Being a Flow based storyteller
comes down to The Three Ps

Priming

What you do to drop into a peak state of creativity and presence.

Whether that’s for a deep dive morning writing session where you crank out 5000 words, or stepping onto the biggest stage of your career and get a standing ovation from 5000 people.
‍

Plot

It’s the scaffolding of our lives. We literally live within and through stories.

When you get your plot structure right you can move mountains. When you get it wrong you lose people midway. But dialing your plot to its essentials takes skill and practice.

Process

The way you go from blank page to a tightly structured narrative that changes the world.

No writer’s block. Simple chunks of 6 page stories that take you from an elevator pitch all the way to a turn key 75,000 word book.
‍
‍

How would I know about any of this?

Words, written and spoken, have always been at the center of my life.

I learned from some of the best, studying under a National Book Award winning poet, a two-time Pulitzer finalist, and a MacArthur Genius.

Then I got to hone those skills by sharing them with others.

Spending over a decade teaching undergrads and A.P. students best practices in clear academic writing. Forensic-level revisions to make things sing.

A labor of love that once I’d experienced as a student, felt obliged to share as a teacher!

Then, investing another decade coaching CEOs on strategic narrative for their companies and keynotes. And advising the biggest marketing agencies in the world.

Responsible for tens of millions in revenue and capital raised. Writing two global bestselling books, (one of which was nominated by Harper Collins for a Pulitzer in non-fiction) and ghost-writing a New York Times bestseller.

And along the way winning standing ovations and “best talk of the conference” around the world.

Whether speaking or writing, the process is exactly the same.

And it doesn't require memorizing every word and gesture and then trying desperately to not sound like a robot when you finally get onstage.

So in this course, I’m going to share for the first time how it all fits together into one simple, flexible system that lets you permanently level up as a communicator.

Because at the end of all the proverbial days, it doesn’t matter what your chosen medium or professional identity is:

Success all comes down to our ability to tell stories that move people to action. That's it!

Whether you’re a leader rallying the troops through a downturn, or you’re pitching your editor on a new book, or you’re trying to change the world from a stage, we’re always telling stories, and we’re always trying to galvanize people into action.

How does The Power of Story work?

Live Weekly Content & Exercises

You'll join weekly 60-90 minute Zoom calls with Jamie for the storytelling training.

In addition to the core content, we'll share book lists, readings, plug and play templates, and checklists.

Create Your 20 Slide Wireframe

By the end of the course, you'll have a functional deck that you can use to deliver:

A 3 min elevator pitch, a 15-20min TED talk, an hour long keynote, and compelling book proposal for a dialed 60-75,000 word book.

Spot Coaching on Your Work

Jamie will provide direct feedback on your ideas and communication, helping you refine your voice, strengthen your narrative, and overcome creative blocks.

It's real-time support to ensure you make consistent progress on becoming a great speaker and writer.

Whether you’re in the hot seat or in the peanut gallery, these unscripted edit sessions are where the magic happens.

Focused Writing Groups

Writing is typically a solo activity – but learning to write is better together.

You can meet each week and workshop your material with other industry experts and peers.

And you’ll get better at hearing your own words by listening to (and editing) others.

APPLY NOW

In This Course,
You Will...

Build Your Story Once,
Use it Every Time

Pitches, presentations, books, blogs, and podcasts. You’ll create a flexible story wireframe to take any shape you need – from 3 min pitch to full length book. All without frantic rewrites or staying up all night to build a custom version.

Present At Your Best
At Any Moment

Learn the tools to give a top-rated keynote any time – if you’ve got 30 minutes to prepare, we’ll show you how to nail a coherent talk that delivers. We don’t all have the luxury of 6 months notice – most of our opportunities show up for those brave enough to say “yes!”

Never Lose Your Place

We’ll teach you how to build a Memory Palace (hiding in plain sight) – right there in your keynote slides! Never wonder about your speaker’s notes or memorizing lines again. Be 100% present to your audience, and connect to them in the moment.

Become a Storytelling Expert

Discover the Three Key Frameworks so you know exactly what to say and how to say it. You'll know exactly how to craft memorable, influential narratives. First time, every time. You’ll cut your prep time in half, and double the effectiveness of your messaging.

APPLY NOW

The Curriculum: What's Inside?

WEEK 1

Create Your Elevator Pitch

You'll craft a compelling and concise elevator pitch, optimizing for resonance with your audience. Whether raising money, giving a talk, or building your brand, your pitch is the first step to inspiring others into action (including saying “yes” to you!).

WEEK 2

Wire Your Wireframe

You'll add structure to your narrative through clear wireframes to reference, remember and build on your core ideas. This compresses your points in a way that you'll never forget – boosting your confidence on stage and clarity of your message.

Plus it leverages Aristotle’s Three Act Structure to ensure your meme-slinging goes straight into the brian hole of readers and viewers. See Also: Three Little Pigs, et al.

WEEK 3

Write Your 500-Word Narrative

This week, you'll write a 500-word narrative. It will force you to get tight on your writing, prioritize ideas, and lay out your master argument in two shining double-spaced pages. Using the frameworks you've built, you'll craft a concise story that weaves together your big idea, main points, and springboard stories.

And then we’ll EDIT them. That’s why we keep it short! Using the best cheat sheet from my MacArthur genius advisor in grad school. (and the only academic to get her pieces published unedited in the NYT!). The real poet says “blue” not “azure!” – Virginia Woolf. Hemingway kept it equally tight. You can (and will) too.

WEEK 4

Building Your Accordion Slide Deck

Now you’ll sex the whole thing up with those “worth a thousand words” pictures. You’ll learn how to build a Memory Palace with your slide deck so you never need to remember your speech again (and can deliver without rehearsing on a moment's notice). And you’ll also design this deck so it works for ANY opportunity or engagement.

Got a chance to pitch or speak and you were expecting an hour but only have 15 min? No problem, hide every fourth slide and you can instantly collapse your keynote into a TED talk. Or thought you had 15 min and instead have to chase a CEO, funder, donor, publisher down the elevator? No problem. You’ve got your opening Big Idea and stickiest pitch on lock.

Build it once using the Accordion Method. Use if for everything. Sleep on your plane rides, instead of frantically rewriting your deck for every occasion.

WEEK 5

The Carpentry Method

Here, you’ll learn to work in stages – from blueprints and foundations to framing and finishing. You’ll balance creativity and structure and overcome common pitfalls. This eliminates writer’s block/overwhelm and makes sure you don’t end up with a kickass intro and Chapter 1 (that you’ve polished a hundred times) and drop off the cliff by the back end of the book (due to deadlines and exhaustion).

We’ll also cover the crucial first three minutes on stage, what to always say and what to never say. How to connect viscerally with your audience, which microphones work and which ones to avoid. Where to put your hands, and how to end with a bang.

WEEK 6

Mastering Storytelling and Pitching

To close, we’ll run proven frameworks over your work like the Three-Act Structure and Pixar Method. We’ll do final presentations with live feedback throughout – so you can improve your pitch in real time. Twenty slides. Twenty second auto-advance per slide. 6 min 40 sec of runaway train you’ve got to stay on top of.

Nothing like the fire of training with an audience to hone your craft, and you’ll get invaluable feedback to make your story sing.

You’ll wrap this course, have pressure tested your ideas, tightened your argument, nailed your structure and honed your presentation. Your next steps will be to take that stage, sign that book deal, and get cracking.

APPLY FOR THE POWER OF STORY

A bit about the impact on culture
Jamie's words have had...

"A beautifully written, must-read for anyone interested in living up to their full potential."

Peter Diamandis

Founder, X Prize

"A wonderful job of balancing the promises, perils, and how-to prescriptions of engineering peak states such as 'flow'."

Tim Ferriss

Entrepreneur, NY Times Best Selling Author & Host of The Tim Ferriss Show

“A savvy, intriguing and novel roadmap to self-renewal. And it’s packed with literary, cultural, historical and biological references as well. You won’t forget this gem––it’s a fascinating read.”

Dr. Helen Fisher

‍Senior Research Fellow, The Kinsey Institute

“Meticulously researched and innovatively conceptualized... a manual to getting more: out of your body, your mind, and your happiness.”

Neil Strauss

NYT best-selling author

“A book on the biggest sort of thinking, written by an author with an eye for what matters, an ear for story and a mind for the sublime."

David Eagleman

Neuroscientist at Stanford

"[Stealing Fire] is an excellent book on the power of meditation and alternate states of consciousness on performance."

Joe Rogan

Host, The Joe Rogan Experience

Who is this not for?

You’re curious but not committed to actually writing or speaking.

A prerequisite is that you have, or are able to select a real world deliverable that you need to ship/share/publish within the next twelve months.

You’re yearning to write the Great American Novel.

We won’t be covering fiction, dialogue, and character development.

‍

You’re an “artiste” who insists that any structure and process cramp your innate creative flow.

We 100% feel you, but we subscribe to the sonnet/haiku model where constraints increase creativity, rather than stifle it. Give it a go, we bet you’ll love it!

You’re not up for/open to laser-focused feedback and revision.

As Terry Tempest Williams wrote, “your first draft is something you hate, and keep revising until you don’t.” Or as Faulkner (supposedly) said, “murder your darlings!”
‍

Frequently Asked Questions

Is this online?

﹀

Yes! This course is entirely online – you can participate from anywhere in the world.

Who else will be in the class?

﹀

You'll meet other leaders, speakers, and writers passionate about crafting compelling stories to inspire others.

How much time will it take?

﹀

We designed this course to to fit into your busy schedule, with approximately 1 hour of live sessions per week and recommended 1 hour of writing practice per day.

I'm writing a book, does this apply to me?

﹀

Absolutely. This course will help you shape your book’s narrative and ensure your message resonates deeply with your readers.

I'm not writing a book, does this apply to me?

﹀

Yes! Whether you're speaking, leading, or writing, the techniques we teach are applicable to any medium.

APPLY FOR THE POWER OF STORY

The Power of Story

The Power of Story

This course might be up your alley

The Power of Story

Strategic Narrative for Speakers, Leaders and Writers

Over 6-Weeks, Learn to Craft Compelling Narratives So You Can Build An Audience, Launch Your Book or Give a Top Rated Keynote

We don't rise to the occasion, we sink to our training. So the only solution for effective leaders these days? Hope for the best, and train for the worst.

How would I know about any of this?

What is The Power of Story?

Your wireframe then
unpacks like nesting dolls –
you'll be ready for any project