Online Courses

Online Business Storytelling Courses

Produced with premier leadership development firm thoughtLEADERS, these are my most in-depth, self-paced online business storytelling courses. Each includes over two hours of instructional videos, plus exercises, quizzes, a downloadable workbook, and a case study to apply what you learn. Learn why storytelling works, what stories you should be telling, proper story structure, emotional engagement, the element of surprise, details, delivery, and more.

Below are additional online courses I’ve produced with LinkedIn Learning and other organizations:

Stories Every Leader Should Tell: The 10 most important stories every leader should be able to tell at a moment’s notice.

Leading with Stories: A 38-minute executive overview of leadership through storytelling: what it is, why it works, story structure, emotional engagement, and the element of surprise.

Storytelling in Training: A 28-minute course in using storytelling in instructional design and training courses.

How to Tell Stories with Data – Method 1 (the “How we got here” method): A 7-minute short course on how to use actual storytelling techniques with data instead of words. The 1st of 2 methods.

How to Tell Stories with Data – Method 2 (the “Discovery Journey” method): A 10-minute short course on how to use actual storytelling techniques with data instead of words. The 2nd of 2 methods.

Managing for Creativity: Lessons from the Nine-Dot Problem: (5-minutes) Instead of telling people to “think outside the box,” draw them a bigger box! Here’s how. . .

Values and Ethics: Case Studies in Action — Learn about some of the most common company values and discover the ways real-world circumstances sometimes cause them to conflict. This course is designed to help you recognize, articulate, and solidify your understanding of your own company’s values and ethics.

Leadership Stories: 5-Minute Lessons in Leading People — Fifty-two 5-minute lessons in leadership drawn from my interviews with over 250 CEOs and executives around the world. I share the experiences that led these leaders to learn a critical lesson or gain some invaluable — and often unconventional — wisdom. They cover topics such as setting a vision, leading change, and getting more creativity out of an organization. Think of this as a weekly fireside chat with someone who’s had the luxury of interviewing some of the most insightful executives in the world. One for every week of the year.

Selling with Stories: Part I – What Makes a Great Story:  A 90-minute short course on crafting great sales stories from the professional training studios at LinkedIn Learning.

Selling with Stories: Part II – Stories Great Salespeople Tell Examples of the 25 most useful sales stories, and tips to crafting your own.

Mastering Retail Conversations – Designed for new retail sales associates, this 30-minute course teaches you how to have the most important conversations you’ll need to have with your customers, including conversations about what they’re looking for, how to talk to an angry customer, responding to “Thanks, I’m just looking,” and more or even tougher, “Does this dress make me look fat?”. Plus advanced topics like up-selling and cross-selling conversations.

Overview of Sell with a Story: A 50-minute narrated slideshow on storytelling for salespeople from Soundview Live Executive Book Summaries, narrated by Paul Smith.