Category Archives:
Leadership Development Training
January 16, 2015
Storytelling Skills – Body Language Speaks
Joel had been chosen by his team to be the one to give a presentation in front of a small review committee. His would be one of ten 30-minute presentations that day. A lot was riding on his presentation so he had to nail it. His team was depending on him. As I watched him […]
January 14, 2015
Storytelling in Business – The Hybrid Story
Depending on the client and the event, I use stories that can be targeted towards lessons that are applicable in leadership, sales, marketing, fundraising or inspiration. The needs of the client determine what stories I use. My client’s audience isn’t interested in something that happened to me, unless I can relate it to their current […]
May 19, 2014
Next Level Storytelling Video eLearning Series
For the past twenty years I’ve been studying, researching and teaching storytelling in business. My students over that period of time, many of them graduates of The Story Theater Retreat, have asked for a video course to keep the skills, competencies and techniques they learned from studying with me fresh. Now that course is available […]
November 13, 2013
Corporate Storytelling Video by Doug Stevenson
Corporate Storytelling Video sample This video is an example of how I use a story to market and sell what I do. It also demonstrates my Story Theater Method in action. In other words, it is a strategically chosen, crafted and performed story intended to get a desired and predictable result. Which it does. The […]
September 11, 2013
Corporate Storytelling Skills – Developing Emotional Distance
At what point is it appropriate to tell the story about losing a son in a drunk driving accident? When are you ready to tell your cancer story? How much time must pass before you can use the tragedies of your past to help others? Over the years, I’ve worked with many students and retreat […]
May 1, 2013
Make an Emotional Connection
Make An Emotional Connection I get asked the question time and again from my clients: “What is the magic formula for creating an emotional connection with an audience? Is simply telling a story enough?” When stories are properly constructed and performed, they contain the key elements needed to create an emotional connection, but it’s the […]
May 29, 2012
The Top 3 Mistakes Speakers Make
Why is it that speakers have such a hard time translating the passion they feel for their subject matter into passionate presentations? What gets in the way of their natural enthusiasm and spontaneous energy? a technical problem? a poorly-designed speech? a lack of confidence? Over the years, I’ve been contracted to help hundreds of aspiring […]
March 13, 2012
Using Corporate Storytelling to Drive Change
The year was 1998. I was in Lincoln, Nebraska at the Cornhusker Inn just down the road from the University of Nebraska. I was traveling the country with my keynote: The Positive Power of Change. This particular event was the annual meeting of a mid-sized tele-communications company. I had been hired to speak at the […]
January 10, 2012
Corporate Storytelling – Eloquence and Language
I grew up with a father who was in love with words. His reverence for language, pronunciation and proper diction was an annoyance to me as a child, but a gift to me as an adult. I remember the way he would read aloud a passage from a book or a poem. He had a […]
September 19, 2011
Corporate Storytelling Skills – Third-Person Story
by Doug Stevenson – Creator of The Story Theater Method for Storytelling in Business I always advise my corporate and private coaching clients to use personal stories whenever possible. Personal stories establish credibility by letting your listener know that your wisdom comes from your life experience, rather than from reading the latest book. Personal stories […]
