1:1 Coaching
Storytelling packs an emotional punch. Connect with more people in a way that shows you care. Improve your career prospects and build your profile within your organisation.
Storytelling & Executive Presentation
Working personally with you and your leaders, we use the unique Wordstruck method to uncover the heart of your story.
Public speaking
Have performance anxiety when you deliver a presentation or address the board? Storytelling can empower you, saving time and reducing stress. No more sleepless nights or sweaty palms.
Simplify your message
People are time-poor and content-rich. Make each conversation count, ensure each meeting is worth it. Use stories to make the complex simple, to connect better in-person or virtually.
Deliver with courage
Engage the heart not just the head. Learn how to present with confidence and flair, so people remember what you've said and why you said it. Step out of your comfort zone into your courage zone.
Wordstruck 1:1
Coaching Programs
Storytelling can powerfully help you communicate with your team and wider organisation. While facts and strategic objectives engage the head, it is the stories of individuals — customers, team members, donors — that engage the heart.
Stories bring to life your organisation. You’ll be able to deliver with greater impact, helping you be more relaxed in your presentations and your teams feel closer to you.That’s because people don’t always remember what you say, but they do remember how you make them feel.
Wordstruck offers a range of personalised coaching programs, helping your unlock your unique presentation style and find your Signature stories.
After working with Claire, I have a personalised communication toolkit and confidence in how I can incorporate stories so they relate to the business… This has saved me a lot of time and has a positive impact on [my] brand and career. – Chris Litchfield, Managing Director Coca-Cola Amatil, New Zealand
Wordstruck 1:1 coaching will help you develop your own communication toolkit. This will:
- Improve your career prospects
- Ensure what you say gets remembered
- Deepen connection with your teams
- Build your personal brand
- Help you deliver with confidence at a board meeting
- Hold the floor at a conference
- And people might even laugh at your jokes 😉
All programs focus on Content (your stories, the stuff you say) & Delivery (how you say it, with warmth & presence); all skills are transferable in any work situation.
If you want to lead you need to be able to communicate effectively and storytelling… probably is the most powerful device in communication… [This program] has made me a better presenter. It helps me be seen as more of an executive level leader. I can cut through more using powerful little stories to convey big points and relate to people in a more impactful way. – Ryan McCarthy, Managing Director, Stryker Medical
Together we explore how past career achievements can become current leadership stories. We unearth the amazing stories in your organisation and choose the right ones for the right moment.
Each program is personalised for you. We start with six sessions every 2/3 weeks, either in-person or via Zoom/Teams. Sessions are interactive and fun, helping you take your presentations from good to great to awesome.
By working with Claire, I was able to deliver a Ted Talk with confidence and use storytelling to promote a complex message to a wider audience. Personally I feel I was stretched and that’s just made me stronger. Now when I have to speak I rarely need my notes. – Dr Terri Janke, Lawyer & Founder of Terri Janke & Company
Case Study: Chris Litchfield
Managing Director, Coca-Cola Amatil
At a big three-day leadership summit of our company, I was nominated to speak on the last day on leadership.
I told three stories in 30 minutes and had great feedback when I finished.
Streamlined my approach to public speaking
[Since doing the coaching] I’ve now got a completely different approach when I give speeches. I can see the importance of using stories and they’ve become part of my behavioural routine. At the leadership summit, I used One Note and cut and paste what I wanted to say from previous speeches, while making it relevant to this high-powered audience. I wrote the speech notes in a few words just as prompts.
I knew that I didn’t have to pre-write my introduction and that something funny would come to me and it did — the night before at the superhero-themed party. That meant that I could relax and because I could relax more, that helped the audience relax. It all came together very nicely. I felt quite comfortable in delivering it and used stories to link back to my main point.
Leadership impact
I used to be more rushed when I spoke but because I felt more relaxed and confident, I slowed down. I could pause, think and talk at the same time… For me there’s a balance between having enough structure to what you’re saying to keep the audience engaged, but also keep them fresh and interested. This means at the end, you actually don’t want to come off the stage and you feel you have more to offer.
[In the past] I’d have been happy to get down from the stage.
This time I was able to notice the audience more. It’s hard to explain, but when you connect like that, it’s like you can feel what they feel through the noise in the room, the laughing, and see how attentive they are. Now I’m conscious never to go over time with my speeches, in fact going under time is often better.
When I got down from the stage I was bombarded with questions from people about my speech — so all very good signs that it had landed.
My CEO told me that the speech was ‘so slow and clear’. A senior leader who’d nominated me to speak said, ‘I had no idea you were that funny.’
Chris Litchfield on how stories are essential to his leadership toolkit
Case Study: Dr Lisa O'Brien
CEO, The Smith Family
[The program] was incredibly effective and has absolutely enhanced my ability to engage people with storytelling. That is now part of my communication toolbox.
We engage our donors in a number of different ways. We’ve focused on how effective our work is, and the measurable differences that we are making for young people at scale. This engages the head, but it’s the stories of individuals that engage the heart.
It’s quite hard to create a tangible experience for our potential donors. It’s not like we can take a donor inside the lived experience of a child growing up in poverty … It’s individual parents and families and children talking about their experiences. Stories can bring them to life and this is an important part of me in terms of communicating the work that The Smith Family does.
[The program] helped engagement and my impact on the organisation [especially during] our regular strategy road shows. I think people felt more connected to me and felt my strong connection to the organisation.
For me personally, a story makes me more three-dimensional and a more credible communicator. It helps me be warmer, more authentic and emotionally engaging. I actually think it’s helped me be more relaxed.
Case Study: Dr Terri Janke
Lawyer & Founder
[When preparing for a Ted Talk] Claire took me through the process of helping me understand how to stay on that one message, writing and rewriting the talk and suggesting I practise in front of a test audience.
I always find these things a challenge and personally feel I was stretched and that’s just made me stronger. I certainly think I am now more vocal.
No longer need notes
Now when I have to speak I don’t worry if I am nervous. Working on the talk let me see how I can reflect on my achievements and see my accomplishments.
Dig deep
Claire’s suggestions helped me so much. She really encouraged me to dig deep and connect my knowledge of intellectual property with my own personal stories.
This meant that I was able to really connect with the audience.