Make it relatable: A story that embeds data. We choose this prompt because weaving data into a story is a skill unto itself. Consider questions that are best answered with some hard data or information, and figure out how to carry that information through a narrative storyline that appeals to the head AND the heart. We’ll use this Story Hour to focus on how data can effectively be wrapped into storylines so that the information is more easily remembered and better contextualized.

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STORY HOUR

Today's theme is Values in Action: Illustrate how an organizational or personal value comes to life. We choose this prompt because communicating our values—whether personal or organizational—is often best done with illustrative stories. Choose a moment, decision, interaction, or choice that highlights how you live a value, or a value comes to life within your company. Help your audience understand why that value matter, but more importantly, the impact of living by that value.

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STORY HOUR

Today's theme is Change My Mind: A story to convince me to a new point of view. We choose this prompt because storytelling is a powerful way to influence and persuade another person. Pick a topic or issue near to you, and craft a story that will convince your audience of your point of view. Try to answer the question, why should I agree with you?

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STORY HOUR

Today's theme is Oops: A moment where you failed. We choose this prompt because failure stories are a great way for us to communicate both our humanity and wisdom together. Admitting failure is inherently vulnerable, and it sets you up to be relatable. But it’s from failure that we often learn valuable lessons, allowing us to impart wisdom onto our audience. Consider moments where you messed up and what you learned as a result. Craft that story and bring it to Story Hour!

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WEBINAR

In this webinar, we will apply key insights from influential storytelling to the presentation development process. We’ll highlight common mistakes presenters make, and offer ways to more effectively design your presentation so that it galvanizes your audience and effectively communicates your message.

STORY HOUR

Today's theme is Career Narrative: Where you come from and where you’re going. We choose this prompt because this is a story you will always be telling… in an interview, at a cocktail party, when meeting new people, and when convincing your boss you deserve a promotion. Knowing this story cold, and being able to adapt it to your audience on the fly is critical to your capacity to appear credible, relatable, and interesting all at the same time.

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WORKSHOP

Craft a story that will inspire your team and lend you gravitas.

Storytelling is one of the most important skills a product leader can develop to inspire others to join them because it leverages the rational, social, and emotional decision-making in all of us. Effective storytelling can make the difference between achieving compliance and galvanizing teams of champions around your product.

STORY HOUR

Today's theme is Growth: Stepping outside your comfort zone. We choose this prompt because leaders who can effectively communicate their own growth stories are fundamentally perceived as more humble, relatable, and inspirational. Consider moments of failure, experiments you tried that you learned from, times when you were afraid and had to lean into courage… these are moments where stepping outside your comfort zone is a necessity. Perhaps you learned something along the way?

Register for Story Hours to receive a calendar invite with the Zoom meeting link.

STORY HOUR

Today's theme is Growth: Stepping outside your comfort zone. We choose this prompt because leaders who can effectively communicate their own growth stories are fundamentally perceived as more humble, relatable, and inspirational. Consider moments of failure, experiments you tried that you learned from, times when you were afraid and had to lean into courage… these are moments where stepping outside your comfort zone is a necessity. Perhaps you learned something along the way?

Register for Story Hours to receive a calendar invite with the Zoom meeting link.

STORY HOUR

Today's theme is The “Why”: Why hire you, buy from you, work for you, invest in you, etc.. We choose this prompt because leaders need to effectively communicate the value they provide in ways that don’t feel “salesy” or contrived. The best way to do that is by building authentic connection, and stories are a powerful tool to do just that. These stories are also valuable in many contexts; interviews, pitch competitions, when asking for more resources, you name it!

Register for Story Hours to receive a calendar invite with the Zoom meeting link.

WORKSHOP

Transform an anecdote into a story that will inspire your customers.

Storytelling is one of the most important skills a salesperson can develop to inspire others during the sales process; it leverages the rational, social, and emotional decision-making in all of us. Explore what it takes to use influential storytelling in your sales conversations via a highly interactive, virtual workshop about influential storytelling in sales.

STORY HOUR

Today's theme is Shortest month of the year: Tell a 30-60 second story. We choose this prompt because the skill of tightening a story into a 30-60 second sound byte is extremely valuable. This will allow you to extemporaneously insert stories into your day-to-day conversation more easily. Bring any story idea that you have, but challenge yourself to tell it while still leveraging all four super powers before a minute is up.

Register for Story Hours to receive a calendar invite with the Zoom meeting link.