At one point or another, we’ve all struggled with effective communication, whether it’s gaining trust from your internal teams or being able to bond quickly with clients. This interactive workshop will share some tips, tricks and activities to leverage the power of storytelling, helping you navigate those conversations. You will leave not only with strategies, but also specific action items to apply to your real world projects, clients, and teams.

Please bring an example of how you generally introduce yourself, a project (past or current) that could benefit from a clear purpose, and a conflict (past or current) you would like to see in a new way. Attendees with learn the theory behind three storytelling strategies, then will be given the opportunity to apply them to real-world situations at their seat. Examples volunteered from the audience will be used to deepen understanding of the theory, so it becomes more actionable for everyone. All disciplines are welcome.

This workshop will address the following questions:

• What is the best way to share your story when introducing yourself to a client?
• How can storytelling help you build stronger bonds with your internal team, knowing how invaluable that bond becomes with challenges arise?
• What is the best way to structure a disagreement, and how can it be used for effective conflict resolution?
• How do you use a website’s story to keep clients and your team on track?

Lily Berman is a self-professed story geek. A Drupal account manager by day, she was the first Denver performer to be featured on the internationally-acclaimed The Moth Podcast (Google “Lily Thanksgiving Moth” if you’re curious), and has told her nonprofit’s story on NBC National News (among countless other places). She will share insights from consulting she received in Marshall Ganz’s "The Story of Self, Us, Now” at Harvard, argument mapping strengthened over six years of competitive debate, and training in Marshall Rosenberg’s Nonviolent Communication.