I’ve helped thousands of customers tell better stories. I’ve worked with designers, broadcasters, academics, entrepreneurs and students. Here are just a few of their stories.

Stories that connect people

Myron Parks bought a deck of Storyteller Tactics cards to improve the way his software development teams show off their work to others inside their company. Despite the fact they were all working remotely, Myron noticed an immediate change the moment he started using stories. Go deeper into Myron’s story here.

Stories that jump off the screen

An Estonian company wanted to show off their soundproof office pods to potential customers. Halfway through our consultation I said “Don’t just tell me how good the sound-proofing is. How can you show me?”

“We could play music on a speaker,” they said.

“Hmmm, it’s not really working over Zoom,” I said. “Isn’t there something more physical?”

A week later, the Silen cowbell test was born. Watch the video: seeing and hearing is believing!

Now every time you hear a cowbell ringing in the Silen office, you know someone is making a sale. “If you want your brand and it’s story to be remembered,” says Henriko, the Global Account Manager at Silen, “then Steve is the right person to go to.”

Stories that explain complex ideas

Trinity College Dublin is one of Europe’s oldest universities and one of my oldest clients. I help their academics explain cutting edge research – from astrophysics to zoology – to a wider audience. During the pandemic, I coached a Trinity team who were bidding for a €10m research grant.

They got the money.

Sarah Nangle, the ERC research project officer at Trinity says “Steve’s training is highly accessible and professionally delivered. We continue to recommend his services to other research groups and organisations.”

Stories that keep working

I designed a series of training materials for Ezra Rushen at Digital Advantage, a company teaching startup skills to school age kids. Sometimes I go into those classrooms as a teacher: I like to check my methods really work. And I figure that if you can work with moody teenagers, you can work with anyone!

I even gave Ezra and his colleagues their unofficial motto. The moral of a Rags to Riches story (the young entrepreneur’s favourite) is “Hidden talent, revealed”. And that’s what Digital Advantage does every time they work with young people.

Stories that sell

I’ve worked with Anu-Mall at Estonia’s Marketingi Instituut since 2018. She helps companies in Estonia’s dynamic tech sector, engineering and food brands increase their exports all over the world. I show these companies how to use stories from the first cold call to the perfect pitch.

In 2020, in the middle of the pandemic, Anu invited me to help dozens of Ukrainian export consultants. Despite the Russian invasion, we’ve kept on working with our Ukrainian friends, helping them keep their businesses alive.

Stories act as “social proof”

Imagine you’re in a crowded shopping centre. Suddenly, you hear a fire alarm going off. What do you do? Well, truth is, you don’t immediately start making for the nearest fire exit.

You look at other people first.

If everyone is running for the exit, you’ll run too. If they’re ignoring the alarm, so will you. This is called “social proof”. When we’re not sure what to do, we look at other people.

Your stories are social proof. If you want us to trust you, show how you’ve helped other people.

I have over 50 personal recommendations here on LinkedIn. They are my social proof. Get some tips on writing your own Social Proof stories here.