Esther Choy, Author at Leadership Story Lab

The Spirit Hunters: Interview with author Alina Choy Krieg (my daughter!)

You know the old adage, “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree,” but I would like to add that the tree cannot predict which way the apple will roll. My eldest child, Alina, is such an apple. From board books with open flaps, graphic novels with tantalizing visual details, to multipart modern Greek mythology,…

Creating A Leadership Origin Story with Malika Amandi of Center for Women’s Voice

I am always on the lookout for great examples of business stories. One genre of business stories is the origin story. Good origin stories tell the audience and potential client the WHY behind your business. A great origin story does so with an emotional hook. As Simon Sinek states in his famous TED Talk about…

A Great Mentor Unlocks the Power of Leadership Storytelling

A key part of being a great workplace mentor is helping your mentees to learn to represent themselves—at work, during interviews, at client meetings, etc. As mentors, we know the value they bring to the table, their skill, and their character. But oftentimes, people at the beginning—or even the middle—of their career path don’t always…

Audience Awareness: 3 Communication Strategies Leaders Can Learn from Poetry

For many people, poetry brings back the memory of being in seventh grade English when they were taught to try to solve the riddle of a poem: the meaning was hidden within the strange and complex syntax of a poem and you had to figure it out in order to get an A on the…

3 Communication Strategies Business Leaders Can Learn from Poetry

As discussed in my recent Forbes article, poets use impactful communication strategies that can be adopted by business leaders looking to connect with their audiences in meaningful ways. Beyond paying attention to the power of the image, poets also pay attention to music of language and have a keen awareness of their audience that includes…

Why Storytelling Matters at Work: Interview with Historia Academy Founder

As you read this interview with my friend and colleague Artem Mushin-Makedonskiy, you will notice that he references how he entered into the storytelling world by reaching out to professional storytellers and interviewing them on YouTube. I was one of the people he reached out to, and to be quite honest, I read his first…

How To Communicate Complex Information: 4 Strategies

Industries like Fintech is notoriously complex. With new digital currency comes new digital tools and terms that can be hard to explain. Terms like blockchain, NFTs, cryptocurrency can leave a lot of people who are not in the industry scratching their heads. What if it was your job to explain these nuanced and technical terms…

3 Tenets To Unlock The Power Of Persuasive Storytelling

Shawn is sitting in a presentation about how her company is going to improve client experience next quarter. It’s important that she takes in the information because she’s going to have to share it with her direct reports and help them adopt the new goals and strategies. However, the VP sharing the changes and the…

The Leadership Storytelling Secrets That Keep Audiences Riveted

Authentic persuasion requires leaders to have relevant and compelling stories on hand. Stories not only create stronger bonds with your audience, they also make information more memorable. To create stories quickly, stories should follow a basic story structure. At Leadership Story Lab, we call it the “IRS” model: I – Intriguing beginning R – Riveting…

Why We Need Stories Along With Data: War in Ukraine Shows

As the war continues in Ukraine, people are brainstorming ways to help. Matching programs to raise funds. Divesting from Russian companies. It all feels like a drop in the bucket as the refugee crisis balloons. The daily updates are overwhelming and hard to conceptualize: 90% of Mariupol city has been destroyed by Russian airstrikes with…