Build community. But no more icebreakers, please.
Give your team powerful storytelling skills.
Find a program that will keep everyone engaged.
When it comes to your team, you want to...
Let me guess.
And you want a story expert who will:
Give your team space to reflect, confidence to express themselves, and the narrative skills to do it well.
Give your group a common vocabulary for creative work.
Share customized strategies, not a cookie cutter workshop.
Offer concrete tools everyone can start to apply, right now.
Bring expert credibility to quickly build trust and buy-in.
Yep. Let's do all that, and more.
I've been bringing unforgettable keynotes, workshops and coaching to organizations and groups since 2012. And the reviews are pretty great.
Storytelling for Teams
Introducing
I’ve told my own stories onstage in theaters from 20 people to 9,000. I’ve coached hundreds of storytellers. I designed and wrote a storytelling curriculum used by thousands worldwide. And for the past 13 years, I’ve brought my expertise, research background and real-world experience to offer an original approach to story coaching and instruction.
I'm not just a story expert. I know how to hold a room’s attention, and I make a training session or presentation feel like a special event.
I help participants find and tell stories that feel like them. And I make spaces for learning that feel reflective, practical, and most of all: FUN.
Hi, I'm Micaela.
Trusted by:
We love, love, loved working with you and you should know that from all quarters, including our post conference registrant survey, your opening keynote was a tremendous highlight of this year’s SXSW EDU!
Thanks so much for assembling a fantastic and powerful program.
“Your opening keynote was a tremendous highlight of this year’s SXSW EDU!”
— Ron Reed, Founder and Executive Producer, SXSW EDU
Micaela Blei led a Personal Storytelling workshop for our team last week and I’ve gotten nothing but glowing responses from our employees. Some of those comments were that it was the best creative team building activity we’ve had, that it made their day, and that Micaela had amazing energy. I would like to add that she made the sometimes alienating Zoom format welcoming and inclusive, and it truly felt like a community event in spite of the distance. She is obviously an expert at her craft and shared the basics of it with us in such an engaging way with very clear takeaways. I would highly recommend Micaela for storytelling workshops in any setting, she was wonderful to work with.
“I’ve gotten nothing but glowing responses from our employees.”
— Leah Alvarez, DNA Communications
Thank you so much for sharing your wisdom with us and leading us through this empowering, bonding, transformative experience. I've learned so much about storytelling, but even more about myself; the past few weeks have been incredibly special for so many reasons. Thank you for making space in which we could be both safe and courageous. I will truly never forget this experience.
“Thank you for making space in which we could be both safe and courageous.”
— Sarah Dalgleish, Salt Institute
Adding a final event for the community can let your participants apply their learning, celebrate each other, and be transformed in so many ways. I make sure that anyone getting up to share feels safe and great to do so.
Culminating Story Sharing Event
My 1:1 coaching can be a game changer for stories that will be shared in a public facing way, or if you want to offer participants the chance to go further in their storytelling work.
Individual Story Coaching sessions for participants
This collaborative series gets your participants doing deep work and making discoveries together. I can provide 2-5 sessions over several weeks, or create an "intensive."
Storytelling Workshop Series
My "one-offs" are an accessible and exciting introduction to the power of storytelling, full of takeaways and tools, that I design around your focus or industry.
Storytelling Master Class or Interactive Keynote
What We Can Do Together
Elements of a Program
Because every organization and group has slightly different needs and constraints, I customize my visit to make sure you’re bringing exactly what you need to your group. I’ll help you decide what can work with your schedule and budget.
Our partnership can range from a single, inspiring keynote to an in-depth performance workshop series with individual coaching. We can do almost any combination of the elements below.
Except... keep in touch. No one understands you like your storytelling friends.
There is no step 8!
08
I'll leave you with resources and tools to keep going with your storytelling work, and I provide scheduling priority to my current partners for future booking.
Follow up
07
My partnerships are usually virtual, with select in-person partnerships. Believe me-- I'm great on Zoom.
The Events
06
I'll create a program for you, including custom curriculum for your industry or specific focus.
Get a Custom design
05
With a 10% deposit, you can hold the day or days you'd like.
Deposit and contract
04
Based on our conversation, I'll send you a full proposal of what I can provide, as well as cost and scheduling details.
Get a proposal
03
We'll have a 20-minute conversation so you can tell me more about your group and your goals, and we can talk about design possibilities for a program.
Discovery Call
02
Reach out to let me know what you’re looking for, and request a call. I’ll reply within 3 business days with a link to schedule a discovery call.
Submit an inquiry form
01
The A-Z of working with me
The Logistics
You and your team were marvelous beyond expression. Thank you so much for being exactly what they needed (and wanted) at this point in their training. Your listening skills, your cultural sensitivity, your ability to connect with the 'audience' of new teachers through the Zoom screen and embody what you were teaching was wonderful.
One of the participants who is a professional educator said that not only was the content brilliant and illuminating, but that the level of pedagogy and teaching method was so incredibly sophisticated and impactful.”
“Your ability to connect with the audience of new teachers through the Zoom screen was wonderful.”
— Larry Yang, Spirit Rock Meditation Center
So what do people do with me?
Here are just a few examples of past and current partnerships, to give you some inspiration. Feel free to ask for references.
Department of Case Studies
A 2-hour introductory workshop about archive storytelling for 80 participants, followed by 1:1 coaching for 8 selected participants who performed their “Archive of my Soul” stories at SAA’s National Conference.
A day-long intensive, with story share, for the teacher training cohort of Spirit Rock, to explore storytelling in their Buddhist leadership practice and build community before graduation from their 3-year program.
Spirit Rock Meditation Center
Culminating Event
A one-hour kick-off workshop, subsequent audio lessons and optional 1:1 support for student entrepreneurs working on their pitches for an event through IDEA (Innovation, Design and Entrepreneurship Academy).
Rutgers University
Asynchronous Workshops
A single 3-hour workshop session designed around story structure for audio, using real script examples from Adonde’s project files, for beginning and veteran audio producers.
A single 3-hour workshop session designed around story structure for audio, using real script examples from Adonde’s project files, for beginning and veteran audio producers.
Adonde Media
Craft Workshop
A 2-hour introductory workshop about archive storytelling for 80 participants, followed by 1:1 coaching for 8 selected participants who performed their “Archive of my Soul” stories at SAA’s National Conference.
Society of American Archivists
Conference Event Series
An hour-long, interactive storytelling workshop for about 50 leaders who are fundraising for Democratic State Legislative candidates in high-impact states, and want to tell the story of their own political engagement journey in the course of their fundraising.
The States Project
Customized Master Class
The Salt Institute for Documentary Studies
Performance Workshops & 1:1
A month of weekly workshops, individual coaching and a final public-facing share of true, personal stories for their graduate student cohort studying documentary audio and film.
A multi-day intensive, with a celebratory story share, for the teacher training cohort of Spirit Rock, to explore storytelling in their Buddhist leadership practice and reflect as a community before graduation from their 3-year program.
What's the cost?
Storytelling for Teams is completely customized for each partnership, so program costs vary. A partnership starts at USD $1800, with a 10% deposit upon scheduling.
I usually book at least two months in advance, but if you have something coming up sooner, feel free to ask about it.
Investment & Availability
If you have a question you don't see here, reach out! You can fill out my inquiry form, or if you don't like forms, you can email me at hello@micaelablei.com.
Frequently Asked Questions
Get answers
What types of businesses/people do you work with?
I mainly work with creative companies, nonprofits and PACs, schools and universities, group coaching cohorts, and retreat centers. But if you've got a different group that needs storytelling, feel free to reach out.
Can you just give me the curriculum for me to teach/lead my folks?
At this point I don't do curriculum design and "train the trainer" models, but stay tuned.
This is a bit outside of my budget. Do you offer other services?
I plan to offer digital courses and “story circle” activity guides in 2025. Subscribe to my Substack, The Story Letter, and you'll be the first to know about these offerings.
