Does Your SKO Actually Achieve the Strategic Outcomes that Justify the Investment?

A SKO investment should be justified by how well it achieves strategic organizational goals. Unfortunately, SKO goals are often so vague that it’s impossible to integrate them into the feedback mechanism. If that’s the case for an event you’re planning, you certainly won’t know if you’ve achieved those goals… which begs the question, why have a SKO at all?

If you want your event to achieve its objectives, it’s critical that you identify, clearly, what those outcomes should be, and then weave them through your event like a red thread. That is how you’ll produce a Sales Kick Off where the investment earns you a return.

ArticleKara DavidsonJune 9, 2025sales, presentations, communication, sales kickoff, SKO, engagement, strategy, effective communicationComment

Stop Explaining, Start Storytelling: How to Make Your Point Stick

People don’t make decisions based on logic alone. They need to connect emotionally with your message —and use logic to justify it later. That’s where storytelling comes in. A good story doesn’t just inform; it makes people feel. And when they feel, they remember. More importantly, they act.

Read on to understand why stories work, what makes a story unique, and how to ensure your points land by wrapping them in stories.

ArticleStephanie JuddMay 19, 2025storytelling, sales, presentations, communication, story structureComment

The Pros and Cons of Writing a Talk with AI

As speakers and speaker coaches, we spend a lot of time crafting talks—both for ourselves and with our clients. It’s an obvious exploration, therefore, for us to look into how we can leverage AI to craft these talks more quickly (and ideally, effectively). Recently, Stephanie started giving a talk entitled Stories That Sell. In the past several weeks, Stephanie has delivered this talk three times and here are the things she learned while leaning into AI as a tool to help her.