What Our Clients Are Saying

“Typically, in large groups at conferences, I’m skeptical of table discussions and the lasting benefit of them. I’ve forgotten nearly all of them over the years. Not so with Esther Choy. She led a group of 200 or so conference attendees on a journey about using storytelling in our professional toolkit. What was really magical were the questions she asked, the conversations they provoked and then the perspective that complete strangers added to them. Take a bio of ourselves: it feels immodest to talk about ourselves in too glowing fashion. Bios often feel like a chronological catalog, sprinkled with some accomplishments, and capped off with our educational credentials. It was powerful to be at a table full of strangers and then feel like I knew them in a novel and compelling way — and how they did so describing me! This exercise will help us professionally while also enabling us to learn about each other. As I mentioned at our opening event, stories are a powerful part of our learning year. This is our chance to develop the most critical one: the story of YOU.”

“Being a certified story facilitator has brought meaning to my professional relationships, allowing me to support others in their personal journey and find new perspectives in life.”

“At the Tobias Leadership Center, we have always said that strengthening your storytelling and delivery skills will make you a better leader. Last year, we embarked on a journey to find a facilitator for our November Tobias Fellows program retreat that would help the Fellows learn how to craft and deliver a story and talk about WHY that is an important skill for any leader. Esther Choy and Reena Kansal were the perfect facilitator team for our daylong focus on leadership storytelling! Esther and Reena guided our Fellows through the methodology of constructing a story for maximum impact and the actionable resources we received at the session (IRS, 10-10-10, and PREP) provided each participant with the necessary skills to immediately tell better stories. We look forward to a long partnership with Leadership Story Lab.”

“What’s your story? Are you the hero? At the recent Purposeful Planning Institute 2023 Rendezvous, we explored the Joy of Connection – Cultivating Possibilities. I’m so grateful to Esther Choy, author of “Let the Story do the Work” and our kick-off plenary speaker, for the thoughtful and impactful storytelling workshop she facilitated to bring our theme to life. Esther encouraged us to get vulnerable and connect by sharing our important character traits and experiences in small assigned table groups. We then had the pleasure of leveraging the treasures we mined to introduce someone at our table that we just met. WOW! Esther, what an incredibly bonding and meaningful experience. Thank you!”

“The workshop helped me discover something about myself that I didn’t know I was capable of doing…Telling a story and writing a story. Esther broke down the process in a way that was easy to understand and made it less overwhelming.”

“This book has taken on permanent residence on my bookshelf. So many of these chapters resonated with me, as they caused me to focus on the people in my life that have made an impact on me, that have caused me to pause, and/or those that have moved/persuaded me. These are the people I would like to emulate. I am a work in progress, but I am grateful for the tools within this book that allowed me the opportunity to find value in, and focus on, both my story and my company’s story in an effort to more effectively ‘Let The Story Do the Work!'”

“Kwik Lok worked with Esther and her team at Leadership Story Lab to prepare for our annual corporate retreat.  We were unable to meet in person and had to meet virtually. This made it even more important for us to develop engaging content that helped us connect despite the distance.  Leadership Story Lab helped us each to use the IRS method in developing our own engaging stories with confidence. We had a big, “ah ha” moment when we learned that showing the struggle in our storytelling is extremely powerful and is what makes us relatable.

Esther and Reena are excellent listeners. Their insightful coaching helped each member of our team find their unique voice and feel more confident in their delivery. In addition, they also helped us build connections between each other’s message which made our retreat more engaging and effective.

We all plan to keep asking great questions and to continue refining our stories for use at future conferences and in work with our employees.”

“My greatest takeaway was the IRS structure. What surprised me was the in-depth coaching and feedback from Esther in a small group and one-to-one setting. Esther guides with depth and clarity. Since the course, I have coached a leader to use the IRS structure to tell a personal story at an organisational event. Her story was a hit. I’ve used the paired introduction exercise with groups who have loved it. I’m looking forward to reaching more hearts and minds with what I’ve learned through this course.”

“Our members’ creations became even more vibrant after learning from Esther Choy and her team how to tell the stories behind our artwork . We were able to stir thought-provoking discussion and inspire other artists through by using the techniques Esther taught us. Customers are more interested, too.”

“You were open and free, and poured out nuggets to help me reach closer to my destination of becoming a storyteller. Every day in every way I am getting better and better, especially when beautiful souls like yourself extend themselves to lift fellow travelers. ”