Storytelling School

I’m getting buzzed with a text message from my friend Mike. 

Kymberlee, you’ve got to check out this newsletter!

My inbox is already overflowing, so the last thing I need is another newsletter on my to-read list. Thanks for thinking of me, I let Mike know.

This is different! It’s micro content which is exactly how you teach. 

He knows I’m always talking about short-form storytelling and how it’s a superpower.

So I check this must-see newsletter out. And wow! Not only do I read the entire thing in just a few minutes, the content is riveting, incredibly valuable, and actionable. Plus, I find myself chomping at the bit to put into practice what I’m reading right then.

In this week’s episode on the Storytelling School Podcast, I speak with the man behind that incredible newsletter content. Eddie Shleyner is a copywriter, marketer, storyteller, and one of the only newsletter writers in my inbox that I make sure to read every single time. So if you’re curious to know:

Besides story, what are the other elements that make up a micro article? Why does storytelling work so well in copywriting? Why does vivid imagery in writing have such a powerful influence on people?

Then tune in as you hear about the power of realism in writing, vivid imagery from a dentist that makes a lesson really stick in the mind, and how Breaking Bad and Raymond Carver’s short story “Cathedral” demonstrate some of the most popular and effective storytelling techniques out there.

What you will learn in this episode:

• How to cut out extra, unnecessary detail in your stories
• Why opening in the middle is the best way to start a story
• What “zero endings” are and their purpose in storytelling

Who is Eddie?

Eddie Shleyner is the founder of Very Good Copy (VGC), a blog and newsletter about copywriting and creativity. He used to serve as the former Copy Chief at G2.com for three years where he worked with a world-class marketing team. He was even named “Marketing MVP of the Year” for the company shortly before it announced its Series D $1.1 billion funding valuation in June 2021.

Eddie left G2 to continue building VGC which has over 33,000 subscribers and garners approximately 100 more per day. Earlier this year, VGC won HackerNoon’s “Email Newsletter of the Year” award and was voted a “Top Voice” in Marketing and Advertising on LinkedIn. He’s also written copywriting columns for HubSpot, Forbes, and Hootsuite and is a guest lecturer at Boston University.

Links and Resources:

• Very Good Copy
• Cathedral by Raymond Carver
• Storytelling School Website
• @storytellingschool on Instagram
• @storytellingSchool on Facebook

I’m sitting alone in my car with the radio on. One of my favorite songs of all time begins to play. I start moving my head and tapping along with it on the steering wheel. Pretty soon, I can’t help myself: I’m belting out this song.

I look around to see if anyone notices me because I’m in the middle of traffic. I realize I don’t care, though. I love this song so much and am so in the moment that I’m even getting chills during certain parts of it!

Like stories, music has the power to take you to a place where you lose sense of time and space. My guest today knows that all too well. In fact, Rich Jacques is an award-winning producer and artist who’s spent his life creating songs and narratives that evoke all the emotions of the human experience.

In this episode, you’ll hear about REM and why literal meanings for songs aren’t necessary, the Brené Brown speech that caused her the most anxiety but also put her on the map, and get answers to questions like:

How do you bring stories to life through sound? Why can your relationship to storytelling be a daunting thing? And how can giving yourself permission push you past your writer’s block?

What you will learn in this episode:

• How true experiences affect the audience that hears your stories
• How shifting into first person or present tense can enhance your stories
• What critical piece is necessary for both telling and listening to stories

Who is Rich?

Rich Jacques is a Grammy-winning producer, songwriter, musician, and solo artist based in Santa Barbara, California.

Authenticity is a key factor that drives him. As a producer, Rich wants to get to the core of what makes each artist unique. Some of the notable artists he’s worked with include Maya Rudolph, Sarah Macdougal, Rob Giles, Colin Hay, Shane Alexander, and Lisa Loeb (Rich won his Grammy collaborating on her album Feel What U Feel).

As a songwriter, his music has been featured in commercials for Honda and Xbox as well as in movies and on TV shows. You can hear Rich’s work on productions like Grey’s Anatomy, The Fosters, Nashville, Pretty Little Liars, Heartland, Vampire Diaries, America’s Got Talent, The Breakup, All My Children, and so much more.

Links and Resources:

• Rich Jacques
• @richjacques on Instagram
• Rich Jacques on Spotify
• Rich’s co-writes/productions on Spotify
• Grendel by John Gardner
• Storytelling School Website
• @storytellingschool on Instagram
• @storytellingSchool on Facebook

It’s 7 o’clock in the morning in Des Moines, Iowa. I’m ready to give my first ever keynote speech. My hair and makeup are done and I’ve got my power dress on. I’m ready to dazzle!

Only one thing’s missing: my bulletproof matcha tea. It’s my magic elixir that’ll turn my speech from amazing to extraordinary. I gotta have it before I walk out of my hotel room.

So I take out my Ninja® blender I’ve brought all the way from California, put all the ingredients in it (hot water, matcha tea powder, high octane oil, and ghee/butter), push the lid down, start the engines, and--poof! Everything explodes out of the blender and this sticky green goo and splatters all over me, my dress, my hair, the walls, the keyboard… everywhere.

I’m freaking out when my husband Mark runs in from the other room. He tells me, “I’ve got this” and says he’ll remake my tea while I go shower, change, and get myself together again. So he too puts all the ingredients back into the blender, pushes the lid down... and the same thing happens all over again! Everything, including Mark, gets a fresh coating of green goo.

Naturally, I start freaking out even more. But we do our best with cleaning ourselves up and leave without my bulletproof matcha tea. Even though I feel like a mess (mentally and physically), I give the keynote speech in front of 4,000 people.

As we fly home after that experience, I plan to give the Ninja® blender people a piece of my mind, tell them their contraption doesn’t work, and send it back in the box it came from. But when I go to the garage to retrieve the box, I notice something. It says that it’s for cold ingredients only and meant for chopping ingredients. That’s why it kept exploding!

Whoops! As I always like to say, things will either go well or you’ll have a story to tell on the other side of it. 

If you want to get paid to speak (with or without a pre-speech disaster like I had that day), then tune in as Mark and I continue our series on storytelling today.

In this episode, I answer questions like:

What does getting paid to speak look like? What are the different ways you can get paid as a speaker? And how can you be as effective a speaker, thought leader, and storyteller as possible?

In this episode, I answer questions like:

What does getting paid to speak look like? What are the different ways you can get paid as a speaker? And how can you be as effective a speaker, thought leader, and storyteller as possible?

What you will learn in this episode:

• How to find more keynote speaking opportunities after you’ve landed the first
• How to reframe free speaking opportunities in your mind
• How to manufacture more opportunities once you’ve made the journey to speak in another city

A little about me:

Hi there. I’m Kymberlee.

As a Speaking Strategist and founder of Storytelling School, I’ve had the pleasure of working with over 500 speakers, business leaders, and entrepreneurs worldwide for over a decade. No matter if those folks were getting ready to take the TED or TEDx stage or preparing for a high-stakes presentation with everything on the line, my specialty is High Stakes Short Form Communication. I’ve seen what works when influencing change and what doesn’t. It turns out storytelling is one of the most powerful tools you can have in your arsenal. That’s why I’m building a movement of master storytellers to affect change in the world on a global scale to help people tell real stories that have influence and impact. With effective storytelling, you change people’s lives.

Since competition for potential client attention is fierce, a story can make the difference between being memorable or irrelevant. You’ll find me sharing my matcha tea mishap to discuss perfectionism, my quest for Bruce Lee and Hello Kitty art to explore kindness, or the six months of live blade training I underwent to illustrate presence. I spend my days showing the power of using stories to help cement ideas and bring lessons to life and teaching my clients to do the same.

If you think business owners can’t tell stories or don’t have stories to share with their clients, staff, donors, followers, or investors, I invite you to reconsider your perspective. There’s no better place than in business to tell your stories so audiences, no matter how big or small, can understand how you think and what you value.

Now it’s your turn... If you’re ready to become a master storyteller and effect change in our world, you’ve come to the right place.

Links and Resources:

• Storytelling School Website
• @storytellingschool on Instagram

I’m being recruited by colleges throughout the country as a high school softball pitcher. The NCAA rules say I can go on up to five paid recruiting trips. So I have to pick and choose - it’s a tough decision!

The first school has an incredible coach... but I’m not sure if it’s really a great fit for me. The second school I visit has a really strong team (and skiing which I love almost as much as softball)... but it’s very different from my SoCal roots.

Then I get approached by the University of Hawaii. They don’t really have a top five team, I know nobody there, and it’s really far away from home. But hello! It’s a paid trip to Hawaii! I’ve never been there, and I’m not about to turn down an opportunity to spend a weekend in the islands.

So off I go, and when I step off the plane, the smell of the air just hits me. The ocean view from my hotel room takes my breath away! It’s like nothing I’ve ever experienced before, and I make my decision then and there. I sign on the dotted line to play softball for the University of Hawaii.

As it turns out, I’d end up spending almost eight years living in Hawaii. And it probably never would have happened without that magnetic ocean view that captivated me.

My guest today has made a career of documenting and telling stories about the ocean and its challenges. Michael Hanrahan has such a love affair for the ocean that he’s spent 25 years involved with documentary films about it, working as an underwater camera operator in it, and even writing a fictional book about it!

If you’re curious to know:

What two elements at the center of storytelling develop trust between you and your audience? What critical role does research have in storytelling? And why is upsetting people not an effective path to inspiring them to act for change?

Then tune in as Michael and I discuss stories of Japanese bottle-nosed dolphins in distress, shark fin shenanigans and other perils of a Polynesian fisherman (past and present), and how it all ties into one of the main purposes of storytelling!

What you will learn in this episode:

• How to tell stories about the environment that’ll drive people to act
• How to approach sensitive topics in your storytelling
• Why an emotional response isn’t necessarily the last thing you want to leave your audience with

Who is Michael?

Michael Hanrahan displays a respect for the ocean and combines it with his desire to communicate the challenges it faces. He double-majored in marine science and motion picture film at the University of Miami and has been involved with ocean documentary films for the last 25 years. He spent the early part of his career traveling to every continent (except Antarctica) working as a lecturer and underwater camera operator for Jean-Michel Cousteau.

Next, Michael went on to mentor with Mike deGruy, a legend in the underwater and natural history documentary world. Together, they developed a filming strategy for a Discovery Channel production of the first video footage of the giant squid.

They were also involved in the production of a short film series for the National Science Foundation about the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and its environmental impacts in the Gulf of Mexico. A proposed film project in the works between them and James Cameron in 2011 was indefinitely suspended with the untimely death of deGruy in a helicopter accident in Australia.

Currently, Michael is the author of the environmental thriller The Last Extinction. It tells the story of an ancient table discovered in the Amazon rainforest that reveals the truth of the relationship between humanity and nature.

Links and Resources:

• The Cove on Tubi TV
• Earth Media Lab, LLC
• The Last Extinction
• Storytelling School Website
• @storytellingschool on Instagram
• @storytellingSchool on Facebook

I open an email from the creative director of a local theatre. In it, she’s asking me if I’d be willing to step in as the replacement lead in a two-person play… that opens in 10 days!

I take a look at the play and a couple of things immediately catch my attention. First, it includes Shakespeare. I’ve never done Shakespeare before. Second, it involves singing in multiple genres. The genres part? Cool. The singing? I don’t sing. And I would only have a few days to memorize this entire play and prepare to sing it in front of a live audience over multiple performances.

So of course, I respond, “Yes, I’ll do it!” And… at the same time, I think to myself, This is either going to go incredibly well or be a disaster. But either way, I’ll have a story to tell one day.

It’s one of those “Yes, and” moments of life, and my special guest Drew Boudreau knows all about it. In this episode, he and I explore the idea of character and different approaches to acting, a valuable lesson to learn from both Mike Trout’s MLB career and a high school director’s stunt, and more.

Are you curious to know:

What’s the difference between character work in Improv vs. other storytelling performance art forms? What’s one area of story and performance where adults can learn from musical theatre students? And how does showing up as your truest self make for the best life story you can give yourself?

Then enjoy as Drew graces the show with mic drop moments, humor, and great stories gleaned from his experience as an actor, educator, and absolute pro at Improv performance.

What you will learn in this episode:

• What essential element makes it easy to tell a great story
• Why the artistry and creativity of storytelling are so vital in business
• Why the risk of failure is necessary for success in storytelling and life

Who is Drew?

Based in New York City, Drew Boudreau is an actor, writer, teacher, and comedian. He has spent time at The Second City in Chicago, 3-D Theatricals in Southern California, Off-Broadway, and in national tours and Moth story slams.

A theatre kid since birth, Drew has also worked as a performer and production manager for the Walt Disney Company on land and sea. Along with his acting work, he helps students and parents through the auditioning process for theatre colleges through his company, College Audition Pros, and is a self-described obsessive baseball fan and fish dad.

Links and Resources:

• College Audition Pros
• @drewboudreau on Instagram
• @drewboudreau on TikTok
• @drewboudreau on Facebook
• Storytelling School Website
• @storytellingschool on Instagram
• @storytellingSchool on Facebook

I’m rehearsing with my Improv team for a big upcoming show when our coach John says to me, “All your characters sound… like Kymberlee.” I’m thinking, “Well, of course, they do! I’m the one creating them.”

I must’ve said what I was thinking out loud because he responds back, “Actually Kymberlee, we want to meet these characters as themselves.” So he gives me an exercise to do. I’ve got to stand in the center of the stage and do a completely different voice whenever one of my fellow performers approaches me to start a new scene.

PANIC! I had all of maybe three different characters prepared in my head, so I had no idea what I was gonna do. But after doing scene after scene, I managed to find all these new characters--just by changing my voice.

That exercise helped change my point of view in scenes, my physicality, and even my emotions. And it all came from simply speaking differently each time. My guest today, Steve French, literally does this for a living as a full-time, in-demand voice actor. In this episode, he and I discuss storytelling through voice acting, and he answers questions such as:

What's a process you can use to prepare for incorporating stories in your business? How can you transform mere lines in a script into a compelling audible story? And what can you do if you struggle with your storytelling skills in an event, such as an audition or speech?

What you will learn in this episode:

• How to stand out as a storyteller using your individual voice
• How you can prepare yourself for a vocal storytelling project
• Why an audience falls in love with effective story hooks

Who is Steve?

Steve French is a voice actor based in New York who graduated from The Hartt School Theatre Division in West Hartford, Connecticut. He was an award-winning stage actor and singer before becoming a full-time voice actor. You might recognize him as the promo voice of The Book of Boba Fett and The Mandalorian on Disney+.

Steve’s voice has been featured in various projects, from nature documentaries on National Geographic to spooky movie trailers and funny commercials. You can hear him on recent episodes of STARZ’s P-Valley and Peacock’s Girls5Eva. His voiceover work also appears nationwide for Toyota, and he hosts the official Unsolved Mysteries Podcast every week.

Links and Resources:

• Steven French VO
• @stevefrenchvo on Instagram
• @stevefrenchvo on Twitter
• @stevefrenchvo on Facebook
• Steve French on LinkedIn
• Storytelling School Website
• @storytellingschool on Instagram
• @storytellingSchool on Facebook

I’m in a hotel room in San Francisco trying to perfect my geisha makeup for Halloween 2006. I’ve already made many DIY attempts, and it’s just not working out. I resemble Batman more than a geisha, so I decide to let a professional makeup artist do it instead.

Off to the mall department store I go and my husband Mark comes along to see me undergo this transformation. And I swear, once the pro is done with me I look like I could’ve stepped out of 1800s Japan.

We have an epic time that night and arrive back to our hotel room around 2 am. I’m looking at my phone when I come across something surprising. Unbeknownst to me, Mark posted a behind-the-scenes picture of me in the makeup chair on Twitter. And I don’t look good at all! In fact, I look like a frightening zombie.

So I ask him to take the photo down immediately. But remember: this is back in 2006 when Twitter is still new. You can’t delete photos off it yet. Mark is trying to tell me this as I’m panicking. There has to be a way to remove this picture. 

Three hours later, after countless phone calls, desperate google searches, and email threads everywhere, the offending zombie photo is gone. (And the marriage is saved!)

Now, my guest today may or may not have a few dramatic stories of her own. Violeta Meyners does impressively create real-life modern-day beauty through both the lens and lashes and helps women feel and look beautiful at the same time. In this episode, she answers questions like:

How does she do it differently than other entrepreneurs? What was the narrative that she, as a woman in her industry, wanted to change? And how can you establish a connection with clients?

What you will learn in this episode:

• What’s necessary to capture the story of beauty within images
• Why over-curating curbs your ability to uplevel your storytelling
• How perfection brings out your imperfections

Who is Violeta?

The beauty business and dreamy ocean living wasn’t always the case for Violeta Meyners. She came from next to nothing, arriving in the U.S. from Romania with no friends or family and less than $500 in her pocket. All she had was big dreams, a burning desire to turn them into reality, and a will to do whatever it took. While going to school, she worked four jobs, transmuted back-on-forth from jobs to school by foot, and ate for nearly $1.25 a day.

Violeta freelanced as a makeup artist for a decade until six years ago when she considered how her approach to makeup artistry made women feel. She wanted to capture their beauty, freshness, and empowerment in a permanent way, using the lens. That’s when she took her passion for photography and turned it into a full-fledged career where she now helps women own and celebrate their beauty and worthiness. You can learn more about Violeta at her website. 

Links and Resources:

• Violeta Meyners
• @violetartistry on Instagram
• @Violetartistry on Facebook
• @violetartistry on Youtube
• Storytelling School Website
• @storytellingschool on Instagram
• @storytellingSchool on Facebook

It’s 2015 and I’ve just become addicted to this thing called improvisational comedy. I’m consuming every bit of information I can find: taking classes, reading books, and Googling everything about it. I’m completely immersed.

Then I hear about an Improv performance just south of where I live. Obviously, I have to go and see it... and it is amazing! The characters, the music, the performers--they’re all mesmerizing! And I’m thinking, “There’s no way I’ll ever be as good as they are.”

After the show ends, the performers meet us outside the theater. I shake hands with one of them and say, “I’d love to be able to do what you do.” 

And he simply responds, “You can!”

Fast-forward seven years later, and not only is that performer my guest in this episode but he and I are starring in a play together! Tom Mueller has been a performer all his life. In fact, he has far-reaching family history with performance art.

If you’re curious to know:

What is competitive Improv and how does it work? How can powerful stories impact you (and the world around you) long after you first hear them?

Then enjoy the show as Tom and I talk about theater sports, the power of commitment to improvisational storytelling, and more!

What you will learn in this episode:

• How to start a scene (or a speech) in a way that’ll engage your audience right away
• What makes a great story, from the theatrical Improv perspective
• What needs to be true for a character to be believable

Who is Tom?

Tom is the co-founder of the Ventura Improv Company (est. 1989) and comes from a theatrical family. He has had a storied career, including as a surgical orderly, radio announcer, tour guide in France, French and English teacher, technical writer, and instructional designer. In addition to his primary focus on Improv, Tom also enjoys performing scripted works, most recently at the Alcazar Theatre in Carpinteria, California. Like many improvisers, Tom sees the experience as enriching one’s life outside theater due to the close teamwork it requires. 

Links and Resources:

• Impro by Keith Johnstone
• Storytelling School Website
• @storytellingschool on Instagram
• @storytellingSchool on Facebook

I’m running for 6th-grade student body president and it’s a big day for me. When it’s my turn to make my speech, I walk up the stairs to the podium on stage with my script in hand. I’ve worked and re-worked this speech for hours and hours, day after day, just for this moment. 

The entire school auditorium is full as I begin…  And as I get further and further into my speech, I look up from my paper to see that the students aren’t paying attention. One kid named Stu is even asleep in the front row!

Before I even realize what I’m doing, I pick up my speech, crumple it up, and throw it on the floor. I start speaking from my heart, saying all the things I’d like to promise them if they vote for me: longer recesses, no homework, free ice cream.

I finally get a reaction from my fellow students, ending in a standing ovation when they hear about the free ice cream. I continue to tell them that I can’t promise any of that, but I can promise them to be the best president I’m capable of by upholding school policies. 

No one hears that though; they have their mind set on free ice cream every day after school. I win in a landslide.

That’s how I became Student Body President and more importantly, how I learned a pivotal life lesson: When you speak from the heart, you can wake people up and change the game. 

My special guest on the Storytelling Podcast, Cathy Scharetg is incredible at changing the game through curiosity. In this episode, we discuss storytelling as a way to draw people into your world or allow them to let you into theirs. And along the way, Cathy answers questions like:

What does it really mean to be curious? And what happens when you allow yourself to be curious about the world around you?

What you will learn in this episode:

• Why stories allow you to get into people’s good graces
• Why curiosity is so much more than just a human characteristic
• How being a better “asker”  can change your life considerably

Who is Cathy?

Cathy Scharetg is a TEDx Presenter, certified Career Development Specialist, and the director and head coach of Curiosity Coach. She believes that curiosity illustrates what’s possible, collapses your biases, and catapults you just beyond your comfort zone to where gold lies. She’s seen leaders become master-level influencers and coaches them to use their curiosity as a catalyst for connection, change, and innovation.

As an accredited public speaker, teacher, and personal coach, Cathy helps thought leaders worldwide transition from overtaxed systems and antiquated ideas to new insights, impact, and clarity. She’s also a certified Rewilding Coach, Learning and Development advisor for One Up One Down, and president of the When Women Speak chapter in San Francisco. In addition, she’s served as a licensed Realtor for over 25 years, holding board and leadership positions in the process.

Links and Resources:

• @yourcuriositycoach_ on Instagram
• Cathy Scharetg
• Storytelling School Website
• @storytellingschool on Instagram
• @storytellingSchool on Facebook

It’s 2010 and I’ve been attending the annual TED conference for seven years. I want all my friends and family to experience TED too, but it’s by invitation only. 

 I learn that the head of TED, Chris Anderson, has announced that TEDsters can apply to create independently organized TED events locally.

I’m thinking, “What an incredible opportunity, but can we pull it off?” I worry about our ideas not being big enough to share. Not to mention, I’ve produced events before but not at this magnitude. 

After talking about it endlessly, we decide we’ll go for it.

It turns out to be one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. Those events become known as TEDx events (the x stands for independently organized TED event). Ever since, we’ve had the opportunity to produce many TEDx events, birthing ideas and stories into the world that affect change, one person at a time. 

Speaking of producing, my special guest today Angela Gulner is a film producer, actress, and writer,  who also brings stories to life that can touch individuals at the exact moment they need it most. In this episode, she and I look at storytelling through  different angles and answer questions such as:

How does energy play a part in the writing process? As an actor, what is it like to become a character? And must your protagonist be likable, or is there another way to get an audience to go on a journey with a character?

Along the way, you’ll hear Angela discuss playing a villainess, collaborating with others to create work during hard times, taking on the producer role out of necessity, and upleveling your storytelling game with accountability.

What you will learn in this episode:

• Why conflict or struggle is such an important storytelling component
• What truly makes a story a story in a visual medium
• How striving for story perfection can rob your audience

Who is Angela?

Angela Gulner got her start with an MFA in Acting from Harvard University. She then began her career as a writer and producer with the indie dark comedy Binge, which went viral with over 2 million on Youtube and got a development deal with MGM Studios.

Along with her writing partner, she developed and pitched TV projects for heavy hitters in the industry such as MGM Studios, Calvary Media, and Debbie Liebling. Recently, Angela wrote for upcoming features like Some Other Woman (starring Amanda Crew and Tom Felton) and Kaet Might Die for Balcony 9 Productions.

In addition, she produced and starred in the feature film The Summoned which was released by XYZ Films on VOD. Currently, she’s in post-production as the producer of the short film Gay-ish (written by Michelle Askew, the youngest female writer to ever make the Blacklist, who also makes her directorial debut with the film). Angela also has two feature films in development as writer and director for Wicked Myth Films.

Links and Resources:

• The Summoned
• Binge
• @angelagulner on Instagram
• @wickedmythflims on Instagram
• @youaresummoned on Instagram
• @bingetheseries on Instagram
• Storytelling School Website
• @storytellingschool on Instagram
• @storytellingSchool on Facebook