Meet Leadership Storytelling Coach, Jordan Bower:
I learned the art of storytelling once upon a time, when I spent a year walking by myself across America. On that trip, I realized that good storytelling was the difference between a wet night in my tent and a warm dinner inside with a new friend.
Over the last 10 years, I have helped thousands of clients become better storytellers at home and in business. As your leadership storytelling coach, I’ll help you zero in on great stories, make them clearer and more engaging, and help you learn the art and science of storytelling—so you too can fall in love with this remarkable human-centered skillset.
Contact Leadership Storytelling Coach
Jordan Bower
jordan@jordanbower.com
linkedin.com/in/jordan-bower-storyteller/
instagram.com/jobo.momentum
Work with Leadership Storytelling Coach Jordan Bower
Express yourself with greater humanity and creativity, and inspire others to listen—or to get on board.
Get Expert Storytelling Mentorship
I’ll be your instructor, coach and creative guide as you move along the journey towards better storytelling. I’ve worked with thousands of people: from CEOs to US Congressmen to speakers, authors and thought leaders. And, occasionally, folks who want to deliver a killer speech at a wedding.
Work on Your Real Stories
I see our work together as collaborative. I’ll provide a little theory and some well-timed examples. Together, we’ll apply them to the stories that are important to you. Whether you are working on a speech, a book or a creative vision for your business (or career), I’ll show you all the unexpected ways that storytelling can help.
Let’s Develop a Trusted Relationship
I know from experience that storytelling runs deep. More than “how” to tell the story, I’ll be there with you through the ups and down of writer’s block, supporting you as you build your creative confidence. Storytelling isn’t easy: it takes time, practice and loving guidance. It’s my honor to be your storytelling coach and guide.
“Jordan is unlike any coach or consultant I’ve met. He pushes me to go to entirely new dimensions creatively but always returns me to Earth so I can take practical steps forward.
Perhaps more unique, Jordan knows when to push me and when to let me find my own way. These gifts of his, over time, have created a very special kind of trust”
Matt Landau, Managing Partner, VRMB
The Juicy Details
How does storytelling coaching work?
I work with clients on many different types of “stories”. These can include:
Speeches and TED talks
Pitches and presentations
Leadership “origin stories”
Leadership “vision/purpose” stories
Leadership transformation stories
Company strategic narratives
Company sales narratives
Thought leadership articles
Book ideas and pitches
Basically, if it’s coming from a human being (you) and destined for another human being, I can help you make your messages more effective.
In a second, I’ll wax poetic about the process. But the most important thing for you to know is: I don’t have your answer about what good storytelling looks like for you, but I can work with you to help you discover it for yourself.
That’s because storytelling is a creative form—not Mad Libs. There’s no magic bullet to being engaging, motivational or inspiring, no matter what you read in the How To Guides. In fact, the more you rely on the How To Guides, the less motivational and inspiring you’re going to be.
I’ll bring a deep well of experience, tools, tricks, and techniques to your engagement that will help you learn the foundations and theory of storytelling. But it’s one thing to sell the paint, and it’s something different to be Picasso.
To me, being a storytelling coach is a little about teaching technique, and a lot about wooing out your inner storyteller. It’s a creative journey between coach and client, which, frankly, I love. My highest goal is to help you love it, too.
How do you structure your engagements as a storytelling coach?
The short answer is: it depends. I often start coaching engagements with a process that I call Discovery. Discovery will help us hone in on:
you and your goals
your current skill set
your vision for what you want to achieve
how much time and budget you have available
which parts of storytelling/effective communication you find most challenging
A good metaphor here is that the process is like starting to train at the gym. The first couple of sessions, you’ll see significant improvement as you start to understand how pervasive storytelling is in the world. Many people come in with the idea that “storytelling” only means telling a story, like a fairy tale, with a beginning, middle and end. They quickly realize that “storytelling” is actually a deep insight into human cognition, which means it tells us something essential about the ways our brains and our hearts work. They see that the science of storytelling has been around for so long that we’ve forgotten that it was ever a science. Rediscovering storytelling can be transformative.
Then, you hit the plateau. The gains come slower now. You start to realize that something about your own patterns needs to change. You need to fight the urge to gorge on all that overwhelming language, so you can learn to pause and serve up a sweet amuse bouche instead.
Small leaps can be achieved in 4 or 5 weeks. Bigger, more sustainable growth can take months.
During that time, we’ll work together in a variety of ways:
60 min Zoom calls. (I call these “coaching sessions”.)
Review of the materials you create, like written drafts, Powerpoint decks, visual stories, storytelling with data, and so on.
Other collaborative opportunities that will come up during the process
Homework, reading, and other relevant material review
Importantly, I will not lead you through a pre-defined curriculum. We will work together to create a curriculum tailored just for you.
“It’s not just that Jordan challenges me. It’s how he challenges me. He makes me feel safe, and he also pushes me to go someplace new.”
— CEO of a 12,000 person Health Care company
But surely you must have some curriculum, right? Otherwise how can I be sure that I will become a better storyteller?
If you haven’t done so already, I’d point you to my About Jordan page. There, you’ll learn a little about my journey to become a storyteller.
In brief, I’m mostly self-taught—which means that I’ve cobbled together my understanding of storytelling from a lot of theory and from the guidance of some excellent mentors. (I’d highly recommend Tom Schlesinger and Erwin Pearlman, who have both in their own ways changed my life.)
I’ve taken that foundation and applied it in myriad ways over the years. I like to joke that I’m a “storytelling chiropractor”: my job is to make micro-adjustments that will help you get your story straight. (I can’t do anything about your back.)
All that to say: I have plenty of tools. I see my role as assembling them uniquely for you—showing you how we can co-create your storytelling journey together.
Like every great story, my approach is as much felt/sensed as it is understood/theorized. That may or may not make sense. The best way to understand it is to book a session together, and you can assess my approach for yourself.
Who do you like to coach?
Let’s start with listing the job roles of people I have coached:
CEOs
C-Suite executives
VPs and Department Leaders
Entrepreneurs
Founders
Thought Leaders
Speakers
Influencers
US Congressman
On top of these, I have worked with sales team, marketing teams, innovation teams, finance teams, analyst teams, change teams, HR teams…
Basically, I can coach almost anyone.
But who do I like to coach?
I’ve coached folks from all genders, but for some reason, I particularly like helping men. I pride myself on my emotional IQ, and I love the challenge/results of developing intimacy and trust with another man—and helping him understand the practical applications of emotions, especially in a leadership role. Don’t get me wrong, I will happily coach you if you’re not a man.
I like coaching people who don’t think they are creative. The journey of discovering creativity can be liberating for many of us. It’s a real honor to help folks connect to their inner spark and bring it out into the world, in a highly practical way. Don’t get me wrong, I will happily coach creative folks too. But I like the challenge.
I like coaching people who have done some degree of personal work. You don’t have to have a shelf packed with self-help books. But storytelling is about you and the message you bring to the world—I vibe better with folks who have a message that is relatively heart-centered. But even if your goals are a little more, you know, capitalistic, I’d be happy to help. I think there’s soul in business, also.
I like coaching people who become friends. The older I get, the more I value the collaborative relationships that I discover in business. I love when I see a client’s name pop up on my calendar, and I start to look forward to speaking with them. Hopefully, that will happen between us also!
I like coaching people who have a vision of success. Ultimately, the best part of being a storytelling coach is hearing other people get great feedback—whether that means awesome reviews or standing ovations or whatever else. Storytelling is an advanced communications skill, and it can often be the secret to someone’s success. It would be my honor to help you get there!
“Jordan knows his stuff inside and out, and he communicates it wonderfully.”
— SVP, Canadian Tire Triangle Learning Academy
Pricing
Creativity + Storytelling Power Hour
US$350
This is a one-off, “I need a storyteller’s help fast” option that I offer to people who:
Need some creative guidance
Want a kick start
Want to figure out what’s stopping your progress
Want recommendations for further resources and reading
Have something coming up, like, tomorrow and want a few tips and tricks.
Introductory Storytelling Engagement (Personal)
US$1,800
Many of my client engagements start like this.
You’ve got something specific you’re working on.
You want to learn some storytelling basics along the way.
You have some level of agency over the structure/direction of your story.
Intro Engagements generally include six 60-min sessions. I call them “personal” because they tend to focus on your delivery and your ability to connect, rather than higher-level, more strategic narratives.
Generally, these clients are a little more junior in their career. They’re looking for some skill development, but you’re not yet ready to jump in whole hog and go on a full creative journey.
If this sounds like you, let’s book a 30 min intro call to see whether we vibe. I’ll probably quote this price posted at left.
Leadership Storytelling Engagement (Strategic/Visionary)
Depends on Your Goals
This is my Ferrari-level coaching model. These clients are looking for individual skill development in storytelling—but you also have agency over the larger strategic story of your team, organization or thought leadership.
You need to be a better communicator as part of your role today.
You need to be a better communicator as part of where you’ll be tomorrow.
You already communicate effectively, but you know there is a new level you can get to—and you need an expert to help you get there.
You want to raise the value of your overall strategic narrative… and you aren’t yet fully sure what that means.
These engagements are the most “creative”, in that they often catalyze new strategic directions for your team—and for yourself. The pricing is commiserate with the value that I think I’ll be able to provide. (We’ll structure it in a way that the ROI is eminently tangible.)
The timeline on these engagements is in the realm of months. I’ve worked with some of my most successful clients for years, like Matt Landau, who is a speaker, consultant, thought leader, retreat facilitator and shining star in his industry. Other clients have included CEOs, start-up founders, influencers, athletes, politicians…
The best way to start this engagement is also with an intro call:
Get in touch with Jordan
Let’s schedule a 30 min consultation to discuss your group, your goals, and how I might be able to help.
I’ve worked with thousands of clients at more than 100 companies around the world.
More FAQs
Mostly for SEO. (Sorry.)
-
Storytelling coaching is a personalized journey where you work one-on-one with your storytelling coach, Jordan Bower, to refine your communications skills. It’s a tailored experience designed to help you express yourself more effectively.
60-min Zoom Sessions are scheduled about every week or two. The content of these sessions is tailored by Jordan.
Generally, initial storytelling coaching engagements are about 6 sessions o 2-3 months.
-
This training takes a principle-based approach to business storytelling. That means the principles can be applied broadly to any kind of business communication. We address written and verbal communication in emails, reports, Powerpoint decks, presentations, videos, social media and much, much more.
-
Yes! The principles that you will learn apply to storytelling with data and other visuals. Feel free to bring your Excel files and slide decks! I will hep you find the story that resonates.
-
Yes! Storytelling coaching sessions are facilitated via Zoom or Teams, and supported with additional resources emailed to you before and after sessions.
-
Yes! I focus your storytelling coaching on the narratives that you are wanting to share right now. I help you find and hone your message, and optimize the delivery. Verbal, written, digital, in-person… I can help with it all!
-
I offer storytelling coaching sessions from the West Coast of Canada (Pacific Standard Time.)
-
SadIy, I only offer storytelling coaching sessions in English.
-
Initial engagements start from $2000.