Over the last thirty years of working as a communications specialist at Chrysler, Ford Motor Company, General Motors, and The Walt Disney Company, I’ve gotten to meet and, in many cases, become closely acquainted with some of the most highly regarded people in the corporate world. I’ve heard about their accomplishments and their regrets, and I’ve detected a pattern: nearly all of the executives I’ve interviewed and worked with wished that they were better communicators. And the one communication skill virtually every one of them wanted to become better at was storytelling. That’s not surprising. The essence of leadership is communication, and the essence of charisma—the charm that convinces stakeholders to follow a leader—is the bonding experience that can be achieved through well-told narrative. Stories connect with people in deep and powerful ways that can inspire, motivate, and impact them forever. Despite this, many business executives don’t see themselves as storytellers—or they think that telling stories is for other people. In truth, all of us are storytellers in our own unique ways. My business partner Steven James and I have been honored to spend decades of our lives filling that need, and helping leaders and professional communicators add the gift of storytelling to their repertoire. For the last twenty-five years, we’ve taught presentation skills and storytelling techniques to thousands of speakers, teachers, writers, and executives around the world. And we believe that all leaders can benefit by telling stories more succinctly and impactfully. Including you. With the unique perspective of a speechwriter and a professional storyteller, our seminars will help you understand the dynamics of an effective presentation and give you tools to elevate your storytelling to a new level. In our consulting, we take a deep dive into the intricacies of giving speeches that transform audiences and equip you to connect with listeners and find your own unique and invaluable storytelling voice.Without getting too obtuse or technical, we’ll explore the social dynamics that affect how a story needs to be told in different settings. We’ll also guide you toward finding and identifying the stories that are hiding within the constant, jumbled data stream of your life. You’ll learn to compose stories in a compelling way, tell them in an engaging manner that actually makes people like you more (honest—we have the science to prove it), and make a point in the most palatable manner possible. After all, the difference between charismatic leadership and a failure to connect often boils down to one thing: the ability to share ideas through story. Research over the last twenty-five years continues to confirm what the greatest teachers in history have always known: stories reach the heart, change perspectives, inform listeners on a deep level, and have the ability to transform lives. Storytelling is mouth-to-heart resuscitation. We believe that the best stories speak the truth about human nature and allow us to glimpse it, discover it, and better understand it. A good story is an escape that leads you home. Our seminars focus on how to engage in the oldest social moment of all, invented in a forgotten age when entire villages gathered around fires to share the stories they dreamt in the flames. We would love to partner with you as you share the warmth of your organization and yourself in the stories you tell.