Class Details
Business Storytelling Course: Communicating with Impact
Course summary
In a hyper-connected world of information, fuelled by fake news and AI-generated content, stories can provide a powerful means to cut through and connect with your audience.
This course equips you with tools and techniques that will help you to communicate with confidence, clarity and authenticity using impactful storytelling across a range of professional contexts.
From informal daily communications to large, high-profile engagements, storytelling can be used to translate complex information or dry content into memorable, motivational messages that resonate.
We offer a practical framework for crafting and delivering purposeful stories aligned to strategic objectives and outcomes in your workplace.
Aims
This course aims to increase your confidence in crafting and delivering authentic, engaging, and impactful communications. By the end of the course, you should feel empowered to channel your voice and share stories with purpose and intent. We will provide you with tools and techniques that can help you achieve that.
Learning outcomes
By the end of this course, you should be able to:
- understand when, why and how to use storytelling in your daily communication
- structure stories in an effective way that gets your intended message across
- deliver stories in a captivating and impactful manner
- apply storytelling in real workplace scenarios, including:
- presentations and keynotes
- team briefings and leadership communication
- stakeholder engagement and change initiatives
- client interactions and sales conversations
- build a storytelling mindset that enhances team culture and communication effectiveness
- stand in front of a room or camera and deliver a powerful, captivating message.
Content
The course has been structured into four parts, starting with theory to help build understanding and awareness, and discerning when and how to use stories in professional contexts.
Part 1: Why storytelling works
- How stories work and why they resonate with us
- Storytelling and business
- Communication and learning styles
Part 2: How to craft stories that resonate
- When to use stories
- Pitching for the right audience
- Constructing a compelling narrative
- Developing an authentic storytelling approach
Part 3: Using stories in different scenarios
- Building rapport and a personal connection
- Using lessons learned to establish credibility and foster growth
- Shifting mindsets and influencing change
- Bringing people together and inspiring alignment with a vision, mission or values
Part 4: Putting things into practice
Developing and applying storytelling techniques for opening presentations with impact
Who this course is for
Suitable for professionals in leadership, project management, client-facing, communications, HR, change, or business development roles, including emerging leaders, who want to:
- engage others more effectively
- communicate complex ideas with clarity
- build buy-in and trust
- influence outcomes without relying on authority.
Prerequisites
None
Delivery style
Practical workshop which includes:
- real-world business case studies
- story crafting frameworks and exercises
- theory application
- partner and small group activities
- peer feedback and coaching.
Delivery modes
- Face-to-face, presenter-taught training
- Online training via the platform Zoom
Materials
Course materials are provided electronically using Dropbox.
Sessions
Location
Online via Zoom
Other information
Our online via Zoom courses are interactive and delivered in real-time. You will have the chance to ask questions and join in activities, just as you would in any in-person class.
Our facilitators are well versed in Zoom delivery and will skillfully guide you in your online learning journey.
Instructions regarding how to connect to online classes will be sent to participants about 4 days before the class commences.
Meet the facilitators
Jaclyn Knight
Jaclyn is a consultant specialising in open innovation and participatory design, with more than 20 years of experience across diverse sectors. She has designed and delivered cutting-edge projects for large multinational organisations, as well as start-ups and emerging not-for-profit organisations.
What sets Jaclyn apart is her proven ability to bring creativity and agility to projects, foster collaborative partnerships, and unite diverse teams to tackle complex challenges. Highlights of her work include co-creating innovative mobility services for citizens in Detroit; using financial innovation to address sustainable development goals; creating future-focused strategies to engage customers and stakeholders in long-term planning; and helping start-ups conceptualise and communicate compelling value propositions.
She is an experienced facilitator and delivers programs for clients in the private and education sectors in the areas of innovation, design thinking, social marketing, consumer behaviour and creative advertising development.
Her qualifications include a Bachelor of Professional Writing and Communication from the University of South Australia; a Master of Business Administration (MBA); and a Master of Communication for Social Change from the University of Queensland (UQ). She also holds a Certificate IV in Public Participation from the International Association of Public Participation (IAP2). Jaclyn is a member of the UQ Bachelor of Design Industry Advisory Group and has been a guest lecturer and mentor for the UQ MBA Program.
