Storytelling for entrepreneurs and executives.
A 2-day intensive workshop in Silicon Valley.
May 10-11, 2025

Pitching and presenting are key skills for success today. Startup founders are pitching for money, partnerships, co-founders, and more. Executives are pitching for customers, budget, thought leadership, and calls to action.

But pitching and presenting skills aren’t about building slides; they are about storytelling. Storytelling is an essential skill for leadership and success today. This 2-day intensive workshop is designed to help entrepreneurs, investors, and executives to improve their pitching, presenting, and leading skills.

“The storyteller is the most powerful person in the world” – Steve Jobs

Participants will emerge from the workshop with a set of frameworks that will help them understand the components of successful storytelling, how storytelling can be adapted and tailored for different audiences, and how to engage and inspire others through the development of their own tone and style.

Workshop Leaders: The workshop is led by Bret Waters, Bruno Mano, and Jeff Cabili. Bret is a veteran Silicon Valley entrepreneur and investor who teaches at Stanford. Bruno is a global expert on the science of storytelling, and Jeff is a world-renown master of pitches, storytelling, and nonverbal communication who also teaches at Stanford.

Agenda:

Day 1 (the theory behind great storytelling):

• 9:00am: Breakfast, Coffee, Networking
  Spend some time getting to know the other participants while you enjoy morning food and beverages.
• 9:30am: Welcome Remarks.
  Welcome, and objectives for the day. Introductions all around. 
• 10:30am: Elements of Storytelling.
  When we say “storytelling skills”, what does that mean, exactly? What makes for a good story? In this first session, we’ll begin to develop the elements of successful storytelling.
• 11:30am: Group Exercise.
  Break into groups. Introduce yourself to your group by telling a 2-minute story about your life and what led you here. Get to know each other, and your individual goals for the day.
• 12:00pm Lunch (fully-catered, vegetarian options available).
  This is a chance to discuss the morning’s learnings with the other participants, and how you will apply them in the afternoon.
• 1:00pm The Science of Storytelling.
  Recent research gives us new insights into the neuroscience behind how our brain processes communication. We’ll look at the key questions our brains ask, how these drive our response and action, and the key neurotransmitters involved (e.g., dopamine, oxytocin, endorphins). We’ll connect the new science with old wisdom, including Aristotle’s Rhetoric: Ethos, Pathos, Logos.
• 2:00 pm: Nonverbal Communication.
  How do you deliver a presentation or a short pitch in an assertive, convincing, and captivating way? Would you like to improve the impact of your message, whether you are raising money for a startup or pitching an idea, product, or service to clients, providers, or colleagues? This session will focus on “how to say it” instead of “what to say” by delving into effective nonverbal communication. We will cover techniques of expression, including gestures, body movements, positions and postures, the voice, sustaining eye contact, and the use of silence, with an emphasis on consistency between verbal and nonverbal communication.
• 4:00pm: End of Day 1.

Day 2 (putting effective storytelling to work):

• 10am: Storytelling in Business.
  So how can we put these concepts to work in our professional lives? We’ll talk about developing a framework for creating compelling messages, crafting sales pitches and persuasive emails, and pitch decks for entrepreneurs and investors. Also, since pitching today often happens on Zoom, how do you optimize for that?
• 11:30am: The Investor Perspective.
  Entrepreneurs prepare pitch decks, but VC’s don’t invest in slides, they invest in people. So what are the components to a successful investor presentation?
• 12:00pm Lunch (fully-catered, vegetarian options available).
  This is a chance to discuss the morning’s learnings with the other participants, and how you will apply them in the afternoon.
• 1:00pm: Afternoon Break and Group Exercise (with food and drink).
  Break into groups. Deliver a 2-minute story to your group (could be a pitch, could be a rant, could be persuasion on a point of view). Get feedback on how you have incorporated some of the day’s learnings.
• 1:30pm: Short Form Storytelling.
  We live in the era of TikTok and Instagram Reels. So how do storytelling skills apply to making a 30-second video that goes viral?
• 2pm: Pitch Contest!
  Everyone will have the opportunity to give a three-minute pitch. It could be a startup pitch, could be a rant on a social topic that is important to you, or it could be a 3-minute personal story designed to inspire and reflect. 
• 3pm: Open Discussion and Reflection. 
• 3:30pm: Capstone.
  Bringing the day’s learnings and experiences together. Key takeaways, learnings, and reflections. Some specific assignments on how you can continue to develop and use these skills.
• 4pm: Wine and Conversation.
  We’ll end the day with networking, conversation, and some final discussion about how all of us can improve our careers through improving our skills at pitching, presenting, and storytelling.

All participants receive a special workbook with key takeaways and tips on how to apply the workshop’s learnings to their own professional career.