Storytelling is an important addition to your organization’s communication toolbox. Better Said Than Done can teach your team how to:
• use storytelling to connect with your audience;
• find and develop stories from your experience that bring your mission and results to life;
• effectively and memorably communicate your message;
• illustrate the value of your work in human terms; and
• deliver compelling stories for publications, presentations, correspondence, or networking.
Our instructors are talented storytellers, seasoned performers, experienced teachers and trainers, and skilled communications professionals who understand the business realm. We have real-world experience running companies, working in communications, research, and academic settings, and interacting with a variety of industries.
Since 2012, Better Said Than Done has taught classes to help people of all experience levels learn to craft and tell a good story, including Your Business Story: Crafting Your Business Tale. This class, offered four times a year, is designed for small teams and solo-preneurs. Read more about it here.
For organizations with larger teams (including employees, partners, members, and/or volunteers) or specific needs or concerns , Better Said Than Done offers private, specialized workshops and presentations, onsite or online.
Onsite corporate storytelling workshops:
When you hire Better Said Than Done to lead a storytelling workshop for your organization, we tailor a customized workshop to address your requirements and interests and that is appropriate for the skills and experience of those attending. Whether you need someone to help your research team turn data into stories, or work with staff from multiple departments to develop a unified story brand, we will lead your team of five to fifty through the steps of writing and delivering a powerful story. We also take into account your scheduling concerns: If you need us to deliver a short lesson to a small group of professionals, we can lead an hour-long workshop; or if you have a full day for training, we can build a more in-depth experience.
Each workshop is a mix of education and interactive exercises. Our instructors will deliver clear lessons on how to develop and effectively use stories with examples related to your field of interest. We also lead team activities and writing exercises, making sure each participant understands and can incorporate the day’s lessons into his or her role and responsibilities.
Every Better Said Than Done corporate workshop is uniquely designed to teach the art of storytelling in a way that meets and answers your organization’s challenges.
Onsite or online storytelling presentations:
While our workshops involve team activities and individual writing exercises, our presentations address the practical applications of storytelling. Depending on your needs, interests, and schedule, Better Said Than Done can deliver short, 30-minute presentations on anything from crafting captivating elevator speeches to developing powerful mission statements, or longer, 3-hour presentations on incorporating your organization’s story into every aspect of your public deliverables or other storytelling topics. We are available to come onsite for brown bag lunches or as keynote speakers during your next conference, or we can create and deliver our presentations through webinars using your online presentation software.
Better Said Than Done storytellers have many years of experience crafting and telling stories and even more years of experience living life and working in the corporate world. And since 2012, we have been lecturing, teaching, and coaching small business owners, nonprofit team members, and entire corporate departments how to use the art of storytelling to suit their professional needs.
Meet our instructors:
Jessica Robinson is the founder of Better Said Than Done. Though Jessica has been producing video stories through her production company, Capture Video, Inc., since 2000, she performed her first true story on stage in 2007 and has performed stories for Story District, TEDx, Tales in the Village, and George Mason University’s Fall for the Book Festival, and at such venues as Jammin’ Java, Epicure Café, Franklin Park Performing Arts Center, The Auld Shebeen, Town DanceBoutique, and Dance Place. Jessica performed on the Exchange Place stage at the National Storytelling Festival in 2018. Jessica launched Better Said Than Done in 2011 to bring the art of storytelling to Northern Virginia. She has led storytelling workshops for individuals, corporations and nonprofits – including The World Bank, The Brookings Institution, Inova Fairfax Hospital, Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality, and Johns Hopkins University. She has been a regular commentator on WAMU, DC’s NPR station. Jessica earned her BFA in Film and TV production from New York University’s prestigious Tisch School of the Arts and worked in the feature film industry in New York City prior to moving to Virginia.
Jack Scheer has been telling stories with Better Said Than Done since 2015. Prior to that, he spent nearly three decades telling other people’s stories as an actor and director in community theater, performing with groups including the Vienna Theatre Company, McLean Theatre Alliance, Kensington Arts Theatre, Rockville Musical Theatre, and the Music and Drama Club (MAD) at NASA&’s Goddard Space Flight Center. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Communication Studies from Northern Illinois University, where he participated on the speech and debate team. Jack is one of the elite group of Better Said Than Done storytelling teachers. A native Chicagoan who bounced between Illinois and the DC area for many years, he now resides in Silver Spring, MD.
