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Guest: Don Yaeger, a Hall of Fame keynote speaker, a business leadership coach, and a 12-time New York Times best-selling author. Don is the host of the highly rated Corporate Competitor Podcast and National Geographic’s Storyteller in Residence. He’s also a longtime associate editor for Sports Illustrated and one of America’s premier thought leaders on storytelling, leadership, and greatness.
Overview: Your company’s tech stack needs AI integration. But stories are like software for the brain. Once you’ve uploaded them, they can be recalled and replayed to inspire action in your audience again and again.
On today’s show, Don Yaeger discusses the art and impact of storytelling. We explore how mastering this skill can transform your business, your leadership, and your personal life. We also talk about why storytelling is one of the most powerful leadership tools available to you and how it can help drive meaningful action and Make BIG Happen.
To get a jump start on improving your own storytelling skills, download Don’s 45 Questions to Help You Develop Your Story Bank.
Don Yaeger on three elements that unsuccessful storytellers often get wrong:
“ Number one, they haven’t done enough research to know their audience. Who am I talking to? What can I know about them? Why do they need to listen to me? You do some research.
“The second piece of that is you look for what you have in common with them. If I can point out some element of commonality between me and a member of the audience, it immediately makes them hear me differently. Nothing makes someone more interested in you than when they realize you’ve shown interest in them. And you show interest in them by doing some research about who they are and who you’re with. And then once you do that, you’re able to ask better questions. You’re able to say things that leave a more lasting impact, but it’s because you’ve done the research, you’ve established common ground, and then you’ve come to that center core.
“The other one is, most don’t have an explicit call to action. If you’re really telling a story for impact, you should know, as the storyteller, what you want the listener to do, think, or feel when they’re done listening to you. And good storytellers don’t leave that to chance. They are intentional in making sure you do, think, or feel what it is they want from you.”
Don Yaeger on how facts fit into a persuasive story:
“ We’ve got to know our audience. And we’ve got to know what we want them to do, think, or feel. Everything that happens between there needs to be in service of those two things. You may have an audience that’s filled with financial advisors and facts might actually mean a lot more to them than they could mean to the single mom who you might be trying to work with, who doesn’t really have a great sense of financial understanding. So know your audience and then I’ll tell you what facts and what things you can use. But then also, what do you want them to do, think, or feel? And if you glaze their eyes over with statistics, you’re not going to be able to get them to do, think, or feel anything. You’re going to lose them in that process. So every detail, every fact should be in service of those two endpoints. Ask yourself, ‘Does the sharing of that detail add to the credibility of my story? Does that fact mean something to them?’ Sometimes you can load too many facts and statistics and you actually clutter your story as opposed to adding credibility to it. Everything you do should add to the credibility of what you’re trying to get them to. You need to make sure you’re thinking about your audience and your call to action.”
Don Yaeger on improving your storytelling:
“I’m a self-improvement junkie. I don’t think you ever quite get there. I think when you believe you’ve arrived, you’re probably starting to fade. So I’m always working on all of it. I’m trying to figure out, how do I build? How do I make sure that pause is just the right length? How do I make sure that what I do doesn’t step on the opportunity to let somebody laugh and breathe and maybe enjoy something for a second? How do I make sure that I’m creating the right emotional balance that exists in a story? You don’t want people to be too sad for too long or laughing so much for so long that you can’t bring them into your call to action. So you need to have a little bit of balance in the way you tell a story. I’m working on it all the time, all of it. Every great storyteller that I’ve spent time with will tell you the same thing. They’re constantly working to get better at it.”
Links:
Secrets to Perfecting Your Pitch – At a recent Make BIG Happen Summit, LaQuita Cleare provided a hands-on workshop for CEOs on how to successfully sell your brand message to customers, pitch to investors, and communicate with impact.
5 Essential Skills for the Modern CEO in 2025 – Improving your communication skills is just one area CEOs need to develop in order to keep pace in this rapidly changing business environment.
About CEO Coaching International
CEO Coaching International works with CEOs and their leadership teams to achieve extraordinary results quarter after quarter, year after year. Known globally for its success in coaching growth-focused entrepreneurs to meaningful exits, the firm has coached more than 1,500+ CEOs and entrepreneurs across 100+ industries and 60 countries. Its coaches—former CEOs, presidents, and executives—have led businesses ranging from startups to over $10 billion, driving double-digit sales and profit growth, many culminating in eight, nine, or ten-figure exits.
Companies that have worked with CEO Coaching International for two years or more have achieved an average revenue CAGR of 31% (2.6X the U.S. average) and an average EBITDA CAGR of 52.3% (more than 5X the U.S. average).
Discover how coaching can transform your leadership journey at ceocoachinginternational.com.
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