A copy of John Yorke's Into the Woods, a PS4 controller and PS4 games

STORY for COMMUNICATIONS

Use the psychology of story to engage your teams and help your leaders lead

We are experts in the science of storytelling, with unique experience using story to improve communications and leadership skills.

This online training will engage and enthuse your teams. Over four weeks you’ll work within a small group to practise practical ways of using story to motivate, encourage and unite your workforce – and learn lessons from Hollywood to apply in the workplace.

Find your story to:

Build stronger teams, motivate and retain people
Gain a competitive edge
Solve business problems
Identify communication issues and silos
Tell better brand stories
Communicate your corporate strategy internally

We employ the world’s most effective storytellers to teach you the building blocks of story science, using real-life examples from businesses who get their story right. We’ll equip you with a kit of practical story skills that work like magic in every role and workplace.

Our team has produced stories loved by millions across the globe, and is powered by the world’s leading platform for creative online learning.

This online course will be CPD accredited and it runs once per quarter each year.

NEXT COURSE

Start date:	TBC
Duration:	4 weeks
Skill level:	Professional development
Held:	Weekly
Sessions:	4
Price:	£1,500 (inc. VAT where applicable)

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John Yorke

Director

Richard Benson

Tutor

Maud Dromgoole

Moderator

Organisations our tutors have worked with

Find out why it’s useful to think of your team as The Spice Girls, or the cast of Oceans Eleven…

- Richard Benson, brand and business writer

This online training is for anyone involved in internal communications. It shows you how to use the science and psychology of storytelling to motivate, engage and unite employees, with practical ways to apply story skills to enhance group-working and staff retention, encourage strong leadership, and improve change management and problem-solving in the workplace.

We teach this course in groups of up to 15 people. You can book as an individual or block-book a dedicated class exclusively for your team.
We require 3 hours engagement per week, at a time to suit you.

On completion, participants receive a certificate of completion evidencing their learning and CPD study hours.

The course is suitable for:

HR professionals
Team leaders
Those transitioning from management to leadership
Organisations undergoing change or developing new ways of working
Remote teams looking for ways to increase ‘togetherness’
Anyone looking to learn more effective ways to communicate at work

Over four weeks, you’ll learn the building blocks of story science, and how to use it to build more effective teams and counter internal comms problems like silos, poor communication, resistance to change and demotivation. We’ll look in detail at team-building, problem-solving, valuing every individual and uniting staff around a company story. By the end of the course you’ll have a plan to improve your organisation’s internal comms, plus a kit of practical story tools that work.

Week 1: Why Stories Mean Success

We’ll introduce you to the science of why stories unite groups and show how leaders in successful businesses use them to bond staff and encourage strong leadership. Examples from Patagonia, Dove, Ritz Carlton, BBC. This session is also about getting to know the other participants in your group.

Week 2: Find Your Company Story

You’ll learn how to find your organisation’s story — and easy ways to align it with corporate strategy and plans in a way everyone can connect with. Examples from Coca-Cola, Braun, NHS, Starbucks. We’ll also look at empathy and how to enthuse staff using story ‘hooks’.

Week 3: The Characters in Your Story Team

Why everyone should have their own role in your company story, and how to use story science to establish roles, build teams and combat internal in-fighting. Examples from Mars Foods, Olympic Team GB, Lego – and the Spice Girls. You’ll pull together an ideal department team as if casting a heist movie, and look at practical ways to empower individuals to use their personality to grow the company story together.

Week 4: Overcoming Obstacles with Story

We’ll look at how companies become stronger by engaging with and overcoming problems, the power of the external threat, and why the most successful teams are united by a common enemy. Examples from Apple, M&S, Amazon – and Jurassic Park. Story techniques include practical ways to tackle the biggest problems in internal comms: silos and poor communication, change, and demotivation. By the end of this session you will have an action plan for improving three key problems in your company’s comms. At the end of the course you’ll submit this real-world plan for feedback from your tutor. You will receive a certification of completion at the end of the course, evidencing CPD learning hours.

This isn’t video or Zoom learning – it’s much more engaging, and makes the learning stick more effectively.

Each week, log into our online classroom at any time that suits you to work through the learning materials and practical assignments, discuss ideas and chat about the session topic with a small, friendly group of learners. Upload your final assignment by the end of the week, for individual and group feedback from your tutor, who is on hand all week to answer questions and guide you through the learning.

WHAT our STUDENTS SAY

So many business briefs can be unambitious, and would benefit from being challenged. This course gives a good framework for making those challenges.

Richard

I’ve learned that people remember things much better when they’re presented as a story – and I’ve found this really useful when working with my teams. The course exercises were also really fun, and I’ve been able to take them into the workplace.

Emily

I am already putting the learnings into place and the stimulus I have gained from the course has set me on the path to a number of new collaborations at work. I’ll really miss the course and the challenge it has provided.

Sam

I had never thought about work in terms of story elements – I’ve always just done things based on instinct and judged them on whether they hit home. So I’m finding this course hugely illuminating and it’s already causing me to think differently.

Dan

Our ARTICLES on BUSINESS WRITING

Five-act story structure changed the way I approached SEO content writing

Where Robbie was working as an SEO content writer, ‘content’ just meant something you shoved in a space when the web designer was done. But then he signed up for our Story for Communications training course. Here’s what he learned.

The one story ingredient that can dramatically improve your pitches

Creativity and business are often seen as completely separate things, but the two should really go hand in hand. Here’s a few simple ways to bring creativity and storytelling into your business pitches to boost impact.

Why three-act business stories don’t work anymore

Want to craft a successful story about a business, brand or product? Our Story for Communications course tutor Richard Benson explains how writing business stories in five acts creates more impact than three, and why all businesses must understand why good story structure can build effective, emotional connections with their audience.

STORY for COMMUNICATIONS