Sessions that inspire, provoke, and connect.
THIRSTY-FISH delivers a range of keynote, workshop, and custom training sessions. We enjoy working with event producers to design session(s) that best meet the needs of their participants. Our expertise runs the spectrum of organizational storytelling — and includes topics such as branding, leadership, innovation, stakeholder engagement, and culture change.
Please drop us a note and let us know about the kind of event you are planning for. We’d be glad to discuss your needs further. Click here to schedule a conversation. You can also review some of our testimonials.
Past engagements include:Below are just some of the topics that THIRSTY-FISH is asked to present on. Each subject can be delivered in formats from 45-minute keynote sessions to multi-day learning programs. Workshop sessions are interactive, with audience participation, case examples, and reference handouts.
- American Society of Association Executives (ASAE)
- DC Mayor’s Office
- Digital Storytelling Festival
- Innovation Convergence (IIR USA)
- OD Network Annual Conference
- Mattel
- Maryland Nonprofits Conference
- National Governors Association
- NASA Linking Leaders
- Smithsonian Organizational Storytelling Conference
- The Nature Conservancy
- YWCA
Brand Storytelling: Brands and the People Who Love Them
Why are some brands deeply engaging, while others fail to make a lasting impression? In this session, we explore the heart of brand storytelling and the growing influence of brands on people’s lives. The session covers a wide range of popular culture examples and offers participants a set of principles for how to activate passion and engagement from their brands’ core constituents.
The Story Generation: How to Market to and Engage Gen Y
Learn how to create story-driven marketing and brand campaigns that resonate across culture. Youth are increasingly fickle and discerning. They seek authenticity, distinction, and the unexpected. With the democratization of technology and the rise of user-generated content, Generation Y (18-29 year olds) expect and seek out brands that invite them into the story-making process. Discover how the proven principles of story can be leveraged in response to the changing cultural and commercial landscape of our times.
Leader as Storyteller: Three Basic Stories for Every Leader to Master
At the core of every leader is the power to tell a story that inspires the world. Apply this one simple truth of leadership, and everything else will follow – greater funding, stakeholder engagement, and wider recognition. Any organization can outgrow the relevance of its existing story. Learn how to spot the symptoms that suggest your strategic story needs a tune-up. This session explores the strategic role of telling a good story, and how organizational leaders can use stories to unleash untapped emotional capital. As a session participant, you will learn three basic story forms for every leader to master.
Tipping-Point Marketing: How to Frame and Activate Your Message
What are the factors that prevent behavior shifts and idea adoption? This interactive session presents a compelling framework for how to facilitate cultural tipping-points, whether it involves new technology adoption or changing social norms and beliefs. Participants learn how to collect raw story material, frame it with the right message vehicle, and finally activate their stories for travel and cultural absorption.
Reading the Tea Leaves: Story as a Decision-Making Tool
Introduces leaders to the discipline of narrative management. Without context and awareness, it’s nearly impossible to know whether you are making the “right decisions” for the “right reasons.” Participants learn a set of principles that will allow them to (1) better contextualize decisions, (2) unpack the rationale behind these choices, and (3) effectively frame “change” to a variety of audiences.
Strategies For Market-Making: How to Organize the Collective Voice
This session presents an entrepreneurial framework that can benefit most innovative initiatives and associations. Participants learn twelve essential principles for how to catalyze the growth of an emerging market – by serving as the organizing hub for the exchange of knowledge, resources, and relationships, and framing the conversation for their respective field.