Interviewing Coach

TAKE YOUR INTERVIEWING TO A NEW LEVEL

Hello. My name is Ira Koretsky (bio). I am the founder and CEO of The Chief Storyteller®. I have been in the world of communication and storytelling since high school. Three years after starting forensics (that’s what debate was called back then), I was a New York State champion finalist. There were just 26 of us from the entire state. A life-long foundational lesson came from our debate coach and our storytelling coach, Mr. Height. He stressed… and made us appreciate… the power of effective stories and appreciate the power of effective delivery. They went hand-in-hand.

Lessons from Mr. Height, along with countless others over my career, along with plenty of bumps and bruises earned on my own, have made me a much better communicator, public speaker, and storyteller. And for you, a better interviewing coach.

By empowering you with the communication skills and strategies I have perfected over the last 25 years, you will learn how to Deliver THE Expected Experience ™. I help you be more successful, personally and professionally by simplifying the complex and communicating effectively when the stakes are high. Storytelling in all of its forms are my specialty and secret sauce.

Coaching for When Communication Matters

Some 30 years later, I have been coaching, mentoring, training, teaching, and consulting on business communications in 14 countries (testimonials, customers, success stories). From my days speaking publicly on behalf of the US Army as a healthcare IT Public Affairs Officer and Chief Information Officer, to consulting on billion-dollar technology programs for the Federal government, to being in leadership roles in marketing and product management, to teaching eager sophomores at the University of Maryland Business School for 12+ years, to performing improvisational comedy for 10 years with ComedySportz, to present day, I have been a business communicator at heart and communication coach in practice.

Build Your Better Tomorrow™

What are your goals? What are your areas for improvement? I call this your Better Tomorrow Message ™. What would a better tomorrow look like for you?

• Master executive presence through deliberate authenticity
• Deliver concise and compelling answers
• Project gravitas with confident body language/non-verbals
• Command attention with powerful accomplishment stories
• Build instant chemistry with emotional intelligence
• Connect faster and more deeply with insightful personal stories
• Articulate complex strategies with clarity
• Showcase measurable impact results with data storytelling
• Navigate challenging discussions diplomatically
• Answer questions with laser-focused precision and relevance
• Create attention-grabbing resumes that highlight strategic impact
• Write persuasively across your professional communications
• Ask questions demonstrating industry insight
• Think on your feet faster and more confidently
• Network strategically to build lasting professional relationships
• Maintain a “please contact me” LinkedIn profile
• Showcase leadership experience effectively

As your interviewing coach, I show you how to better engage, persuade, influence, educate, entertain, and inspire prospective employers with your communications and stories.

I work with you side-by-side to help you achieve your Better Tomorrow ™.

BECOME THE CANDIDATE EMPLOYERS WANT TO HIRE

I designed the Interviewing Coach Learning Modules to help you become the communicator/interviewer you want to be. AND become the candidate employers want to hire.

Interviewing Coach Learning Modules

There are over 30 Interviewing Coach learning modules. The learning modules cover business storytelling, A to Z. Here are some example Interviewing Coach Modules:

A DIFFERENT KIND OF INTERVIEWING COACH

I’m a different kind of interviewing coach. I ensure you Deliver THE Expected Experience ™. How? By being a coach that is more like a 1-on-1 consultant. I blend the best of my experience and expertise from being a consultant (marketing and communication), speaker, trainer, and adjunct professor.

I am an adjunct professor at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, where I earned my MBA. My course teaches public speaking, written communication, data storytelling, and business storytelling to about 70 honors students. The student final is a five-minute, TED-Style Talk. Each student picks his/her own topic, develops engaging presentation visuals, crafts a compelling narrative told through the eyes of a personal story, and teaches us something new, as all good TED and TEDx speakers do.

Depending upon what we are working on, sometimes I am your interviewing coach, sometimes your interviewing consultant, and sometimes your interviewing professional trainer. The professional trainer comes into play when you need to build, hone, or maintain various communication skills. I draw from over 150 written and verbal Smart Exercises developed by The Chief Storyteller® team.

Why Us? Key Differentiators

When it comes to differentiating factors, these are the ones that make us really stand out.

1. First and foremost, we emphasize storytelling, the oldest and most effective form of communication
2. I’m an active practitioner of what I coach. To date, I have delivered more than 570 keynotes and workshops, inspiring more than 41,100 people in a dozen countries
3. I’m an adjunct professor of public speaking, data storytelling, and storytelling at the University of Maryland Business School for 12+ years
4. Coaching is hands-on (“coaching consultant”)
5. Receive practical and proven learning materials such as frameworks, tools, worksheets, and tip guides — all designed to be immediately applicable and easy-to-use
6. Benefit from more than 50 learning modules
7. Benefit from more than 150 Smart Exercises
8. We use improvisational humor like television’s Whose Line Is It Anyway? in our coaching to improve information retention, participant enjoyment, and impact. I performed in over 1,000 shows with ComedySportz
9. We “get you.” I am a techie at heart, having started the computer club in high school. I won a science fair. I was a CIO of an Army hospital. I worked for three managed web hosting companies
10. I nudge and push you to be better, helping you achieve your personal and professional goals

Coaching Sessions that Meet Your Goals

As I mentioned above, I’m a different kind of interviewing coach. This means I provide coaching advice, hands-on help, and practical exercises as your “personal trainer.”

At a high level, I draw from the learning modules (see #1 above) as we build your skills and confidence. Sometimes we will brainstorm and strategize, sometimes we will revise, sometimes we will practice, sometimes we will collaborate, sometimes you’ll do some exercises, sometimes you’ll share your activities and the results. Meetings are via Zoom video.

Areas Where Ira can Help

Examples of communications where I provide interviewing coach advice, hands-on support, practice, and practical exercises include:

When it comes to specific activities, I help in three ways:

1. Coaching Advice. When providing coaching advice, I make suggestions for you to think about and to implement in your communications.
2. Hands-On Support. When providing hands-on support, I can concept, develop, write, and revise your interviewing communications.
3. “Personal Trainer.” When providing personal trainer support, we are building and maintaining skills including practice and role-playing.

Depending upon what we are working on, I provide you with various resources such as frameworks, tools, tip guides, worksheets, and Smart Exercises for you to work on during and in between your sessions.

A Success Plan is optional. If you prefer each session to be focused on an activity or deliverable, just let me know. If you prefer a more strategic approach to building your storytelling skills, just let me know. And if you prefer a blended approach, that is fine too. Generally, the Success Plan guides the topic and the exercises when we meet.

If you have a new priority, I will shift our focus to your new priority per your request.

WORKPLACE STORY EXAMPLES

Here are several personal story examples designed specifically to be shared in the workplace:

• Don’t Be The Idiot in the Red Convertible – Rohan
• Space Mountain Didn’t Kill Me – Mary
• Cherish Your 1, 2, 3 – King
• Don’t Stay in Bed – Greg

COACHING SUCCESS STORIES / PAST PERFORMANCE