The Art of Storytelling to Engage Your Team (With Teri Kingston)

02/18/25 • 19 min

Teri Kingston, founder and CEO of Real Impact Speaking and TEDx coach, shares her entrepreneurial journey and the importance of storytelling in leadership. She emphasizes continuous learning in marketing and public speaking. Teri recounts her transition from volunteer coaching to a paid business model, guided by a business coach's advice, and underscores storytelling's role in team building and corporate culture, drawing on her work with the Ottawa Police Services and refugee organizations. She urges leaders to develop storytelling skills to enhance team communication and influence.

Action Items

-Incorporate storytelling in to corporate messing regularly

-Consider training for leaders to use storytelling more effectively to engage their teams

-Become a "story nerd," using books, courses, and coaches for skill development.

Outline

Journey and Early Lessons

-Teri discusses the challenges of self-leadership as an entrepreneur, sharing insights on promoting and firing herself.

-She highlights the need for continuous learning, particularly in marketing.

Transitioning to a Business Model

-Teri explains her shift from unpaid coaching to a thriving business, spurred by advice to value her skills.

-She values follow-ups with past TEDx speakers to gauge their growth and impact.

-Christi relates, appreciating the value of paid expertise.

Storytelling in Leadership

-Teri emphasizes storytelling as vital for team building and cultural shifts, citing work with OPS and refugee organizations.

-She advises leaders to use storytelling to articulate vision and manage change effectively.

Overcoming Nerves in Public Speaking

-Teri identifies common speaker challenges like nerves and preparation, offering strategies to overcome them.

-She mentions her joy in seeing speakers grow and an upcoming workshop focused on managing anxiety.

-Through coaching, speakers discover personal growth and untapped capabilities.

Practical Storytelling Tips

-Teri advises leaders to recognize communication skills as valuable workplace tools.

-She recommends resources like Matthew Dicks’ teachings and encourages capturing everyday stories for presentations.

-Authenticity and vulnerability are key to building audience connections.

Storytelling for Employee Engagement

-Storytelling boosts engagement and helps leaders communicate succinctly in meetings.

-Teri recounts a team’s success in using storytelling to convey their message effectively.

-Christi acknowledges the need for practice in integrating storytelling.

Resources for Aspiring Storytellers

-Teri urges leaders to become "story nerds," suggesting books, courses, and hiring coaches for skill development.

-She and Christi highlight Teri’s book as a valuable resource for listeners.

-Teri expresses gratitude for the conversation and opportunity to share her expertise.

Useful Links

Host: Christi's Web Page

Guest: Real Impact Speaking

Teri’s Book: Get Ready for TED When TED is Ready for YOU!

Lighthouse NINE Group: Web page

Matthew Dicks: Making Stories Come Alive

Contributors

Music: All The Fixings by Zachariah Hickman

Editing: tribe74

Action Items

-Incorporate storytelling in to corporate messing regularly

-Consider training for leaders to use storytelling more effectively to engage their teams

-Become a "story nerd," using books, courses, and coaches for skill development.

Outline

Journey and Early Lessons

-Teri discusses the challenges of self-leadership as an entrepreneur, sharing insights on promoting and firing herself.

-She highlights the need for continuous learning, particularly in marketing.

Transitioning to a Business Model

-Teri explains her shift from unpaid coaching to a thriving business, spurred by advice to value her skills.

-She values follow-ups with past TEDx speakers to gauge their growth and impact.

-Christi relates, appreciating the value of paid expertise.

Storytelling in Leadership

-Teri emphasizes storytelling as vital for team building and cultural shifts, citing work with OPS and refugee organizations.

-She advises leaders to use storytelling to articulate vision and manage change effectively.

Overcoming Nerves in Public Speaking

-Teri identifies common speaker challenges like nerves and preparation, offering strategies to overcome them.

-She mentions her joy in seeing speakers grow and an upcoming workshop focused on managing anxiety.

-Through coaching, speakers discover personal growth and untapped capabilities.

Practical Storytelling Tips

-Teri advises leaders to recognize communication skills as valuable workplace tools.

-She recommends resources like Matthew Dicks’ teachings and encourages capturing everyday stories for presentations.

-Authenticity and vulnerability are key to building audience connections.

Storytelling for Employee Engagement

-Storytelling boosts engagement and helps leaders communicate succinctly in meetings.

-Teri recounts a team’s success in using storytelling to convey their message effectively.

-Christi acknowledges the need for practice in integrating storytelling.

Resources for Aspiring Storytellers

-Teri urges leaders to become "story nerds," suggesting books, courses, and hiring coaches for skill development.

-She and Christi highlight Teri’s book as a valuable resource for listeners.

-Teri expresses gratitude for the conversation and opportunity to share her expertise.

Useful Links

Host: Christi's Web Page

Guest: Real Impact Speaking

Teri’s Book: Get Ready for TED When TED is Ready for YOU!

Lighthouse NINE Group: Web page

Matthew Dicks: Making Stories Come Alive

Contributors

Music: All The Fixings by Zachariah Hickman

Editing: tribe74

Previous Episode

Servitude to Connect People to Your Vision (with Bryan Clayton)

Bryan Clayton, CEO of GreenPal, joins Host Christi Scarrow and discusses his journey from realizing his initial leadership failures to understanding the importance of self-improvement and genuine care for employees, emphasizing that leadership is about servitude. He highlights the necessity of investing in company culture and the importance of being authentic and present and shares that it took him seven years to recognize and address this, stressing that leadership is a continuous learning process and advises new leaders to embrace the challenge, seek improvement, and that leadership is a lifelong journey.

Action Items

-Read books, attend leadership conferences and listen to podcasts on leadership to continuously learn and improve.

-Be the role model as a leader. Your actions and enthusiasm will help people to connect to your vision.

-Embrace leadership as an act of servitude. Truly care about your people and help to get to where they want to go in life.

Outline

Early Leadership Realizations

-Bryan shares an early career pivotal moment when he realized his leadership was lacking, feeling like a victim and blaming others.

-He had a wake-up call that his company's issues were a reflection of his own leadership and personality.

-He emphasizes the importance of self-improvement to improve the business, a process that took him seven years to understand.

Developing Leadership Skills

-Bryan explains that leadership is about servitude and caring for the people working with him.

-He emphasizes the need to genuinely care about employees' personal lives and how the company fits into their goals.

-He describes the long-term effort required to build a positive company culture, which took about three years to notice significant improvements.

Signs of a Toxic Culture

-Bryan suggests that if the founder doesn't want to go to work, it indicates a problem.

-He advises making hard changes, including letting go of certain customers or employees and rebuilding the business from the inside out.

-He stresses the importance of enthusiasm and being willing to make tough decisions to turn things around.

Pulse-Checking Employee Morale

-Bryan recommends internal surveys and customer reviews as valuable feedback sources.

-He notes that body language and overall attitude in the workplace are also important indicators.

-He advises talking to employees and customers to understand what needs to change and improve.

Challenges of Modern Leadership

-Bryan shares his experience starting his second business, GreenPal, and the realization that leadership can't be half-assed.

-He emphasizes the need to lead by example, be the first in and last out, and take the mission seriously.

-He highlights that building a high-performance team requires full commitment and effort.

Importance of Connection and People

-Bryan agrees, stating that success is about everyone getting to the finish line together and feeling good about it.

-He emphasizes that life becomes unrewarding without the satisfaction of working with and connecting with others.

-He reiterates the need for leaders to be all-in and committed to their mission.

Advice for Struggling Leaders

-Bryan acknowledges that leadership is hard and not taught in schools or business programs.

-He advises recognizing that everyone starts as a bad leader and that it's a continuous journey of improvement.

-He encourages reading books, listening to podcasts, attending conferences, and embracing the never-ending process of leadership growth.

Final Thoughts and Encouragement

-Christi summarizes Bryan's advice and emphasizes the importance of humility and continuous learning. He agrees and encourages leaders to start their journey and be open to growth and challenges.

-He highlights that leadership is a rewarding and satisfying experience when done well.

Useful Links

Host: Christi's Web Page

Guest: GreenPal

Lighthouse NINE Group: Web page

Contributors

Music: All The Fixings by Zachariah Hickman

Editing: tribe74

Next Episode

Building Trust by Walking Around (With David Singer)

David Singer, President of Thomas Large and Singer, emphasizes the importance of listening in leadership, drawing from his sales background. He stresses the value of patience and active listening to understand employee concerns, leading to better outcomes. Singer suggests focusing on building empathy in his employees, advocating for regular constructive feedback and trust-building through personal connections. He highlights the need for leaders to be approachable and present, balancing formal feedback tools with personal interactions. Singer underscores the significance of trust and humanity in fostering effective leadership and team alignment.

Action Items

-Provide constructive feedback to managers regularly.
-Carve out time to walk around and build trust with employees through personal conversations.
-Use 360-degree reviews and external leadership training to improve leadership skills.
-Develop emotional intelligence and self-awareness in high-performing team members lacking these skills.

Outline

The Importance of Active Listening

-David Singer shares advice from a manager to use the "two ears, one mouth" rule, emphasizing listening.
-He stresses the need to be patient and listen fully to employees to avoid misguided solutions., noting that leaders often know less about specific issues and should let employees communicate.
-He highlights waiting through pauses to gather more information and admits to working on patience daily.

Influencing Change and Building Trust

-David suggests writing thoughts down to improve focus and creating a safe space for employees to share openly.
-He notes that driving change requires understanding root issues and listening to all perspectives.
-Specifically he shares that credibility is key and rushing into solutions can harm trust.

Managing Talented and Building Empathy

-David shares the need to build empathy in employees; with less focus on driving performance.
-He discusses providing regular constructive feedback and managing by walking around.
-He recommends HR tools like 360-degree feedback reports help evaluate leadership and having a balance between personal connections with formalized feedback tools.

Hybrid Work and Leadership

-Singer acknowledges hybrid work challenges and emphasizes relationship-building.
-He discusses using tools like 360-degree feedback and external training to maintain rapport and understand employee needs.

Advice for Struggling Managers

-David advises struggling managers to build trust and foster humanity in leadership.
-He emphasizes the importance of personal connections and creating a safe space for employees are key.
-Christi thanks David for sharing insights on building trust and humanity in leadership.

Useful Links

Host: Christi's Web Page

Guest: Thomas, Large and Singer

Lighthouse NINE Group: Website

Contributors

Music: All The Fixings by Zachariah Hickman

Editing: tribe74