© 2024 David Paull. All rights reserved.

ABOUT YOU

Most websites have an "About Me" section, but a friend blew my mind with his idea of an "About You" section instead.After all, no one cares about me; they care about themselves (as they should). All I'm good for is what I can do for them, so why not make it all about them (uh, you)?So, let's talk about you. Since you're here I assume you have some interest in storytelling. If not, then I'm really curious why you're here?!You have something to sell and are working to grow and scale your business.Your competition is likely nipping at your heels and sometimes you feel like you're yelling in the forest with no one to hear it.If that's you, then it's smart to be interested in storytelling.Stories are how you show you understand and care about your customers.You know their real problems, the toll those problems take on them and their business, and what, if they could wave a magic wand, they'd make happen in a perfect world.Stories are how you separate yourself from the competition.Stories are how you ensure you're heard.Stories are how you grow and scale by making people feel something compelling.There's a process to crafting and telling compelling stories. That's where I come in. (Not that I want to commandeer your About You section!)If you're looking to scale and grow, differentiate from the competition, and be sure your stories stick, give me a shout and let's see what we can do together.Not quite ready for that? Give my free newsletter a try. Here's what a fellow reader has to say about it: "Your emails are great, insightful, helpful, funny, provocative, memorable. Nearly all the storytelling content out there focuses on output and deliverables—yours is about crafting, thinking, and connecting." Aw, shucks : )

BEHAVIORAL STORYTELLING

Compelling stories are based on insights, crafted to accomplish a goal, and spun from a sound narrative.As a framework, I created Behavioral Storytelling, which looks like this:

Let's break it down.

Want a deeper dive every week? Join my free newsletter. Here's what a fellow reader has to say about it:
"Your emails are great, insightful, helpful, funny, provocative, and memorable. Nearly all the storytelling content out there focuses on output and deliverables—yours is about crafting, thinking, and connecting." Aw, shucks : )

Clarity Call

Sometimes my free content isn't enough and a full engagement is too much.I totally get it and that's where a Clarity Call comes in.For one or two hours, everything I know is yours.Things we can discuss:- How will storytelling help you?
- What stories should you be telling?
- How to gather insights for stories.
- How to craft narratives from insights.
- How to turn narratives into compelling stories.Or, pick my brain about starting and building a small business, developing products and services, leading and coaching a team, or whatever is on your mind. I've got 30 years in this game and would love to help.Here's what others have to say...

Ready to book your Clarity Call or have a question? Let's go.

While everyone else is making New Year's Resolutions in January, you'll already be done and will have taken your communication skills to new heights.Here's what we'll do together:Weekly call: Each week until the end of December 2023, we'll have a call to work through any communication-related topics you want. It can be related to colleagues and bosses, or clients and prospects, or family and friends. It can be about getting better at creating engaging presentations or becoming a more comfortable and dynamic speaker. It's your time and I'll bring every bit of experience I have in persuasive communications, Behavioral Storytelling, dynamic speaking, and intrepid speaking.Email/Text: Until the end of December, I'll be available to you by email and text whenever you need me. Struggling with a communication challenge? Reach out. Working on a presentation or a pitch and want to bounce some ideas? Reach out. Need some quick advice or a pep talk? Reach out. I'll help any way I can between our weekly calls and if it makes sense to hop on an extra quick call, we'll do that.

Here’s what others have to say…"David’s Behavioral Storytelling talk was both engaging and enlightening. It was perfectly practical and gave our 1,500 attendees great insight into how to better shape the stories they’re telling.”
–STORY Conference"David taught us how to use storytelling in everything from website copy to proposals. His group exercises were fun and engaging and somehow involved penguin psychologists and body-swapping?!”
– Fieldwork InternationalI met David when he was a speaker at the annual STORY Conference, and he's since become a treasured mentor and friend. I've met few people in my life as passionate about storytelling as David. He not only brings this passion to his business; he helps others, myself included, tell better stories with their lives. I highly recommend him for anyone looking to tell a better story with their product, service, leadership, or life.
– Brittany AndersonDavid is a natural born listener, the kind you can't teach, you can just tell he cares about everything you tell him. His calm, intuitive demeanor always sets you at ease. Like a friend you've known for years but just met. David doesn't give advice, as much as he reflects what is already there, he just affirms and naturally makes clear simple answers to complex questions.
– Gerald von StoddardDavid mentored me as I navigated the difficult transition from business professional to business owner. Week after week, David graciously shared his entrepreneurial experience and provided valuable feedback on my business plans. He is an excellent business coach. I am so grateful for the time we spent together and his challenge to build a sustainable business model that could scale.
– Dionne Leigh KumpeThe biggest impact David has had on my career is when he offered to mentor me. As I admire his work and ways of communicating I didn't debate for one second and got in touch. We then went on to have several coaching sessions where we discussed and pondered about my current career situation, my aspirations, and goals. David created a safe and empathetic space where I felt comfortable candidly sharing my thoughts, conerns, fears, and ideas. With his experience and practical way of seeing the world he offered me perspectives that I hadn't thought about and encouraged me to take action with an uncomplicated approach to decision making. I am forever grateful for David's guidance, honesty, and mentorship.
– Patricia Dominguez“David's insights helped us exceed our forecasts by over 180%. Amazing!”
– Hoover Floor Care“The ability to monitor audience feedback live offers huge promise for us. David provided fascinating data both during and after the conference.”
– TED Conference“The importance of the project we did with David can’t be overstated. The findings were critical in shaping the messaging of our statewide PSA campaign and played a key role in debunking some major misconceptions around vaccine-hesitant and -resistant populations around our state.”
– Boost Oregon“We knew we were missing the mark with our ongoing client communications but didn’t know why. Our newsletter had only a 12% open rate despite the effort we were putting into it. With David’s help we learned that the content we were delivering wasn’t in line with what our clients cared to read. Lillian Labs came up with a fantastic new newsletter name and a content plan based on what they learned our clients we’re hungry for. We now consistently have open rates of over 45% and received this from our client, Make-A-Wish Foundation: ‘Make-A-Wish is asking all our chapters to sign up for your newsletter because of how informative and helpful they are. The content is great, and we really appreciate the ability to stay informed.’Since that went so well, we decided to engage David for another project with our hundreds of global contractors. We felt like satisfaction was slipping and, like with our clients, our comms were being largely ignored. What David uncovered is that our contractors actually wanted to hear from us more, but with content that would help them do their job better and grow as professionals. They also wanted to feel more connected and part of our team. David helped us revamp our communications strategy and the results have been astounding. Our contractor retention rate is up 23% and our comms open rate is an unheard-of 75%! We’re blown away.”
– Certified Languages International

Reach out

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Hey, STORY friends!

If you attended my breakout then you're here to read the different versions of the story I crafted, tested, refined, and retested for my client. Here's v1:Serving the needs of everyone in your diverse community is a tall order. And overcoming language barriers is one of those challenges. To meet the needs of your non-English-speaking clients, you need an interpretation partner that is as committed to your goals as you are.When it comes to a language service partner, quality and experience matters. We understand that our interpreters are an extension of your team and that our professionalism directly reflects on you and your business.Through our partnership, your non-English-speaking clients will know that your services are inclusive and accessible to them, that you care about them, and that you have invested in services that make them feel heard and well-supported. This inclusivity is critical to helping you deliver on your mission.We take pride in working with experienced, qualified interpreters- regardless of geography- and we believe in paying them a living wage for their professional skills.Our interpreter network is screened not only for fluency but also for cultural awareness. In fact, we are so thorough that other services you may have heard of actually use our interpreter network as their own.As for reliability and speed—and for avoiding those awkward wait times and distracting connection glitches—we are a leader in our industry.We regularly ask our clients, people just like you, “How are we doing?” “What do you need?” “What can we do better?” And here’s some peace of mind—when asked, two-thirds of our clients can’t think of anything we could do better than we already are doing—nearly 70%.
Here's what some of them had to say:"I have worked with a lot of in-person and phone/virtual interpretation services and it feels that CLI interpreters all seem to be on the same page. I feel that when I use CLI they are translating exactly what is being said and don't leave any information out.""The strong sense of customer support and ownership""Their quality is the best I've ever experienced. They respond in a timely manner and their staff is well trained and professional.""Relationship in all senses of the word, I am not in this alone and CLI stays ahead of information sharing with me as needed/necessary."In the end, our partners give us an average 9 out of 10 for overall satisfaction. That tells us we’re on the right track.We believe that the critical services you deliver should be accessible to everyone in your community. Language should never be a barrier to that. And accessing a high-quality interpreter for your clients should really be one of the easier parts of your day.We’re here to handle that—we live for it.We’ll ensure every customer interaction that requires interpretation is handled professionally and with the same care you and your team provide to your community.

• SEE V2

After testing and learning what worked well and what didn't, we crafted v2:Every community is diverse in its own way. And serving the needs of everyone in your community is a tall order. We get it. Overcoming language barriers is just one of those challenges. To meet the needs of your non-English-speaking clients, you need an interpretation partner that is as committed as you are.When it comes to a language service partner, quality and experience matters. We understand that our interpreters are an extension of your team and that our professionalism directly reflects on you and your business.When you partner with us, your non-English-speaking clients will know that your services are inclusive and accessible to them, that you care about them, and that you have invested in services that make them feel heard and well-supported. This inclusivity is critical to helping you deliver on your mission.We take pride in working with highly experienced, qualified interpreters- no matter where they’re located- and we believe in paying them a living wage for their professional skills. Our healthcare interpreters have years of experience and are trained in specialized healthcare and Medicare terminology.Our in-house team is so thorough at screening interpreters that other services you’ve heard of actually use our interpreter network as their own.Of course, we have interpreters at-the-ready for the most common languages. But we are also known for fast access to hundreds of rarer languages. Our fulfill rate for all languages- rare ones included- is over 99% in under 30 seconds. As for system reliability, we deliver over 99% uptime.We go to great lengths to avoid those awkward wait times and distracting connection glitches that can slow down a dialogue.We regularly ask our clients: “How are we doing?” “What do you need?” “What can we do better?” And here’s some peace of mind here—when asked, two-thirds of our clients can’t think of anything we could do better than we already are doing—nearly 70%.Here's what a few of them had to say:“I have worked with a lot of in-person and remote interpretation services and I feel that when I use them, they are an extension of me. I am not in this alone. Your team stays ahead of trends and they share that information with me."“There is a strong sense of customer support; I appreciate that I have a single support contact who resolves any problems very quickly.”In the end, our partners give us an average 9 out of 10 for overall satisfaction. That tells us we’re on the right track.We believe the critical services you deliver should be accessible to everyone in your community. Language should never be a barrier to that. And quickly accessing a high-quality interpreter for your clients should really be one of the easier parts of your day.We’re here to handle that—we live for it.We’ll ensure every customer interaction that requires interpretation is handled professionally and with the same care you and your team provide to your community.

• SEE V3

After retesting and learning what worked well and what didn't, we crafted the final version:Every community is diverse in its own way. And serving the needs of everyone in your community is a tall order. Overcoming language barriers is just one of those challenges. To meet the needs of your non-English-speaking clients/patients, you need an interpretation partner that is as committed as you are.When it comes to a language service partner, we understand that our interpreters are an extension of your team and that our professionalism directly reflects on you and your business.When you partner with us, your non-English-speaking clients/patients will know that you have invested in multi-cultural services that make them feel heard and well-supported. This inclusivity is critical to helping you deliver on your mission.We work with only the most highly experienced interpreters who have years of experience and are trained in specialized healthcare and Medicare terminology.Of course, we have interpreters at-the-ready for the most common languages. But we are also known for fast access to hundreds of rarer languages. Our fulfill rate for all languages- rare ones included- is over 99% in under 30 seconds. As for system reliability, we deliver over 99% uptime. We go to great lengths to avoid those awkward wait times and distracting connection glitches that can slow down a dialogue.We regularly ask our clients: “How are we doing?” “What do you need?” “What can we do better?” And here’s some peace of mind here—when asked, two-thirds of our clients can’t think of anything we could do better than we already are doing—nearly 70%.In the end, our clients give us an average 9 out of 10 for overall satisfaction. That tells us we’re on the right track. One of the ways we’re able to achieve that is by paying a premium for the most high-skilled and well-trained interpreters. It’s an investment, but one we know is essential for you and your customers/patients.We know the critical services you deliver must be accessible to everyone in your community. Language should never be a barrier to that. And quickly accessing a high-quality interpreter for your clients/patients should really be one of the smoothest parts of your day.We’ll ensure every customer interaction that requires interpretation is handled professionally and with the same care you and your team provide to your community.

• QUESTIONS

Hey, IMD friends!

If you attended my session then you're here to read the different versions of the story I crafted, tested, refined, and retested for my client. Here's v1:Serving the needs of everyone in your diverse community is a tall order. And overcoming language barriers is one of those challenges. To meet the needs of your non-English-speaking clients, you need an interpretation partner that is as committed to your goals as you are.When it comes to a language service partner, quality and experience matters. We understand that our interpreters are an extension of your team and that our professionalism directly reflects on you and your business.Through our partnership, your non-English-speaking clients will know that your services are inclusive and accessible to them, that you care about them, and that you have invested in services that make them feel heard and well-supported. This inclusivity is critical to helping you deliver on your mission.We take pride in working with experienced, qualified interpreters- regardless of geography- and we believe in paying them a living wage for their professional skills.Our interpreter network is screened not only for fluency but also for cultural awareness. In fact, we are so thorough that other services you may have heard of actually use our interpreter network as their own.As for reliability and speed—and for avoiding those awkward wait times and distracting connection glitches—we are a leader in our industry.We regularly ask our clients, people just like you, “How are we doing?” “What do you need?” “What can we do better?” And here’s some peace of mind—when asked, two-thirds of our clients can’t think of anything we could do better than we already are doing—nearly 70%.
Here's what some of them had to say:"I have worked with a lot of in-person and phone/virtual interpretation services and it feels that CLI interpreters all seem to be on the same page. I feel that when I use CLI they are translating exactly what is being said and don't leave any information out.""The strong sense of customer support and ownership""Their quality is the best I've ever experienced. They respond in a timely manner and their staff is well trained and professional.""Relationship in all senses of the word, I am not in this alone and CLI stays ahead of information sharing with me as needed/necessary."In the end, our partners give us an average 9 out of 10 for overall satisfaction. That tells us we’re on the right track.We believe that the critical services you deliver should be accessible to everyone in your community. Language should never be a barrier to that. And accessing a high-quality interpreter for your clients should really be one of the easier parts of your day.We’re here to handle that—we live for it.We’ll ensure every customer interaction that requires interpretation is handled professionally and with the same care you and your team provide to your community.

• SEE V2

After testing and learning what worked well and what didn't, we crafted v2:Every community is diverse in its own way. And serving the needs of everyone in your community is a tall order. We get it. Overcoming language barriers is just one of those challenges. To meet the needs of your non-English-speaking clients, you need an interpretation partner that is as committed as you are.When it comes to a language service partner, quality and experience matters. We understand that our interpreters are an extension of your team and that our professionalism directly reflects on you and your business.When you partner with us, your non-English-speaking clients will know that your services are inclusive and accessible to them, that you care about them, and that you have invested in services that make them feel heard and well-supported. This inclusivity is critical to helping you deliver on your mission.We take pride in working with highly experienced, qualified interpreters- no matter where they’re located- and we believe in paying them a living wage for their professional skills. Our healthcare interpreters have years of experience and are trained in specialized healthcare and Medicare terminology.Our in-house team is so thorough at screening interpreters that other services you’ve heard of actually use our interpreter network as their own.Of course, we have interpreters at-the-ready for the most common languages. But we are also known for fast access to hundreds of rarer languages. Our fulfill rate for all languages- rare ones included- is over 99% in under 30 seconds. As for system reliability, we deliver over 99% uptime.We go to great lengths to avoid those awkward wait times and distracting connection glitches that can slow down a dialogue.We regularly ask our clients: “How are we doing?” “What do you need?” “What can we do better?” And here’s some peace of mind here—when asked, two-thirds of our clients can’t think of anything we could do better than we already are doing—nearly 70%.Here's what a few of them had to say:“I have worked with a lot of in-person and remote interpretation services and I feel that when I use them, they are an extension of me. I am not in this alone. Your team stays ahead of trends and they share that information with me."“There is a strong sense of customer support; I appreciate that I have a single support contact who resolves any problems very quickly.”In the end, our partners give us an average 9 out of 10 for overall satisfaction. That tells us we’re on the right track.We believe the critical services you deliver should be accessible to everyone in your community. Language should never be a barrier to that. And quickly accessing a high-quality interpreter for your clients should really be one of the easier parts of your day.We’re here to handle that—we live for it.We’ll ensure every customer interaction that requires interpretation is handled professionally and with the same care you and your team provide to your community.

• SEE V3

After retesting and learning what worked well and what didn't, we crafted the final version:Every community is diverse in its own way. And serving the needs of everyone in your community is a tall order. Overcoming language barriers is just one of those challenges. To meet the needs of your non-English-speaking clients/patients, you need an interpretation partner that is as committed as you are.When it comes to a language service partner, we understand that our interpreters are an extension of your team and that our professionalism directly reflects on you and your business.When you partner with us, your non-English-speaking clients/patients will know that you have invested in multi-cultural services that make them feel heard and well-supported. This inclusivity is critical to helping you deliver on your mission.We work with only the most highly experienced interpreters who have years of experience and are trained in specialized healthcare and Medicare terminology.Of course, we have interpreters at-the-ready for the most common languages. But we are also known for fast access to hundreds of rarer languages. Our fulfill rate for all languages- rare ones included- is over 99% in under 30 seconds. As for system reliability, we deliver over 99% uptime. We go to great lengths to avoid those awkward wait times and distracting connection glitches that can slow down a dialogue.We regularly ask our clients: “How are we doing?” “What do you need?” “What can we do better?” And here’s some peace of mind here—when asked, two-thirds of our clients can’t think of anything we could do better than we already are doing—nearly 70%.In the end, our clients give us an average 9 out of 10 for overall satisfaction. That tells us we’re on the right track. One of the ways we’re able to achieve that is by paying a premium for the most high-skilled and well-trained interpreters. It’s an investment, but one we know is essential for you and your customers/patients.We know the critical services you deliver must be accessible to everyone in your community. Language should never be a barrier to that. And quickly accessing a high-quality interpreter for your clients/patients should really be one of the smoothest parts of your day.We’ll ensure every customer interaction that requires interpretation is handled professionally and with the same care you and your team provide to your community.

• QUESTIONS