Esther Choy, Author at Leadership Story Lab

5 Tips for Asking for a Major Gift

You’re about to step up and speak to your supporters at your organization’s annual fundraising gala. You’re about to issue a “call for cash”—asking attendees to give anywhere from $1,000 to $25,000 more. Last year, the gala’s donations fell shy of the targets, so the pressure is on. How do you ask for a major…

Visuals In Presentations: Save the Best for Never

Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos has banned PowerPoint in executive meetings since 2004. And with good reason. Around that time, the data visualization pioneer Edward Tufte warned his readers about PowerPoint. “Power corrupts,” he said. “PowerPoint corrupts absolutely.” Maybe humans just can’t be trusted under the influence of Microsoft’s presentation design program. But what…

In-house Lawyers Need Stories: Esther Talks with ACC Docket

Lawyers are masterful storytellers. Some of the best-known books, movies and TV shows center around courtroom dramas—from Erin Brockovich to The Rainmaker to Law & Order. But, says Noah Webster of ACC Docket, “storytelling can be forgotten when writing pre-trial legal briefs, especially concerning routine issues.” In this interview with ACC Docket, Esther and Noah…

How To Use Storytelling In Interviews

Esther has often advised people to tell well-crafted, relevant stories during job interviews. Storytelling in interviews is a way to illustrate your character and let employers know that your character as well as your qualifications makes you a great fit for the job. Esther once gave this advice to Rissa Reddan, and during leadership storytelling…

Be the First Rate Version of Your (Introvert) Self

Judy Garland once said, “Always be a first rate version of yourself, and not a second rate version of someone else.” It’s good advice. But for introverts, it can be tough to follow. Every day, we have to perform tasks that seem like they were tailor-made for extroverts. We have to go to networking events.…

Storytelling: More Than Entertainment

My husband Bernhard grew up skiing. Now that he has his own family, he wanted skiing to be part of his family traditions. The only problem was, I didn’t grow up skiing and the one time I tried it when I was a teenager I hated it. And. One more problem. Neither of our girls…

My All Time Favorite Storyteller

Today, March 20, is World Storytelling Day! To celebrate, each member of our team shares their favorite storyteller: the person whose masterful storytelling enriches our lives and workplaces. Esther Choy, President & Chief Story Facilitator Favorite Storyteller #1: Justin B. Craig, Family Enterprise Professor at Kellogg As someone with over 30 years of experience…

How Female Leaders Can Tell Better Stories About Themselves

“Women tend to be less comfortable with self-promotion — and more likely to be criticized when they do grab the spotlight,” reported Susan Chira in the New York Times in July 2017, after extensive interviews that included many CEOs and would-be CEOs. Self-promotion is a delicate balance. But the alternative—hoping accomplishments speak for themselves…

3 Business Storytelling Opportunities You’re Probably Missing

Interact with any child for even thirty minutes, and you will immediately hear how they tell stories about their day. Or they’ll tell you made up stories about some fantasy world. Sharing stories is the most natural human thing to do. But somewhere on the way to adulthood, we suppress this natural tendency at the…

Finding Story Themes

Have you ever felt a little, well, lost when someone starts to tell you about something that happened to them? Maybe you were expecting a story, and instead, the person starts to ramble? That’s because a lot of people mistake recounting events for telling stories, says Esther in this conversation with Kathleen Buczko on…