The world needs your voice. I help visionary leaders change the world through play, human centered storytelling, and thought leadership. If you are an executive, founder, researcher, or innovator, you have the opportunity (dare I say responsibility) to share your findings with the world and add your unique insights to the collective pool of knowledge.
Impact comes from inspired action. Inspired action comes through the emotional connection to an imagined outcome. Imagined outcomes result from your audience feeling something. Making them feel something is a result of world class storytelling and unparallel stage presence.
This is where I add value.
You are the expert on your big idea. Let me help you bring that idea to life.
Tell me if this sounds familiar… You have an awesome opportunity to share your big idea, so you get to work writing your talk. Weeks later, you step on stage, you present your talk, and it’s…fine. The audience left informed, but not necessarily inspired. You leave feeling okay, but incomplete. There’s a predictable process that I have seen over and over which leads to this outcome.
See, what often happens when visionaries like yourself craft a talk, is they default to linear storytelling, an over reliance on data, incorporating far too much detail with far too little context, and, most importantly, neglect the emotional experience of the audience. This is the key to influence and engagement.
A well designed talk delivered at a world class level has the power to change the world.
Client Case Studies
The COO of a newly acquired EdTech startup was in full rapid growth mode.
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The company acquisition was rather high profile and she was often the public facing executive tasked with interviews and keynotes to promote the company. She reached out with the understanding that no matter how “good” you are, you can always benefit from a coach. All-star performers know this. After our first session, it became clear that she was really good, but I wanted to get her into world class territory. She was overly consistent. There was authenticity, but very little deviation in how she delivered her talk. I knew something was missing. My goal was to make her mess. We used children’s playing cards to get her out of her comfort zone.
This accomplished several key outcomes:
• It improved her mental agility and creative thinking
• It invited her imagination as an active and abundant resource
• It conditioned her out of perfection and into play, thereby increasing her confidence and effectiveness
• Pro-Tip: Always stay consistent in your message, but never script what you’re going to say
The GM of an international luxury hotel brand was afraid to speak in public.
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The hotel emerged from the pandemic stronger than ever, with a solid team and a revitalized brand narrative for how they were going to move forward. My client was asked to deliver a company-wide talk on the new brand vision. He enrolled me to help design the talk and increase his confidence in delivery. After a few sessions, I realized he was holding onto control for dear life. He was stiff in his body, monotone in his voice, and stuck in his head. There was no use continuing to practice the talk in the traditional way. I directed him to buy a mini trampoline and from then on, we rehearsed by bouncing on the trampoline.
This accomplished several key outcomes:
• It invited silliness into the seriousness, an essential ingredient for success
• It loosened his body and engaged his breath
• It got him out of his head and connected to what he was saying
• Pro-Tip: Play first, polish last
The CTO of a major creator platform was swept up into the company’s desire to increase visibility and establish themselves as the leading voice of the creator economy.
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He was being sent to speak at conferences like SXSW and WebSummit and needed support to deliver at the highest level. We determined that we could use this as an opportunity to not only amplify the work of the company, but to start to embed narrative around his own thought leadership. So we brought in the Signature Talk Framework, my tool for always knowing what to say.
This accomplished several key outcomes:
• It essentialized his vision into a concrete anchor statement that could be used across a myriad of opportunities, such as panels, keynotes, and fireside chats
• It deliberately invited structure and the potential to improvise
• It brought him as a speaker to life in a much more authentic way and activated more dynamic tone and gesture as a result
• Pro-Tip: If you don’t know why you’re talking, you’ll never remember what to say
Work with me.
When are we most at ease?
When we are at play.
Play is the first thing we learn how to do. It is our portal into understanding the world around us and making sense of the unfamiliar. We leverage play in very deliberate ways throughout our developmental years. Then at some point, we lose our sense of play. The wonder we had for the world becomes replaced with a desire for certainty, predictability, and perfection. We become tense and hardened against the unknown and cloak ourselves in a version fit for the grown up world. We lose access to an essential aspect of the human experience, the thing that allows us to adapt, change, transform, collaborate, fail, and succeed. Play is the necessary ingredient for transcending the practical path before you and bringing about the impact you want to see.
What you seek is already inside of you. Let’s work together to bring your big idea to life!
I’ve had workshops all over the world. Spreading the power of PLAY country by country.
United Kingdom • Netherlands • Bulgaria • Brazil • Germany
and counting…
Not quite ready to dive in? Wanna dip your toe? Check out my course, Thought Leadership Framework: Communicating with Purpose and always know what to say…
Always have the words to influence and build confidence in your leadership capabilities. This course is designed to give you the skills to be a better communicator in all aspects of life. You will learn how to craft your message with impact, engage with an audience, communicate effectively even when faced with challenging situations, and build trust through authenticity.
Or Buy my book
In The Confident Body: a functional approach to unlocking your full potential, Minna seeks to redefine confidence not as some subjective designation based on an idea of what confidence looks like, but rather as a perception based on a set of behaviors that we can all practice and embody. She promotes that confidence is available to everyone and everyone is capable of living in a confident body.
Play is at the heart of this practical approach for transformation, learning to do less and say yes to your life. Author Minna Taylor is on a mission to change the narrative and prove that fostering confidence is attainable for anyone who dares to unlock it.
