No, not his 200,000,000 house in Beverly Hills.

The house he started Amazon in.

I was speaking at a company in Bellevue, and his old house was literally down the street, so I had to see it for myself.

This garage is where Amazon was launched.

Today, it’s the 5th most valuable company on the planet....

President Reagan possessed a fascinating capability...the ability to command the attention of his audience.

I used to spend countless hours studying how Reagan was able to be the orator he was. 

Whether you loved or hated him, there is no denying that his public speaking skills were off the charts...

It took me 2 years to book him, and I spent weeks preparing.

20 mins into our virtual interview, everything was going great.

Then, my 5-year-old barged in.

I muted my mic and waved my hands, trying to tell him to leave my office!

Nope.

He started throwing legos and got louder and louder.

I couldn't fin...

So far, I've been to:

-Thomas Jefferson
-Rutherford B. Hayes
-Warren G. Harding
-Franklin D. Roosevelt
-Lyndon B. Johnson
-Richard Nixon
-Jimmy Carter
-Ronald Reagan
-George H. W. Bush
-George W. Bush

...museums.

Each one fascinates me because they’re all steeped in interesting stories and history.

You lea...

…Chicagoland!

Excited to speak at Normandy Remodeling tomorrow.

We’ll be talking about how to…

-boost sales
-enhance internal communication
-and create a vibrant company culture

…all through the power of strategic storytelling. 🗣

The next couple of days will be awesome!


Have a great week, everyone!

Blood, sweat, maybe some tears...

I love learning about the player's stories and how they got to where they are.

So much work. So much consistency.


When it comes to great stories, we need a foe.

People love struggle/victory stories.


In business, we want it to be easy, but that doesn't give us a good ...

Jan 5th - How to be a Great Storyteller with Claire M. Davis

Jan 12th - Intentional Storytelling with Terence Farrell 

Jan 19th - Flip the Script with Lyndsay Dowd 

Jan 26th - The Story of Westcliff with Dr. Anthony Lee

Episode number 113 (FAQs regarding storytelling) with Claire Davis launches on Feb 2...

SHOW NOTES:

SUMMARY: In this episode, Dr. Anthony Lee and Matt Zaun talk about the founding of Westcliff University and where Dr. Lee learned his leadership skills.

DR. ANTHONY LEE BIO: Dr. Lee is the President and CEO of Westcliff University and has led the institution through incredible growth for...

1. Share powerful stories that relate to your target audience

2. Consistency wins

3. It's a long, long game, but once you get results, you'll know

4. Treat LinkedIn like a big networking event, not a social media site

5. Offer tremendous value, and people will look forward to giving ...

The companies that fully implement the concepts that I teach in my Powerfully Persuade Through Storytelling workshop tell me that the results are astounding.

They crush their sales goals.

I started making my clients promise me that they will use the concepts I teach for inspiration and not manipul...

You're nuts for not focusing enough on your ideal clients.

In 2007, Joshua Bell (one of the best musicians in the world) played music in the NYC subway on a violin worth $3,500,000. 

Out of 1,097 people who passed by, only 7 actually stopped and listened.

Two days before this experiment, he sol...

…and it was all worth it.

The audiences were incredible and committed to implementing the strategies.

The food was delightful.

The winter wonderland was breathtaking.

Next stop: Chicago. 🌭

Even though she's been gone for a while, I still regularly think of the lessons she taught me. 

She was one of the most empathetic individuals that I've ever met. 

-Her empathy was forged in struggle since she experienced tremendous financial pain during the Great Depression.

-She got pure joy out of...

Before my son, Elliot, turned 6-years-old, I had him listen to all of MLK’s speeches. I told Elliot, “If you can become a great orator, you can change the world.” This doesn’t just go for my son but for all of us.

I’ve spent a lot of time researching how MLK was able to connect with his aud...

...”I treat the janitor like I treat the CEO,” and that's noble, but sometimes, these same people will completely destroy themselves with criticism.

So, though they value the lives of others, they don't take their own life into account. 

You treat everyone else with dignity and respect - why do yo...

In the late 50s, a Ford Motor plant worker named Berry Gordy noticed something. On the assembly line, scrap metal would go down one side, and on the other end, a beautiful car was assembled. What if you could do the same with musicians…?

Gordy was a part-time songwriter who barely made ends meet wh...

EPISODES MENTIONED IN INTRO:

Stories of Leadership
How to Get Involved in Politics
How to Build a Legacy
How Hobbies Make You More Creative
Strategic Networking

SUMMARY: In this episode, Terence Farrell and Matt Zaun discuss how you can use strategic storytelling with intentionality in business to ac...

What’s up with that number? I’ll explain in a moment. First…

Our journey…

- November of 2020, Claire Davis and I connected on LinkedIn. 

- We had a “discover call” and found out we were focused on similar things in business. 

- We started having regular Zoom meetings to strategize how to effectively u...

The journey to becoming a masterful storyteller is often embarked upon as a New Year's resolution. However, this well-intentioned practice is riddled with pitfalls. Astonishingly, 92% of people who set New Year's resolutions fail to see them through. This begs the question: why set yourself up for...

Before reading it, I didn't know much about our 37th President. 

Though Nixon had major flaws, he was a very interesting figure in American history.  

I was intrigued by Nixon’s level of unorthodox strategy he utilized throughout his entire life, his charming charisma, and his insane grit....

I was on a treadmill at my gym when the severity of the Great Recession was announced on the news. 

Everyone was in shock, and they quietly listened to what all the TVs around them were saying. 

I kept running.

I remember running faster and faster and hearing the words of my father, "Matt, block out ...

Don’t focus on company core values, at least the words of those values; focus on your company core stories that exemplify your core values!

Prove to me the values you say you have.  Storytelling paints the picture. 

Share more stories!