Why Raw And Honest Storytelling Will Set Your Business Apart (And The #1 Way To Do It)

Welcome to Beyond Words, a weekly newsletter designed to help 1 time-pressed woman tell 1 better story about herself in 1 day.

Today I’m offering you the #1 method to bring a room to its knees when public speaking.

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Context 

This week, I’ll be sharing exercises to help my clients harvest deeply vulnerable stories in service of their personal brand and their TED style talks on stage come November.

My corporate clients have historically had a hard time with this.

Being publicly vulnerable takes courage.

And most have a hard time accessing that courage.

I get it.

In order to make in a corporate setting

• Personal and professional had to be kept separate
• Some memories are too deeply painful to revisit
• There is the worry “Will they judge me?”

But I know, from giving hundreds of keynotes and interviewing hundreds of leaders, that nothing brings a room to pin drop silence, than incredibly raw and authentic stories.

So today I will offer a framework for raw and honest storytelling for business.

A framework 

Last week, I shared ​this post​ about Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia.

His company’s valuation (at $2 trillion dollars) rivals that of Apple and Microsoft, and he does it with a fraction of the employees.

His own net worth is about $3 billion.

But he wasn’t afraid to tell the audience that he started out cleaning toilets.

Intro/Context 

He was born in Taiwan, but was sent to live with his uncle in the United States when he was 9 years old.

Challenge 

His uncle mistook a reform school for a prestigious boarding school. As a result, the kids had chores, working in the tobacco fields. But Huang was too young for that kind of labor.

Action 

He was assigned to clean toilets. “You can’t unsee that stuff,” he said.

Outcome 

He also was a dishwasher at Denny’s when he got older. That’s where Nvidia had its humble beginnings.

Lesson Learned 

No matter the task, he was determined to be best toilet cleaner, dishwasher, and bus boy.

Raw and honest storytelling also requires a specific mindset

​Focus on these 10 principles, and you’ll be on the path to authentic, impactful storytelling.​

Whenever you’re ready, there are 3 ways I can help you:

1.Join the Samita Lab Mastermind. Join 7 other women leaders in the core program that sits at the center of my business model. The Mastermind teaches you exactly how to build a powerful person brand and the mindset to support it. It culminates in a TEDx talk on stage in front of 200 people at the end.

I only enroll for this program once a year.

The waitlist is open for the Class of 2025.

2. The Anatomy of a 'No' If you’re struggling to say ‘no’ gracefully at work, I created a free download here with scripts (15,000 downloaded)

I’ll add to it each week.

3. Help! I need confidence! ****Join 2500 people in taking my mini-public speaking Masterclass. Learn to organize a compelling talk and my framework for making it super easy.