Understand – Engage – Connect
through
Stories.
Stories conjure our humanness, foster connection, and compel us.
At the very essence of all our work, there are stories.
From messaging, to requesting support, to engaging and connecting as a team, to telling who we are now and where we are headed, we are telling stories everyday.
Yet what makes a story engaging? What makes someone want to listen? What makes our message really land? What makes us memorable?
Leigh works with individuals, groups, and communities to:
- Identify the stories they want to tell
- Feel empowered to access their innate storytelling ability
- Claim the space to share these tales with one another and therein develop their stories, shared understanding, and connection
Her storytelling trainings are crafted to achieve a group’s specific goals from honing messaging to building a team ethic.
Leigh highly values this component of her work for she has witnessed how these events help participants feel empowered to bring more of their full selves to their work together and support one another in doing the same.
Contact Leigh for individual story coaching, to craft a workshop for your group, or to plan a storytelling event for your community.
Example Recordings and Press from Storytelling Workshops and Events
Below you will find footage and press from recent storytelling workshops and events. These workshops and events were designed for participants interested in working on developing their storytelling capacity and for communities taking the time and making the space to hear one another’s stories.
Ways to Work with Leigh and Stories
Leigh works with individuals, groups, and communities delving into stories. Below are examples of reasons individuals and groups contact Leigh.
Engage with Leigh in Individualized Storytelling Consultations and Coaching to:
- Practice and embolden your innate storytelling ability
- Prepare for an upcoming talk or presentation
- Develop ways to integrate storytelling practice into your work week and your life
- Hone how you express your business or organization’s mission, vision, and message
Hold a Storytelling Training for your Group to:
- Foster understanding across roles
- Strengthen your organizational message
- Prepare for developing a video, marketing materials, or a social media messaging campaign
- Demonstrate and magnify your grant’s impact
- Foster shared clarity during times of transition
- Make your strategic planning effort an active, alive process
- Build a team ethic of understanding, collaboration, and engagement
- Enhance community engagement and support the development of a culture of understanding
- Humanize your pitch, your ask, your elevator speech
- Create a training unique to you
Plan a Storytelling Event for Your Community to:
- Be a community that takes the time and makes the space to learn one another’s stories
- Support a culture of understanding
- Enhance your collective knowing of your community’s sense of place, history, and values
- Engage in a really fun evening together that can become an annual event for your community
Testimonials from Storytelling Trainings
“So much was covered in such a deliberate manner that it will be easy to put into practice. One of the best workshops I have attended.”
-Participant evaluation from a storytelling workshop
“It was an incredibly powerful experience to hear about how this program we’ve been running actually impacts people. I felt empowered by learning from our shared untold stories.”
“[The training] brought us closer together and really highlighted the strength and growth of our department.”
“Very informative and educational and much humor.”
“Learning how to tell a story better…how to take the story and expand it to make a better story.”
-Participant evaluations from a training held by a community sharing with one another the impact of a grant
“I articulated my story in a way I had never done so before – I’ve thought about it but never told it out loud. I found this challenging – in a good way!”
“Wonderful experience, foundational and deep. I’ll carry this with me into my work. Invaluable.”
-Participant evaluation from a storytelling workshop
“[The most valuable part of this training was] hearing about the struggles of other organizations (and people) to tell impactful stories, inspiration drawn from thinking about WHY we need/want to tell these stories, HOW we tell them, and what kinds of actions we want from telling them.”
“[The most valuable part of this training was] understanding how to craft/shape a story to make an emotional impact.”
-Participant evaluations from a training held for non-profit leaders from organizations throughout Maine
“Loved the interactivity”
“In a short amount of time I developed an impactful story about me and my business that will serve me well in networking and when giving presentations. And it was fun, enjoyable, inspiring, and so helpful. Thank you!”
“This workshop will forever change the way you approach your story, your marketing, and maybe even your life. Could not recommend it enough!”
“Down and dirty, passionate, fun, vulnerable, and productive – all of this came up for me and more during this workshop. I want more!”
“I nailed a personal “why” story which is great! My other story has always been the “how” story.”
“The workshop has completely changed my perception of how to talk about my work…I’m stoked for this new approach to open my talks and do my networking spiel!”
“Totally empowered and inspired! Thank you!”
-Participant evaluations from a cross-sector training held for entrepreneurs,
small business owners, nonprofits, and for-profits
“The high point for me was watching people get nervous but somehow bring their stories to life and I appreciated the courageous people in here who shared their personal stories even though it was hard.”
“I learned that in order to make friends and learn about the world around you, you need to open up!”
What have you learned? “To value my voice/story and that others care and will listen.”
–Participant evaluations of a training held for high school students to share the impact of a grant funding a mentorship program
“I was impressed with how interactive and lively the training was!”
-Participant evaluation from a grant recipient training on how to incorporate storytelling into the grant process to magnify impact
“I was amazed to hear three peers being able to tell diverse but spell-binding stories so well after such a short time with instructions and practice.”
-Participant evaluation from a storytelling workshop
Leigh Tillman Facilitation 