Webinar Replay: The Science of Storytelling
Rachael Sampson
00:00:01.810
Well, hello, everyone, and welcome. I am Rachel Sampson, Head of Community Banking at Key Bank, and I am truly glad that all of you could join us today. At KeyBank, we believe that access to the right business expertise, tools, and resources can drive impactful outcomes for individuals, businesses, and communities. When people feel more confident in how they manage and communicate their business vision. They are better positioned to grow, lead, and build lasting impact. Today is especially meaningful because this workshop launches the official program, our new complimentary national program. key for entrepreneurs, and I could not be more excited for our program today, and all that I know that Kiefer entrepreneurs will be. Came for Entrepreneurs was really designed with a clear purpose to support entrepreneurs and business owners at every single stage of growth. Key for entrepreneurs will bring together certified advisors here at KeyBank who have voluntarily taken the time to train and understand the unique challenges that business owners face.
through this network to support entrepreneurs and business owners in those stages. Key4entrepreneurs will bring together all of those folks, relationships managers, and mission-aligned organizations and business service professionals to deliver practical resources tailored to real-world business challenges.Whether business owners are getting started, preparing the scale, the program is designed to meet entrepreneurs where they are and help them move forward with confidence. The program brings together those service professionals that support critical organizations, whether that's through risk or attorneys, accountants, and all of those that really make up the ecosystems that help our business owners and entrepreneurs to thrive. A core belief we hold at KeyBank is that when we reduce barriers and expand access, entrepreneurs are better equipped to succeed and our communities are stronger as a result. One of the most common challenges that I hear all over the country is really for our entrepreneurs, is that they share with us that there's difficulty of clarity in communicating their story. what they do, why it matters, why someone should invest, partner, or do business with them. Whether you're speaking to a potential client, an investor, or a potential collaborator, your ability to articulate your value can be a turning point for your business. That's why this workshop was chosen among the very first in our national initiative under the Key for Entrepreneurs program. Clear, confident communication is the foundation. to help in today's session of what we'll be covering to strengthen exactly that. Today's workshop is a 90 minutes, 90 minutes, right? We're doing something different. It's going to be highly interactive in this virtual experience, and I'm excited for you all to really take a part of that. you'll see a blend of proven narrative frameworks, real-life business examples, and live practice opportunities. I'm waiting for that one, be exciting. For our business owners joining us, we encourage you to volunteer to share a short pitch of your business story. you can volunteer in the chat by entering your name and your business name when it comes time. Participants will receive real time AI feedback alongside live coaching from our experts so that everyone can learn by doing and observing. whether you're actively participating or taking it all in, you'll leave with practical insights that you'll apply right away. So now, without further ado, I'm excited to introduce today's facilitators, Nico Aguilar and Jen Litwin from SPICO, who specialize in helping professionals communicate with clarity, presence, and confidence. Nico is the CEO and co-founder of Speako, and he knows firsthand the challenges of public speaking. His journey struggling to find his voice fueled his passion to demonstrate this essential skill. He co-founded Speako, an AI-powered speech code to make competent communication accessible and affordable for everyone. And last but not least is Jen Litwin, and a welcome back to our Key Bank programming team. She is the Managing Director of Speako, where she leads the firm's premium coaching business and enterprise partnerships. with a background spanning finance, tech, and opera, she brings a distinctive perspective on how communication drives impactful outcomes. A classically trained soprano and in-demand keynote speaker.
Jen combined stage graph, vocal mastery, and executive presence to help leaders communicate in a way that holds the room. So there's ideas that don't just sound good, but they actually land. Their approach is thoughtful, supportive, and highly practical, which aligns perfectly with the goal of Kiefer Entrepreneurs as we launch this national program. Also, I'd like to introduce Juana Adorno, our Key for Entrepreneurs National Program Manager. Juan leads the program with the help of developing the tools and resources to provide to our local teams and champion entrepreneurs. in their communities where the magic really happens. A former business owner himself, he brings first-hand insights and deep passion to this work. Thank you all for being a part of this important moment and investing your time with Grow for us today. I look forward to all of you connecting with each other, staying a part of our program, and joining and learning more and participating today. So, without further ado, I'm delighted to turn things over to Nico and Jen, who will guide us through today's session. Thank you so much.
Nico Aguilar
00:06:17.810
Thank you, Rachel! Thanks for that intro. It's great to see everyone. My name is Nico and I run Speako, and I'm on a mission to help you never be afraid of public speaking again. And before I introduce my co-presenter, Jen, I'm going to kick off with a quick story. So you'll get a kick out of this. This is a couple years ago, I was in college, I had a public speaking crash out that was so bad it changed my life. I was in the back row of my classroom. I was hiding because I was so nervous. I was just hoping I wouldn't get called on, and I caught the gaze of my professor, and he called me up, and I got this queasy, nervous feeling in my body, and it just hit me, and I just threw up. And it was the most embarrassing thing that has ever happened to me. And I decided in that moment that. I made this promise, I just… I couldn't let this hold me back anymore, so I became obsessed with public speaking. I read books on it, I worked with a speech coach. It was terrifying. But over that, and through a lot of trials and reps, something finally clicked for me, and it, for the first time in my whole life, I was feeling confident about myself and my voice.
And that's what brings me here today. That journey inspired me to create Speako and to help everyday people learn this skill. Even if you didn't learn it at home or at school. So, a quick note on who you're talking to today. We are Speako, and you can think of us like Grammarly for your voice. Who here has heard of Grammarly? Put it in the chat. So Speako does a very similar thing. You can use it to record yourself, just like I'm doing right now on my phone, and I'm gonna get feedback on how I'm doing, my filler words, my pacing, my hedging language, how I could maybe word things clearer. So today, we've helped over 500,000 people all over the world speak with confidence, and I've personally coached over a thousand professionals on their stories. Politicians, executives. people going on TV, you name it. So I want you to know that you're in good hands. And I also want you to know, if you stick with me in this session.
We're gonna unlock some amazing skills for you as business leaders, and this is going to transform how you communicate, like Rachel was saying. So I want to make some promises to you. So we're going to be covering first some neuroscience behind storytelling, some structures.
that we teach all of our Speako users all over the world, and then a handful of you are going to get live in the hot seat for some awesome feedback opportunities, so get ready, get your brain going for that, and… I also want to mention that for those who stay to the very last minute, we have a very special offer, a very special surprise thanks to Speco and to KeyBank. And you're going to get three months free of Speako plus a business storytelling course in Speako. So stay for the last minute. to get a QR code for that, okay? Now, I want to introduce you next to one of the most talented speech coaches in the whole world, and my mentor, Jen. Speako's managing director, and Jen will lead the coaching portion of today, and she's the reason that you're going to want to volunteer for the hot seat. So Jen, why don't you take it away?
Jen Litwin
00:09:41.810
What an intro! Thank you so much, Nico. It's such a delight to partner with you. And hi, everybody! I am super jazzed to be here for this great event. As you may have gathered, my professional story, it starts on the operatic stage. From the age of three, I trained as a classical musician.
I sang roles that you might know, even if you're not an opera fan. One of my very favorites was The Queen of the Night in The Magic Flute by Mozart. And let me tell you, that was a dramatic entrance. I rose up through a trapdoor elevator in the floor. It was center stage. There was a fog of dry ice, timpani drums, just… And then I fired off those very famous vocal gymnastics. When you're singing like that, in front of hundreds of people, which I did as my full-time career for many years, there is no hiding. and you learn to really trust your voice. And then I made what sounds like an impossible leap from opera to Wall Street. I actually took a job as a temp secretary at AIG Financial Products, a firm you might know from Michael Lewis's book, The Big Short. It didn't make the movie, but it was Chapter 4. One day, Joe Cassano, the notorious number two at the firm. He was a huge opera fan, by the way. He pulled me aside into a glass fishbowl of a conference room. And while everyone on that floor was going, what is she doing in there with him? Joe was handing me the keys to my career. He understood the power of transferable skills, and he gave me the opportunity of a lifetime. And the trading floors of Wall Street became my home for the next 25 years. And I flourished. It was a long time. I had plenty of time. I rose into senior leadership. I even landed on the cover of Traders Magazine. But Joe was absolutely right. The same skills that helped me command a stage helped me to build trust, lead teams and close deals. Eventually I transitioned into tech, delivering keynotes and into executive coaching. And once again, the constant was my voice. The through line of every chapter, helping me influence, rally people, and tell stories. that stick. And the common thread is this. I know what it takes to show up under pressure, to speak with clarity and conviction, and to use your voice as the instrument of influence. That it truly is. And that's why I'm passionate about helping you own not only what you say, but how you say it. Because in my life, that has been the difference maker every single time. Now, as we work on your stories today and honing your voices, the most important ground rule is to be present. Please be an active participant. I love seeing that you're all active in the chat. That's amazing. Be an active listener. And that means if you can. Put cameras on, put your phones away, do ask questions, hit the hand raise emoji, we'll see you. Don't worry, no operatic arias are required today, but just great storytelling, great support for your colleagues, and what I'm going to be listening for. Great speaking. All right, back over to you, Nico.
Nico Aguilar
00:13:12.810
Thanks, Jen. All right, let's get to some more of the details here on why it's how you say it that matters so much. So we're going to be talking a little bit for one moment about some science, because this is all about the science of storytelling. And what I want to point out is there are these parts of your brain that process language. So when someone talks to you, these parts of your brain, they light up. People hear you, they understand you, they nod. And then they forget, because there's no other parts of your brain that is engaged. So the secret to a great story, a secret to being memorable is you need to light up more parts of the brain than just the language understanding parts. So how do you do that? Well, there's a couple tiers of this. So on the first level, you have the sensory cortex. Then you have the motor cortex. These are all big words, but then you get to this ultimate galaxy brain level, where you start to light up someone's emotional centers. Mmm. And that means that someone is… actually feeling emotions, their brain chemistry is changing when they hear you. Have you ever gotten goosebumps when you hear a story?
Totally. That's exactly the reason, that's exactly what's happening. So we want to get to this level of storytelling, and we need to understand that we are actually changing someone's brain chemistry, so we're in sync with them. This is a really important part of why stories stick. So, this brain response… This is nothing new. This is as old as Language itself. And for whatever reason. Humans, we keep coming back to this one structure. And it's called the hero's Journey. So chat, I want to ask, does anyone here heard of the hero's journey? If you have, maybe tell me some elements that you know about it. Where have you heard about it? I'd love to hear what people really think about this Hero's journey concept. It's something a lot of us have probably heard of. Put it in the chat.
So, we have the Dark Knight. Yeah, so it's pretty common in Hollywood. That's exactly right. Some people haven't heard of it. So the thing about the hero's journey is it's… it really is everywhere. It's in… famous books, great movies. It's all over Hollywood, and people think maybe Hollywood invented this, but they didn't. They just figured out how to monetize it very nicely. Hmm. And so we're going to be using this structure. And we're going to help you all tell your business story in this very pleasing narrative arc. And it's going to unlock a lot of stickiness in your storytelling. And the reason it works is because it does one specific thing. It makes your audience care. So the number one rule of storytelling and pitching is make me care. Because we all know what it's like when someone hard pitches you or starts telling you about their business, and you're on your third. Oh, that's that's interesting.
Don't be that person. Be the person who's telling a story that's activating more than just the language processing part of someone's brain. You want to break through, you need to break through. to get to that emotional connection level. So that's what we're going to be teaching you here today. Now, I want to show you… let me show you what not connecting with your audience's emotions sounds like. So we're going to take a clip, we're going to take a quick view of this clip here, and we'll come back here in two seconds. So here we go. the dog, uh… You put the food in the thing, uh, and then the dog sees it, and uh… It's dangling. Dog looks at Dang Dang, pale wag-wag, uh, rough. God wagging the tank. Whatever dog's name is… dog's name is Claire. Claire, come in.
Clare sees dog food pick, Facebook, like, like, like. Sizzle. Strategy. Sex. Something. Something. This is the worst pitch I have ever seen. Okay, so what do… what do we think about that pitch, chat? Is that… not… not too good, right? So what… what made it not great? Where? And this clip is from a show called New Girl. Do folks here know New Girl? It's a really funny show, and this is Lori Grenier from Shark Tank, and the reason that this didn't land is there was a lot of maybe confidence. Did you hear that some of the confidence? There was some emotion there, but it didn't have a beginning, a middle, an end. There was no arc. There was no way for us to… gave nothing. So there was no way for us to really see ourselves in this story, so it didn't activate. This higher level part of our brain, right? And that's going into this theme that we're really talking about today. It's facts tell and stories sell. So if we can recreate this into a story, then we can really get a good feedback from Laurie. And so we're gonna come back to this in one moment.But the good news is we can learn a structure here that's going to be very helpful for us to put our own business stories in, so we don't have that new girl scene happen to us, because I know we've all been there, I know I have been there before. It's like, you can't get your words out. It's… it's tough. So today we're going to talk about this five beat structure of the Hero's journey. I really hope that at the end of this, you all will have some more intuition about how to structure your stories so it lines up with this. So we're going to go through this, we're gonna go through some examples, it's a lot of fun, and then we're gonna put you in the hot seat. Okay, so this is how you map your business story. So we're gonna go one by one through this five-beach structure of this hero's journey. And just to set the scene here, there's these two axis that you see on the screen. The x-axis is just how long your story is. And then the y-axis, the up and down is how much emotional tension there is. So we wanna think about these elements when we're telling our story. And the first thing, the first beat is, we call it normal life. You've got to set the scene, who, when, where, pretty simple, but you've gotta have this to ground your story. The second part is probably one of the most important parts of the story, and this is when it's that moment that knocks you out of your normal life. And we call this a star moment because this is a moment in your story where you as a storyteller need to put specific details so you can paint a picture in someone's mind. That's a very oftentimes missed aspect. The next part we call the rising action. This is where you have your tries, your late nights, your stumbles, your small wins. You're moving towards a challenge. And then, voila, you have this breakthrough. Or maybe you have a defeat. It doesn't always have to be positive, but it's an aha moment that you've you figured something out and then you land the plan. We call it landing the plane. Because you come home. different. Somehow some part of you is different. The hero is different. They are changed. Maybe they have treasure. Maybe they have a lesson, and that's a lesson that the audience can then take away. So these are the five beats that make a story really great. This is the spine. This is the bare bones part of it. So let's show this with a couple examples, because that's… that's really how I learn things. Okay, here we go. So, remember that story that I told you at the beginning, my story about throwing up? Really embarrassing? So, let's see how that matches up on to this. All right, so let's take it beat by beat. So for me, for my story, my normal life was I always avoided public speaking. And then I got called on to do a speech, and that was my adventure calls moment. And I gave a lot of detail there. I was in a class where I was, what I was feeling, what happened, and then there was this rising action part of my story where. I said, I decided, I promised myself I'm going to overcome this. had small wins. I worked with a speech coach. It was really hard. But then I reached this aha moment, this catharsis. And for the first time ever, I felt confident. So that was a really important part of my narrative arc. And then what happened for me as the hero in my story, I came home changed. I was inspired. I built a product to try to help other people with the same struggle that I've. always struggle with. So here's how we can map that. Now put in the chat if you have any questions on how this maps, because I want you all to give input. Does this does this make sense to you all? How this is mapped out? Dora's got it. Hero's Journey 5 Beats, got it! Yes, yippers! Yes. I love it. All right, we got some… we got some confirmations, some yeses. Yippers. Okay, now, Jen, we're gonna have you do your story, too. So gentle story. Let's go ahead and map this, and let's see if it maps out. Go ahead, Jen.
Jen Litwin
00:23:06.810
Oh, I'd love to. Mine actually… I think it maps pretty well to the same five beats. So, beat one I trained as an opera singer, so performance and voice were my whole identity. It was everything. An executive who happened to love opera, he unexpectedly opened the door to Wall Street. B3. Over 25 years in finance, I learned through trial and error, some good, some bad, to navigate pressure and clients and executive communication. Before, eventually, I realized I was using the exact same skills that I learned as a performer. How to stay calm under pressure, how to regulate my breathing. Beat five. Now I help other people know and trust their voices because communication is what makes people believe in your ideas.
Nico Aguilar
00:24:05.810
Excellent, Jen. I saw a question here. How do we narrow down the adventure calls moment? The adventure calls moment is a make or break part of your story, Juan. I see a lot of business storytelling that gets too in the weeds. There's too much detail, so it's on you as a storyteller. to decide one or two details. You can't go overboard. You gotta be very lightweight with your details, but you have to be specific. That's where the art of this comes in. Let's look at another example. We have a third example for you here. This is our last example before the hot seat. So, keep getting your brain going. If you want to volunteer, here's our third example. Let me go ahead and get to it now. And this third example, we're going to go ahead and map another founder story, another business story. But this one's pretty special to me because… I personally coached this founder. got them on Shark Tank. His name's Abash. He runs a app called Flora that helps you not kill your houseplants. And when we started his pitch was all features and stats and all this kind of thing, but. People don't write a check for that. They want to hear your story. They want to feel a connection, the vision, especially at this stage. So, we got to work, and we found a story. And we brought that emotional connection to his pitch. You'll see in this clip, he tees up. the story, his business, and then he goes into a story about how his mom gave him a prized rose bush, and he killed it. And so that brings into this theme, and it's a fun little clip. We're gonna go ahead and watch it, and then we'll we'll dissect it at the very end.
But I want you to think about how the first Laurie pitch went, and then how this Lori pitch is going. So let's take a look, okay?
[Video Playing] Abhesh Day
00:26:06.810
Hi, Sharks! My name is Abhesh Day. I'm from Nashville, Tennessee, here seeking $300,000 for 10% of my company, Flora. Sharks, I've got a confession to make. I'm a serial killer. But before you judge me, here's the thing. I'm guessing that some of you might be serial killers, too.
Serial plant killers, that is. We've all been there in the disappointment of killing our beloved plants. The last straw for me was when my dear mother gave me her prized rosebush plant that she had for years. And I ended up killing that thing in 8 short days. I had enough, and so I invented the fluoropod.
Nico Aguilar
00:26:49.810
All right, all right. What did you guys think about? What did everyone think about Shark Tank? Do we have any Shark Tank fans here? I am a huge Shark Tank fan. Yeah, setting the hook. So so the hook is really important part of this, and we're going to get to this as well. Pretty funny. I love it. And it looks like we have an app link here. So that's appreciated. I'm sure Abash will appreciate that link to Flora. Check it out. So let's go ahead and map Abash's story. to our Hero's journey framework. Let's let's see if this actually maps out. Okay, here we go. So we have the normal life. We've all been there. He's setting this scene. When, where the the energy of… we've all been here. And then what happens? He his mom's rosebush prize possession. He kills in eight days. All right. That's a pretty impactful moment for him to share. It's high detail, so it's a star. It's a very important pivot point in the story because it kicks off. his journey as the hero. So you see there's the normal life. This thing happens to him and now he's out of normal life. And so now he's on this emotional tension. So the, the, the Y axis, we're adding emotional tension. So see how he does that during the story. And then he says, I've had enough. He has this rising action moment, and then he has his catharsis moment, his… moment where he decides he's inspired, he wants to do something about this. And then he comes home changed, and that's how he introduces Flora, his product. Now, let's go and see how that turned out for Laurie. Do you think that Lori liked this pitch? Let's let's go ahead and see.
[Video Playing]
00:28:35.810
And… You got a deal. Yeah. Let's go! So good! We're gonna save a lot of plants. Thank you all. Congratulations. Thank you, Barbara, Kevin. I know, he was good!
Nico Aguilar
00:28:54.810
Alright, how about that? So he landed 300,000 from Laurie. It changed his whole business. Every time there's a rerun of this show, he gets bonkers attractions. So this shame shark from the Nick pitch earlier, and then from. Bash using a nice structure here, you can see that there's a much different outcome. So this is what we mean by make me care. You've got to make your audience, the investors here in this case, make them care. So we're going to jump into the hot seat here, but I want to go through two quick things I want to emphasize that I often see people stumble on. So these two quick things, I want them to be in your pocket here as we jump into the practice. So number one is when and where to add the detail. Remember we talked about those stars on the diagram? The beat number 2 and the beat number 4? Those are your high detail star moments. I want to hear you say… a quote or a what are you feeling in that moment? Give me a specific picture I can see in that moment. It's really important that you go high detail there, and then in the rest of the story, you don't go high detail. So those are your detail moments. Otherwise, we can't get bogged down in details. Number two. Who is the hero? So we didn't talk about this yet, but sometimes you are not the hero in your story. Oftentimes, when you're telling a customer success story. you're going to make your customer the hero, and you're actually what we call the guide. So it changes the perspective. And we can go into it. Hopefully, we have someone with an example story like that, where we can coach on. But when you are telling your founder journey or your business starting story, you are the hero and that's great. That's what I did. That's what Jen told her story. That's what Avesh did. But when it's your customer, you have to change it to be from their lens. You have to make them the hero. And then you have to stay consistent. So if you switch heroes in your story, the arc does not connect. It doesn't work.
Enjoy the replay of this interactive workshop and learn how to craft a powerful, investment-ready business pitch. Led by Speeko’s Nico Aguilar and Jen Litwin, the session features real examples, live coaching moments, and actionable communication strategies.
You’ll gain practical tools to strengthen your story and boost your confidence in any business setting. Watch on demand and put it into practice right away.
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