Since 2011, Jessica has been leading workshops on storytelling. The workshops include a range of topics such as personal story craft, braiding stories, and storytelling as a tool to engage and persuade. Some workshops are geared towards small groups or individuals, some are presentation style or webinars, and some are created to specification for corporate and nonprofit clients.
For organizations looking to book a storytelling teacher or a workshop, webinar, or presentation on storytelling, one thing to note is that, as the Executive Director of the storytelling nonprofit Better Said Than Done, Jessica and the many storytelling workshops and courses she can provide, can be booked as herself or through Better Said Than Done. Some organizations have set asides for working with nonprofits and this can easily be accommodated.
Jessica was a skilled instructor and facilitator who passionately conveyed the power of storytelling while staying patient with our questions and emerging efforts. When reviewing our stories, she shone a light on what was effective and encouraged us to excavate for special elements that could help our stories come to life. We recommend her to anyone who wants to begin or improve their storytelling to elevate their messaging and communication skills.
Bloom Planning
Jessica and her Better Said Than Done workshops launched my storytelling journey, and now keeps it blossoming. I started with her “intro” online course, receiving essential critiques that shaped and preserved the best parts of my storytelling style. Jessica’s presentation at the Virginia Storytelling Alliance meeting, this April, opened my eyes to new venues. Her tips on social media proved so useful that I’ve signed up for her next full Zoom seminar on the subject. Each time Jessica recited a story, I realized I was learning from a master. Her modeling, advice and gentle critiques give me more courage to keep going live.
Mark
Courses and Workshops
I often create and implement a brand new storytelling course for each new client based on their specific goals and requirements. That being said, sometimes some of the courses I’ve already crafted fit just fine. As I have been creating and teaching storytelling based workshops for over fifteen years, I have several off the shelf courses available for booking. Each and every time I teach a workshop it is a unique experience. The following is a list of classes in which the outline has been written, the references gathered, and the writing exercises practiced. Each workshop can be scaled for shorter (60 minutes) or longer (6 hours) sets of time and for smaller or larger numbers of students, and can be presented in-person or over the internet. Several can be combined into multi week courses, and some are already planned that way. Contact me to discuss what would work best for your, or your organization’s, storytelling needs.
Off the Shelf Workshops
- Braiding Stories: a deep dive into different types of woven stories and the techniques to use for weaving multiple stories together
- Fractured Fairytales and Re-imagined Stories: learn to take well-known stories and twist them into something new and different
- Fringe Factor: develop the skills to create a cohesive long-form storytelling show
- Personal Storytelling: How to Tell Your Story
- Your Business Story: developing stories to use as content for websites, brochures, videos, social media, and elevator speeches
- Your Personal Brand: a storytelling class for job-seekers, sales people, and business owners
- Your Story, Your Self: a five week course that digs deep into different techniques for developing stories based on personal life experiences
- Setting the Scene: learn to bring the audience with you when you step into a scene
- Story Structure and Plot: deconstruct the plot of a story and analyze when and why to change a story’s structure
Teacher/ Workshop Leader/ Story Coach/ educator
Better Said Than Done Founder and Executive Director Jessica Robinson began performing stories in front of audiences in 2007, and founded Better Said Than Done in 2011. Jessica has performed locally (in the DMV) for George Mason University’s Fall for the Book Festival, Generation Women DC, The Grapevine, The Perfect Liar’s Club, Stories in the Round, Story District, and Tales and Ales, as well as at the International Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough, TN, appeared on PBS’ “Stories from the Stage,” has performed for the Queens Theater, the First Person Arts Festival, Mostly True Things, at several National Storytelling Network (NSN) Conferences, and was a Featured Storyteller in the Florida, Hampton, Stone Soup, Washington Folk, and Women’s Storytelling Festivals. She’s also shared stories on the Bonkers Brit, Full Spiral, Orchid Story, and Funny Parents, and Risk! Podcasts.
Jessica has led storytelling workshops and presentations for BAE Systems, George Mason University, INOVA Fairfax Hospital, Jack Morton, K4Health at Johns Hopkins University, AAMC, Legal Services of Northern Virginia, SACC, the George Washington University School of Business, PRB, The World Bank, the Brookings Institution, and AHRQ, as well as for Story Crossroads, The Story Center at the MCPL, VASA The Gathering, and NEST’s Sharing the Fire Conference. She regularly teaches storytelling courses and workshops through Better Said Than Done and libraries, senior centers, and adult education centers.
