Storytelling Coach

TAKE YOUR STORYTELLING TO A NEW LEVEL

Hello. My name is Ira Koretsky (bio). I am the founder and CEO of The Chief Storyteller® and I have been in the world of storytelling since I was in high school debate. Three years after starting forensics (that’s what it was called back then), I was a New York State debate 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 storyteller and a much better communicator. And for you, a better storytelling coach.

By empowering you with the communication skills and strategies I have perfected over the last 25 years, I will help you be more successful, personally and professionally. My specialties help leaders and experts like you, simplify the complex and communicate effectively when the stakes are high.

Coaching for When Communication Matters

Some 30 years later, I have been coaching, mentoring, training, teaching, and consulting on business storytelling 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, to performing improvisational comedy for 10 years with ComedySportz, to present day, I have been a business storyteller at heart and storytelling coach in practice.

Build Your Better Tomorrow™

What do you want to be better at? I call this your Better Tomorrow Message™. What would a better tomorrow look like for you?

• More effective leadership?
• More effective selling?
• Happier, inspired, and more engaged teams?
• Better recruiting and on-boarding?
• More persuasive data storyteller?
• Sought after thought leader?
• Confident board room executive?
• Sought after trainer?
• Greater staff loyalty?
• Stronger culture?
• Or ???

As your storytelling coach, I work with you to improve how you engage, persuade, influence, educate, entertain, and inspire internal and external stakeholders with your communications and stories. Customers include leaders, executives, rising stars, thought leaders, influencers, trainers, and experts in associations, government, and corporations.

I work with individuals, teams, and departments to help them achieve a Better Tomorrow™.

BECOME THE STORYTELLER AUDIENCES WANT TO HEAR

I designed the Storytelling Coach Learning Modules for leaders, experts, trainers, speakers, and professionals alike. The modules help you become the storyteller you want to be. AND become the storyteller audiences want to hear.

Storytelling Coach Learning Modules

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

A DIFFERENT KIND OF STORYTELLING COACH

I’m a different kind of storytelling coach. 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, Enterprise Communications, teaches public speaking, 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 storytelling coach, sometimes your storytelling consultant, and sometimes your storytelling professional trainer. The professional trainer comes into play when you need to build, hone, or maintain various communication skills. I draw from over 100 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 540 keynotes and workshops, inspiring more than 38,000 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 nearly a decade
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 storytelling 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 storytelling 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

Example of communications where I provide storytelling coach advice, hands-on support, or practical exercises includes:

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 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 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, say a presentation is asked of you and is not in our Success Plan, 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

Ask about our “Better Presentations Review Service,” where we provide constructive feedback to you based on a video you provide. We do this for presentations and stories (learn more).

COACHING SUCCESS STORIES / PAST PERFORMANCE