People understand and remember a narrative much more than they do a collection of rational facts.

If you believe your well assembled data will do everything you want it to, think again.

When Storytelling Won the Day

There was a time when I facilitated workshops with leaders called Presenting Excellence offering physical acting skills to amplify their dynamic expression.


Storytelling was in the program and was extremely well received, highly effective, and brought remarkable results as these leaders wrote and told deeply relevant, memorable and heartwarming stories relating them to their business and to their audience.

Here I’ve enhanced that offering to include even more learning.

Enroll Now

Here you receive tools, inspiration, structures and practices to help you to construct, write and tell great stories.

Ones that become relevant for your listeners – that deepens their understanding so that they will take right action.

What's different today?

The age of the teleprompter is now over.

No more "talking points" - those bullet points of facts often found on your website.

Ditch those soundbites for Stories. It's the skill of Leaders

Get started now

This is a Hybrid Online Course in Three Lessons

Lessons have pre-reading followed by a session rich with practices, applications and exercises.

  • Lesson One

    Pre-Reading:
    Why Storytelling? What makes an idea stick?

    Live Lesson:
    Spontaneous Writing Exercises
    Stories You Can Tell
    Story Structures
    Begin to Craft Your Story

  • Lesson Two

    A Story is Physically Told

    Pre-Reading:
    How to Reach an Audience
    Uses of Language in Story

    Live Lesson:
    Presence
    Voice Elements + Vocal Variation
    Gesture + Movement
    Exercises + Practices

  • Tell Your Story

    Live Lesson
    Here you try out your story - one you've crafted befitting a context you've chosen.


    Prepare
    Rehearse
    Tell your Story (five minutes)
    Receive feedback
    Next Steps

  • Physically Tell Your Story

    What differentiates this course is the emphasis on the physical telling of a story.
    The works draws on my experience in corporate leadership, in coaching, and my own training in improvisation, theatre & performance. These lessons include the best way to learn - through play, experimentation and fun to try out new skills.

  • Some things just take time

    To be a high performance athlete, a chess grand master or a concert pianist, there are no short cuts.

    But people are hungry for an entry path into creating stories and narratives for their business communications - and they deserve guidance and support.

Does this sound like you?

  • Gifted with analytical skills, I am married to my deep dive into data. This alone has not convinced my audience of my brilliance.

  • I believe that an over-preponderance of data, charts, graphs, etc. will absolutely do the job.

  • I need to get lay persons to understand the complexities of my product or proposal.

  • I love stories. I believe they work. I just don’t know how to craft them and use them appropriately in my business.

  • You understand that the power of story is in the telling. You'd like to use your physical expression of body, face and voice to bring a story alive.

Begin Your Storytelling Skills Journey

Learn to tell a story that is relevant and resonates with your audience. One that simplifies your concept and increases their understanding.

We cap our groups at 10 people so that you receive personalized attention, coaching and practice.
Enroll Now

As a result of this course you’ll be able to:

  • Understand why stories are important and what sticks - or doesn’t "stick" as memorable

  • Find structures that help you more easily craft stories

  • Learn the use of language to bring your stories alive and to bring your point across; metaphor, analogy, visual language and other devices to "paint the picture" of the future you want your listeners to see.

  • Create a story. Relate it to a number of different audiences. Connect to the hearts and minds of your listeners. People buy with their hearts – not their heads.

  • Practice how to physically tell your story. Bring it alive.

How the Lessons are Conducted

  • Each lesson has pre-reading (approximately 20 minutes) prior to the Live Session of two practice hours.

  • Three Live Lessons offer models, structures, and practices and they are held live online over Zoom at an average of 90 minutes each

  • Live Lesson One:
    Writing Practices. Exercise your writing muscles. Play with some forms of writing. Story Structures are shared. Here we set you up to begin to write a story you will deliver in the final lesson.

  • Live Session Two:
    A Story is Physically Told. Practice to bring your story alive by using physical expression, such as presence, vocal dynamics, facial expression, gesture and movement.

  • Live Session Three:
    Tell Your Story. One that you’ve crafted. Rehearse it. Tell it. Receive feedback and coaching. We use a non-judgmental feedback model.

Things to Know Before You Enroll...

Once you enroll, you will have access to the pre-reading for the first live lesson.

  • The three live lessons require you to be present and with your cameras on.

  • The live lessons are not recorded. This affords you the space and privacy to try out new skills and behaviors in a safe and supportive environment.

  • Come prepared with a notebook and pen to try out spontaneous & improvised writing.

  • This course is built upon fun, play and experimentation that builds new skills

A Client's Story

Not the mathematical formula

I worked with this bright mathematician from a global financial services firm to get him ready for a presentation at the annual client conference.


During rehearsal, he was hell bent set on showing his slide with a multi-line mathematical formula. He was so very in love with and proud of his work.


I had to break the news to him that hardly anyone would care.


We worked to have him put his discovery into a narrative. He spoke about how and why he arrived at his innovation - his pathway, his journey - what it meant to his audience in their business context.


And mostly, why they should care?
His job was to be the translator.
He needed to turn this into "lingua franca"* for anyone to understand it and to realize what the benefits were to them professionally and personally!
Once he used story, he got them and him all in the same place. This way, everyone got what they needed!


*Lingua Franca - A medium of communication between peoples of different languages - a mixture of Italian with Provençal, French, Spanish, Arabic, Greek, and Turkish, formerly spoken on the eastern Mediterranean coast during maritime travel in the Renaissance

One - to - One Coaching is Available

If you'd like to have additional assistance, there is a special coaching rate for participants of Storytelling for Business Outcomes

Contact me: [email protected] for more details.

About Me

Martha Gelnaw

Hi there!

My name is Martha and I’m a communication coach based in New York City. Over my 20+ years coaching, I’ve found that I enjoy supporting people to get their messages and their voice heard – and acted upon. This way, they can make a contribution and enjoy their work with great comfort and ease.

Our work is to build trust in our understanding and to create confidence in our listener’s knowledge so that they will align and take right action. How we appeal to others and their values is crucial. It’s not transactional - it’s relational - relationships matter.

I offer coaching and courses that are well-suited to help leaders, emerging leaders, young professionals, students and women express themselves with a true and powerful presence aligned with their deepest values and desires.

Course Pricing

The three-lesson hybrid course price. Corporate Group Sessions are available in-person or online. Request information.