Discover the secrets of powerful storytelling and elevate your communication to move mountains and drive action.
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This course might be up your alley.
Because the secret to powerful, effective storytelling? (spoken or written)
It’s not fifty cent words and flowery modifiers.
As Virginia Woolf once said,“The real poet says ‘blue’ not ‘azure.’”
It’s definitely not that new AI chatbot plugin.
It’s not smoking butts and pounding stale coffee.
It’s not even memorizing every word and gesture and then trying desperately to not sound like a robot when you finally get onstage.
(And who has weeks to prepare like that in the real world anyway???)
The world isn't getting any simpler, and the tools to keep up are becoming outdated faster than ever.
You used to win playing Battleships with your dad.
Today you're playing Call of Duty with the world. (and you just got smoked by a kid in his bedroom halfway around the world ;)
The old models aren’t any good for predicting and controlling what’s coming––they're too slow and clumsy to respond.
Well, words, written and spoken have always been at the center of my life.
I got to learn from some of the best, studying under a National Book Award winning poet, a two-time Pulitzer finalist, and a MacArthur Genius.
But 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.
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 along the way winning standing ovations and “best talk of the conference” around the world.
But here’s the thing: whether you’re looking to write your breakout book, tell your company story, or deliver a talk that goes viral, the process is surprisingly similar.
So in this course, I’m gonna 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 save the world from a stage, we’re always telling stories, and we’re always trying to galvanize people into action.
•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).
• 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!”
1) This is NOT going to be therapy for tortured creatives, and oversharing will be strictly corralled. We're here to build something and refine something and that takes focus. Backstory not required! Your work can/should/must speak for itself! No #chattycathys
2) If you're bringing a work in progress, you MUST be willing to rethink it, break it apart into its component LEGO blocks and reassemble significantly. Most writers and speakers' first failure point is getting their altimeter wrong–they zoom way in and get lost in details, or they blow past something amazing at 100K feet. Your title may become a chapter. A sentence may become your thesis. Be prepared to break a few crooked bones to reset them straight again.
3) You're not willing to honor the 6:1 ratio. That's six hours of independent work for every hour we're together! MINIMUM. (that works out to an hour a day for the six weeks of the program, or one work week of 42 hours to get your dream project to the starting line–not a bad bargain!) More time if you want your product to be truly great. All we can get accomplished via digital screens is introducing your next step, troubleshooting common issues and turning you loose to get in your reps.But get them in you simply must!
4) You show up as a Knower and Hold Forth on Other's Work. This is HumbleTown and we're going to be working a system. Show up and help others and you will be helped! Your feedback as a reader will be essential to help your classmates clarify their writing. Your feedback as a writer? Show how good a writer you are, but don't tell others about it!
5) You're not willing to diligently workshop others' material. The only way we can manage a digital writers' room and help you get the laps in you need is for you all to break out and practice with and on each other. That means honoring deadlines, doing the work, and showing up for each other! And there is NO faster way to develop your ear for your own writing mistakes than practicing on other peoples'.
6) You're not willing to actually invest in bringing your own project into the world.We've decided to make this as accessible as possible (at half the tuition of our leadership course) for a course that's going to take four times as much of my time!
So you need to match that commitment with your own investment in getting your project into the world.
After all, what's it costing you to spend the rest of its life in a drawer?
Weekly Zoom calls (60-90 minutes with Jamie), book lists, readings, plug and play templates, and checklists.
By the end of the course, you'll have a functional deck that you can use to deliver a TED talk (15-20 minutes), Keynotes (45 minutes), Business Pitches (5-20 minutes), and Book Proposals for a tightly structured 60-75K word book.
• Your Elevator Pitch (what's this speech/book/pitch all about in 2-3 catchy sentences)
• Your Big Idea in Under 150 words
• Your Three Main Points for your speech or Sections of the Book
• The Three Sub Points for each Main Point (or chapters in a section)
• Your Mic Drop Conclusion
Jamie is an expert in peak performance and leadership, specializing in neuroanthropology, the intersection of culture, biology and psychology.
He has advised everyone from the U.S. Naval War College and Special Operations Command, the athletes of Red Bull, to the executives of Google, Goldman Sachs, Deloitte, Cisco, and YPO. His work and thought leadership has been covered in The New York Times, Financial Times, WIRED, Entrepreneur, HBR, Forbes, INC, & TED.
Welp, then consider this deck a wireframe, a vision board, a lively and flexible digital creative tool.
From here, you can either perfect your presentation and hit the stage, or start busting out a tight 60-75K word book with punchy 1500 word sections that all add up to a kickass and readable 200-250 page book.
Plus, if you ever want anyone to read that precious book, you WILL be talking about it, all the time.
To get an agent. To get a publisher. For press, for podcasts, and for readers who just wanted to skim the good parts.
Sorted?
Good, now let's clarify a few other things so we all know exactly what we're getting into...This course will NOT contain:
• All the other marketing details necessary for a go to market book proposal (but we can share resources you can use to fill that stuff in)
• Graphic design instruction (though between Canva and AI you can get a long way these days and we will be strongly encouraging visual aids and images as part of your creative process)
• Actual chapters of your book (this would be available for 1:1 or small cohort follow up, but not in the scope for this initial course–but we're getting you right to the doorstep of logging consistent 500 words a day writing schedules)
• Coaching on your live speaking (our job is to dial the details, get your structure and presentation singing, and teach you to build a format that strongly supports dynamic and memorable presentation. Turning that into a kickass stage presence is a next step (but will happily share all my tips and tricks!)
• My recommendations, blurbs or intros to agentsme coming on your podcast or guest posting on your Substack
• Any magic writerly mojo transfer from me to you. I'll share with you from my heart, head and experience. But the quality of your own ideas and words will make or break what is yours to share!
So in sum, this program is for doers not "someday-maybe-ers."
We will be working, revising, editing, thinking, revising, and revising to get to great. (one mentor said until you've got at least eleven revisions you're not even close)This is a commitment in time, investment and courage (for all of us!)
The payoff? A structurally tight, thematically coherent, punchy story that's yours to tell, sell and birth into the world.
The mechanics behind personal and professional change
And how to shift towards continual growth by default.
Build intellectual, emotional and physical resilience
For when things get unstable. You'll learn to handle challenges with confidence, keep a clear mind and inspire your team.
Map and neutralize tribal politics
Once and for all with three simple questions.
Skillfully deepen (rather than mess up) relationships
And establish healthy boundaries with colleagues.
Manage conflicting paradoxes
And the power of polarities to solve wicked problems.
The most potent tool outside a therapy couch for understanding self sabotage
For you and your company's blind spots.
Develop radical hope and lead from a deep sense of courage
That extends out to your family, organization, community and the world.
Uncover unconscious biases (that are likely stifling your leadership decisions)
With a few highly potent perspective shifts
With rock-solid daily routines, you'll prime yourself for flow and peak experiences regularly.
Synthesized from the endless amount of information online, in books, papers and podcasts, we'll show you what actually works, and how to optimize routines for your life.
We'll do a deep dive into not just flow, but respiration training, and a bonus lesson on how controversial and misunderstood topics like sexuality and substances fit in.
Just like our calendars, our lives exist within seasons. If we plan them right, we can build a virtuous cycle of high performance on a weekly, monthly, quarterly and annual level.
There’s a sneaky move that many marketers make for workshops, masterminds and trainings, and that’s this:
They price their programs exorbitantly high but then frame that cost as a downpayment on your future success.
What’s ten grand among friends, if you’re practically guaranteed to follow this simple fool proof method to earn a million next year???
If you’re still not sold, the most aggressive might even call you out as having a “scarcity mindset” and imply you’re clearly not ready for the unlimited abundance their program will unleash (in easy monthly payments).
Needless to say, we’re not going anywhere near that riff––for two reasons:
One, it just feels icky.
We’re here to train homegrown humans who stand on their own two feet and you don’t get that by knocking people off balance first.
And two, what we teach doesn’t have a direct connection to earning more money, so any correlations could never be proven as causations. It’s bad science.
So, to be super clear, we DON'T teach you how to make 6 figures in your pajamas.
We DO teach you how to align your life’s energy with your life’s purpose.
And to advocate and negotiate for your worth.
And to build mansions out of time (balance your life and time with your output and earnings).
What happens then is… people switch careers, quadruple their earnings, take buyouts, double down on passions, invent new entrepreneurial things....
None of that's guaranteed, but these are the things we consistently see in our community. We just don’t plan them.
But it’s not an accident either. They are a logical and predictable outcome of the other work we do:
Helping folks de-program themselves from the hamster wheel of 21st century normal.
And giving them the tools to expand their perception, boost their vitality, clarify their purpose, negotiate conflict, step beyond dramas, and increase autotelic experiences.
(That’s the fun stuff––the flow states, and other super rewarding moments we live for).
You’re healthier, happier, more focused and often more powerful. And you’re surrounded by a community of solid folks doing the same.
So that’s the "What’s in it for Me?" potential, and some of the possible payoffs.
Your mileage will vary!
Jamie interviews a Principal at Deloitte, Mike Jeurgens along with the former Head of Global Hospitality and Strategy at Airbnb, Chip Conley.
Each are aimed at providing actionable advice for both making an impact within large organizations along with inspiring deep transformation among teams.
Develop a simple but effective preparatory practice you can use before any high-stakes personal or professional encounter to put you in the best possible frame of physical and psychological readiness.
We'll breakdown the 4 ways to prime yourself for peak performance states, combining breathwork, nutrition, movement and music.