Resources — Insights — Wolf & Heron

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Design Breakouts That Actually Break Through

Design Breakouts That Actually Break Through

REFERENCE

Breakouts are where your attendees explore, discuss, and internalize the message you most want them to remember. They’re where concepts are made real and tangible. But too often, they turn into just another slide-driven presentation.

We’ve designed breakouts for sales kickoffs, leadership off-sites, and enterprise-wide strategy rollouts—and we’ve seen what works (and what doesn’t). This guide shares the exact principles we use to make sessions that are engaging, purpose-driven, and actually move people.

ResourcesStephanie JuddMay 8, 2025meeting design and facilitation, meeting design, tool, conference, breakouts, breakout, engagement, sko, sales kickoff, salesComment

Presentation and Story Coaching

Presentation and Story Coaching

BROCHURE

Our personalized approach to enhancing presentation skills and stage readiness, designed for both individual presenters and organizations.

ResourcesStephanie JuddMarch 20, 2025storytellingComment

Find the Structure of Your Story

Find the Structure of Your Story

REFERENCE

A one-page reference basic story structure with some tips for how to work through mapping your story idea to the structure.

ResourcesStephanie JuddOctober 8, 2024storytellingComment

Influential Storytelling Program

Influential Storytelling Program

BROCHURE

Read our detailed brochure about our flagship and longest-running program for business leaders.

ResourcesStephanie JuddSeptember 18, 2024storytellingComment

Reflection: Prepare for a Difficult Feedback Conversation

Reflection: Prepare for a Difficult Feedback Conversation

TOOL

This Google Docs worksheet will help you prepare for a difficult feedback conversation with an employee.

This worksheet includes questions to help you process through the issue and behaviors and provides a template for a feedback conversation.

ResourcesKara DavidsonAugust 26, 2024leadership, meetings, feedback, feedback conversations, managers, tough feedbackComment

Craft a Powerful Message Worksheet

Craft a Powerful Message Worksheet

TOOL

Before you jump to building a slide deck for your next presentation, take the time to craft your message and consider what’s most important.

The worksheet includes questions to help you consider the context, audience and messages that will help you design your presentation for success.

ResourcesKara DavidsonAugust 6, 2024leadership, meetings, presentations, presentation design, message, key messages, prepare your presentationComment

Maximizing the Manager/Employee Check-In

Maximizing the Manager/Employee Check-In

Reference

This 4-page takeaway accompanies the workshop titled Maximizing the Manager/Employee Check-In, which helps people leaders think about ways to better utilize their one-on-one touch points with team members.

ResourcesStephanie JuddJuly 16, 2024leadership, OneHour Workshop, check-ins, manager, manager check-ins, manager employee check-ins, one-on-oneComment

Case Study: Council for State & Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE)

Case Study: Council for State & Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE)

CASE STUDY

The Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE) launched an annual cohort leadership development program (LEAD) in 2021. Because their members have diverse experience and goals, and work for a variety of organizations throughout the U.S., executive coaching would play an important role in tailoring the learning to each individual leader’s needs.

Download our case study to explore more about our partnership with CSTE over the years.

ResourcesStephanie JuddJuly 8, 2024case study, CSTE, coaching, leadership, managersComment

Managing Time to Reduce Overwhelm

Managing Time to Reduce Overwhelm

Reference

This takeaway accompanies the OneHour Workshop titled Managing Time to Reduce Overwhelm. This workshop helps people leaders prioritize, focus, and ultimately find more space to serve their team members.

ResourcesStephanie JuddJuly 3, 2024leadership, OneHour Workshop, time management, overwhelm, prioritization, focusComment

Communication That Counts

Communication That Counts

Reference

Great public speaking begins weeks before the actual event, when you figure out what you’re going to say. Then, in the moment, it’s about knowing how to say it just right.

Download this resource for some easy and digestible tips and tricks to help you determine what to say and how to say it so that your communication counts.

ResourcesStephanie JuddMarch 1, 2024leadership, presentations, talkComment

Beyond the Performance Review: Develop a Culture of Continuous Improvement

Beyond the Performance Review: Develop a Culture of Continuous Improvement

Reference

Instead of providing direct instructions and advice to employees, a manager who acts as a coach will ask open-ended questions to help their employees reflect and move forward with intention.

Download this resource to learn how managers who are empowered to be coaches support a culture of continuous improvement throughout the performance review process.

ResourcesStephanie JuddFebruary 1, 2024leadership, check-ins, manager check-ins, manager conversations, meetings, manager employee check-insComment

Tool: Manager/Employee Check-In Diagnostic

Tool: Manager/Employee Check-In Diagnostic

TOOL

This Google Sheets template will help you diagnose the quality of your manager/employee check-ins. Discover whether your time is well-spent, or if you have opportunity to have more meaningful, effective, and inspiring conversations.

ResourcesKara DavidsonJanuary 19, 2024leadership, check-ins, manager check-ins, manager conversations, meetings, manager employee check-insComment

Workshop Design Rules of Thumb

Workshop Design Rules of Thumb

REFERENCE

You’re a content expert who been asked to teach what you know. Challenge yourself to reach beyond the typical “lecture style” approach to learning—it’s not that effective anyway—and build out an interactive and engaging workshop instead. Here are some basic rules of thumb to keep in mind as you create your learning experience.

ResourcesStephanie JuddJuly 20, 2023meeting design and facilitation, meeting design, toolComment

Case Study: Juniper Square

Case Study: Juniper Square

CASE STUDY

Juniper Square was excited to host it’s first ever in-person Sales Kick Off event. Given what they knew about the power of stories, the leadership determined that the SKO would be designed around storytelling with the theme Ignite: Stories Brought to Life. Wolf and Heron drew from the foundational Influential Storytelling program and created a series of storytelling training experiences for team members at all levels.

Download our case study to explore more about our partnership with Juniper Square to deliver an impactful SKO 2023.

ResourcesStephanie JuddJuly 18, 2023storytellingComment

Craft Powerful Micro-Stories for Your Presentation

Craft Powerful Micro-Stories for Your Presentation

TOOL

To help our clients embed stories into their presentations, we typically encourage them to take an intentional look at their story ideas through the lens of the building blocks of the story. If you’d like to do the same, use this tool to get started.

ResourcesStephanie JuddJune 29, 2023meeting design and facilitation, meeting design, toolComment

Marked Up Agenda Resource

Marked Up Agenda Resource

REFERENCE

In our work helping clients design their strategy retreats, we've come across plenty of draft agendas. Some are better than others. Download this file for two draft agendas that we've marked up with comments on their strengths and opportunities.

ResourcesStephanie JuddApril 4, 2023meeting design and facilitation, meeting design, toolComment

Ramp Up the Asks: How to Warm Up Attendees for High Quality Engagement

Ramp Up the Asks: How to Warm Up Attendees for High Quality Engagement

REFERENCE

Truly engaging your audience takes a lot more effort and planning and, as a result, is often neglected. Ramp up the “asks” for your audience over the course of the meeting. Check out this one-page reference on how to Ramp Up The Asks.

ResourcesStephanie JuddApril 4, 2023meeting design and facilitation, meeting design, toolComment

Materials for Meeting Success

Materials for Meeting Success

REFERENCE

Turn off the slide deck and make your materials physical instead. Check out this one-page reference of Materials for Meeting Success.

ResourcesStephanie JuddApril 4, 2023meeting design and facilitation, meeting design, toolComment

Ground Rules for Success

Ground Rules for Success

REFERENCE

The best medicine is always and forever will be prevention, and that is something you can do pretty effectively by establishing thoughtful ground rules at the outset of the meeting. Check out this one-page reference with some high-quality ground rules you may consider adapting and/or adopting for yourself.

ResourcesStephanie JuddApril 4, 2023meeting design and facilitation, meeting design, toolComment

Stephanie's Podcast Guest Page

Stephanie's Podcast Guest Page

REFERENCE

Download a pdf with prompts and questions designed to help you inspire you to have an intentional and productive manager/employee check-in.

ResourcesStephanie JuddMarch 6, 2023influential storytelling, Leadership, entrepreneurshipComment