Need a memorable story? Go on Safari

  • Do people start checking their phones under the table when you speak?
  • Do you feel like you’re writing the same story so often that even you’re bored with it?
  • Are you stuck in “tell” when you should be rocking “show”?

Whether you’re speaking or writing, it’s hard to capture people’s attention—and it’s even harder to keep it. I’ve spent the last 25 years making my clients—leading CEOs—memorable.

You don’t have the budget of a Fortune 100 CEO? Me neither. But your ideas are just as important as theirs.

You deserve to shine—to be heard, to get that promotion, to showcase your business, your ideas.

And if you’re ready to roll up your sleeves and work for a couple of days, I can help you discover how to do just that.

Come on safari with me. Story Safari.™

What’s a Story Safari™?

woman with binoculars and a camouflage hat

Not a photo of Elaine. Or, probably, of a safari.

If you’ve never heard of Story Safari™, that’s because I invented the term.

It’s about hunting for stories—real things that happen in the world or events in your daily life—that can help you find a new way into your message.

Your story is the ultimate edge: it’s something no one can take away from you. No one else can replicate. It’s what makes you so valuable.

Your story can help get you where you want to go, personally and professionally.

Say you want to talk about optimism. I’ll bet you usually start by Googling some inspirational quotes.

But everyone has access to the same internet—your audience is probably tired of reading the same rah-rah words. Because everyone always trots out the same ones.

Instead of Googling to find other people’s experiences, think through your own. For instance, I witnessed a great story about optimism at a baseball game last summer.

I sat next to a foreign tourist determined to catch a ball in her hat.

Since we were sitting right behind the foul screen, that was never going to happen. But every time someone hit a foul ball, she’d leap up and wave her hat in the air. Then she’d sit down and show me her empty hat, with a shrug. Until she leapt up again.

Is that a story about optimism? Or about delusion? Or about the way baseball transcends cultures? Yes, yes, and yes—it just depends on what concept I need it to illustrate.

And the best part is, no one else in the world can tell that story. It came from my observations, my perspective.

Wouldn’t you like to be able to do that too?

Skills you’ll use the rest of your life

Once you understand how Story Safari™ works, you will be able to find interesting angles for even the most ordinary subjects. And they’ll be unique angles—because they didn’t come from a book or a website, they came from your imagination.

Story Safari™ shows you how to infuse your own perspective into your writing. And when you write from your own perspective, you stand out. In a field of people spouting business jargon, you’ll be the one telling a compelling story. So you’ll be the one people will remember.

  • More memorable writing is more effective writing—your clients will be able to meet their objectives, and you’ll become invaluable to them.
  • Clearer writing takes less time to read and absorb—freeing your people to act on those “calls to action” you’re always writing about.
  • Stories embedded in your unique perspective will always be yours. No one can co-opt them to sideline you.

Let’s do this—in style

  • Are you ready take your stories from meh to memorable?
  • Are you ready to show people their world in a new light?
  • Are you ready to enjoy the writing you do, because it’s always new?

Then join me and a small group of adventurers April 26th-28th for a two-and-a-half day retreat entirely dedicated to Story Safari™.

I’ll show you how to uncover stories in your life, in the world around you, in the rabbit holes of the Internet that will change how your readers or listeners experience you and your work. I’ll also help you build the confidence to share your story—to claim your voice.

We will be at the only Forbes 5-Star Rated destination on Cape Cod, Wequassett Resort & Golf Club. They’re offering you a significant discount on their rooms, some of which have working fireplaces in case there’s a chill.

You’ll enjoy wandering the landscaped grounds or the beach. You’ll find plenty of landscaped nooks and water views to inspire you. The heated Olympic-length lap pool and the Jacuzzi will be open, as well as the waterfront fitness center and a lighted tennis court. And they are waiving the resort fee for us!

Stay an extra day or two and play a round at the Cape Cod National Golf Club, which is apparently one of the finest private courses in the country. (Don’t ask me; I’m a baseball gal.) The resort will honor our discount for three days before and after the program, so treat yourself to a week—or at least a long weekend—of luxury.

Your investment in the Retreat includes lunch on Thursday and Friday, coffee and tea (of course!) and afternoon snacks. And brunch on Saturday, so we can work straight through to our 2 pm finish. And—an event just for those of you staying at the hotel—we’ll meet for hors-d’oeuvres and conversation in the private dining room on the evening of the 25th and get to know each other a bit before we dive in the next morning.

Register before March 19th and your investment is just $2,497—and as a bonus, I’ll give you access to my yearlong program of “critical reading for grownups.” That’s a $297 value.

Click here to register

A few words from Elaine’s corporate clients:

“You have a terrific ear and you turn straight thinking into straight writing.” — Warren Buffett

“Elaine is a real pro, delivering quality writing with interesting stories in a timely fashion. I had the pleasure of working with Elaine for eight years in my role as Chief Ethics & Compliance Officer at Deloitte. During those years Elaine developed a number of interesting storylines to make my speeches ‘personal’ to the audience. She made the stories come alive!”—Michael Zychinski, ethics expert

“Story Safari works!”—a current corporate client

“In a world marked by tortured language and episodic thinking, Elaine brought bright and powerful language, a sense of humor, clear lines of argument, and poetic touch.” —Leo Corbett, financial services executive

And from clients of Elaine’s writing programs:

“As a scientist, I know the importance of wandering, of just getting out into the field and seeing what’s there. Writing daily created my field of ‘what’s there’ in my world. Now comes the ‘what next?’ and I feel I am well on my way. The interaction with you and with my colleagues and now friends from your courses has propelled me into writing a book I started and put on the back burner over a year ago.”—Jeffifer Shoemaker, Ph.D.

 

“Elaine is adept at creating thoughtful, entertaining content, and is just as creative when designing and delivering training. Elaine brings together the best of ‘old school’ (discipline, research, imagination) with a fun, approachable delivery that works for today’s audiences.”—Claire England, Communications executive

 

“Working with Elaine Bennett’s Story Safari™ process, I’m able to craft meaningful and fun blog posts that engage my readers in new ways.”—Diahana Barnes, success and business coach