I’ve never considered myself a generalist trainer – being focused specifically on my storytelling for presentations and business communication work – but the same principles of session planning applied when I developed a programme for Voluntary Arts England
I’ve recently joined networking group Women Outside the Box, and already been invited to provide an article for the website which is packed full of starter advice for setting up in business, and insider views on a range of issues. Naturally my article is about story-led presentations.
I probably shouldn’t have favourite clients, but when Philippa began our coaching sessions together by saying ‘I want to become a presenter that could get invited to give a TED talk’ I knew we were going to have fun working together.
So much of my work with story is focused on coaching people to swap corporate presentation styles for structured storytelling, that I rarely focus on performance. I often find myself explaining that if anything, coaching is more rewarding than composing and performing my own works. Working with other people, you see transformation quickly, and that is highly gratifying.
One of the advantages of a portfolio career is that occasionally it is possible to plan time around exploring the edges of that portfolio. From my long term hobby interest in festival scale Live Role Play, and extensive professional interest in audience development, it is perhaps no wonder that Immersive Theatre is an area of practice that intrigues me.
It is hugely exciting when a client you haven’t worked with for a while makes a recommendation. Even more exciting when the piece of work turns to be one on one coaching for a senior executive which is among my favourite ways to work.
I love working with Graduate Trainees.
When you work in fundraising, sometimes it is the big bids that dominate. Today on the other hand, I’m enjoying reflecting on change, organisation, evaluation and what a difference it can make to the ongoing, day to day work of a fundraiser.
I first saw the show that inspired this tour in one of the smaller out of the way tents at Festival at the Edge, just after I returned from America. ‘The Elephant Story’ stood out, because it is rare in the UK to see stage performances of historical fiction, and even rarer to see them done well.
Working a Bank Holiday weekend isn’t too bad when it involves a trip to the Ancient Technology Centre in Dorset, which boasts a roundhouse purpose built for storytelling amongst its cluster of buildings.
