As a kid growing up, I get to spend time with two families. On one side is my mom and stepdad, and on the other is my dad and stepmom. Being the only child in both families, I spend holidays at one house and then the other. Trick or treating on Halloween with one family earlier in the evening and the other later in the evening. I even have two different celebrations on my birthday. Everything is separate...until 2010 when I decide to run a TEDx event for the first time and realize quickly that I need help. So Mom, an English major, offers to help with speakers. My stepmom helps with overseeing ..read more

I’m ready to dazzle! I have on my heels, my dress, and my glitter as I enter the doors of Blaisdale Arena and make my way to my seat near the front row. I can feel my heart racing with anticipation.  Then, the lights go out. The fog on stage gets thicker. The familiar beat begins, and it’s as if my heart starts to beat with it in unison. Suddenly, the backup singers take their places on the stage. And through the haze, I finally see him. As he comes into focus, there’s cheering, and screaming, and some nearby me are even crying. We’re all so excited to see what we’ve been looking forward ..read more

I’m on a Zoom call rehearsing with a group of speakers who are getting ready for an upcoming TEDx event. Yet something’s off. After finishing her run, one speaker admits, “I don’t really feel like I’m connected.”  And that’s when I realize something. She’s scanning the room and not really seeing anyone. It’s like she’s talking into the void. So I say, “Try focusing on one person at a time, like you’re talking directly to that particular person. Then focus on the next person, and then the next.” I have everybody take a turn at this. They’re hesitant at first. Yet over the next few weeks, t ..read more

I’m standing backstage with my dad in a room full of speakers who are getting ready to make their TEDx debuts. We’ve been working for over eight months for this moment, yet the nervous energy in the room is palpable.  So Greg, the event organizer, takes the microphone and gives a short, inspirational talk. Then he stops, walks over to my dad and hands him the microphone. Dad clears his throat and says, “What did the fish say when it ran into the wall?” And that joke breaks open a dam of levity that helps take the energy from trepidation to confidence and readiness for the stage. Humor can ..read more

I’m at the Annoyance Theater in Chicago taking a week-long intensive Improv class. In the middle of a scene with my scene partner, I have this brilliant idea. So I start forcing the scene in the direction I have in mind. My partner follows along…and the whole scene ends up being pretty flat and predictable. After we’re done, the instructor says, “Kymberlee, I have a note for you. Allow yourself to be surprised on stage rather than in control.” What if we apply the same principle to our presentations? How would that change us and the audience? In this episode of the Storytelling School Podcast ..read more

I’m in the final planning stages for Story to Standing Ovation, our annual live event, when my dad randomly stops by to drop something off. He comes toward my office, stops in the doorway, and says, “What the heck is that?” As he points at my sliding glass doors, I tell him, “This is my brain on sticky notes.” What he’s looking at is three days of our event broken down, sticky style.  These aren’t just randomly placed sticky notes, either. I have these organized in full outline form and broken down into topics and categories. Some of the sticky notes are in bold, others are in different c ..read more

One sentence from a stranger is all it took to ignite the biggest epiphany of my life.  I’ll explain. I’m sitting in the audience at my first TED conference, enraptured by all the speakers when a guy comes on stage who I’ve never heard of before. He starts showing some of the most beautiful and haunting images I’ve ever seen. Then he says something offhand that gives me chills… Speaking of the impact of words, welcome to the next episode in our “Storytelling Seven” series! Today on the Storytelling School Podcast, you’ll learn about how to capture your audience’s attention from the very b ..read more

I’m catching up with my Aunt Marie about everything that’s happening in life. She asks me, “Do you have any performances or events coming up?” I do. Our annual three-day immersive speaker bootcamp is coming up at the end of February. For those three days, I get to be on stage helping people take their speaking to the next level. “I don’t know how you do it,” my aunt replies. “Growing up, you were always so good in front of a crowd. You had no fear. I could never do that.” And the more we talk about all the times I was in the spotlight growing up, the more I think, “Is confidence really cultiva ..read more

It’s 2016 and I’m putting on a high-stakes speaking and storytelling workshop. One of the attendees “Shawn” is the CEO of a tech company, and he’s not buying the idea of using storytelling to raise money and land deals. I say to him, “Give me two days. But you’ve got to play all in. Are you in?”  Despite his skepticism that anything will drastically change for him, he reluctantly agrees.  When the workshop concludes, he feels this storytelling knowledge has given him a new competitive edge. Fast forward in time a few years later when we run into “Shawn”. He reveals that he’s practice ..read more

It’s 2015, and I’ve just started training in Improvisational comedy. Every Wednesday night, I attend Alan Irwin’s Improv classes at Santa Barbara Improv. Weeks turn into months, and my fondness for Improv grows into an addiction. I want to learn more, absorb more, and grow faster!  So I start keeping a notebook of all the games we play and capturing all the critical class lessons and sound bites. I even stay after to ask for notes on my performance. Yet, I still crave more and want to accelerate my learning beyond the pacing of one class a week. I ask Alan for private coaching and, while ..read more