NSB Logo Michel Neray Michel Neray

Michel Neray

Speaker

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

The Power of Purposeful Storytelling

Michel Neray is a professional speaker and branding consultant, and is the founder of ‘momondays’ – a monthly storytelling variety show that has grown to more than 12 cities. Through his workshops and corporate engagements, Michel has helped thousands of individuals craft and perform more effective, ‘purposeful’ stories to become more effective leaders, salespeople, coaches, teachers, trainers, speakers, and influencers of all types. He also uses Purposeful Storytelling to more effectively differentiate, position and brand organizations in the market.

Keynote Speeches

Using Story to Get Past ‘Crossed-Arm' Syndrome

We’ve all been there. You’ve got a high stakes presentation or conversation, and the people in front of you are nodding politely, but all the while, the little voice in the back of their minds is telling them all the reasons why they just. won’t. agree. 

Congratulations, you’ve experienced ‘Crossed-Arm Syndrome’!

Your listeners have a brick wall of belief about something — and that belief is the biggest driver for their decisions and behavior. It could be based on actual fact, or fiction, a hunch, a fear, a stereotype, or a skepticism, but whatever it is, no amount of data is going to convince them otherwise.

Neuroscience to the rescue.

You see, neuroscience teaches us that we build up beliefs and views of the world through a process called Bayesian learning. The end result is like a brick wall of strongly held beliefs. There’s no use fighting it, but neuroscience also teaches us that our brains are wired to place greater emphasis on emotion… and there’s no better way to combine facts and emotion than in a story.

If you’re in sales trying to convince a prospect that your product or service is superior… Or.. if you’re a start-up trying to persuade investors to invest in your next great idea… Or.. if you’re a business leader espousing the company values to your team… telling a brief but strategically crafted story to overcome Crossed-Arm Syndrome may be the most valuable new skill you can get this year.

You’ll learn:

  • The physiological and psychological effects of storytelling
  • The 5 neural hooks that help your listeners identify themselves in the story.
  • Why case studies don’t cut it anymore
  • How to tap into the listener’s own subconscious desire
  • How to use this powerful technique ethically, and protect yourself in situations when someone is trying to use it on you!
From Case Study to Case Story

This program* is designed for business leaders, consultants, service-providers, customer-facing team members, as well as salespeople.

But the principles of this program are the foundation of all persuasive communications and presentations, making it just as valuable for internal team members, managers and C-level executives who want to be better communicators and presenters.

Its focus is to help participants infuse the boring basic case study with the passion and emotion of a powerful story that engages listeners, dispels sales objections, and establishes ‘you’ as the trusted expert.

Learning Outcomes:

  • Why story? The neuroscience behind storytelling
  • The two struggles your story must embody
  • Basic story structure – why we do NOT use The Hero’s Journey as a model for our purposes.
  • Template — the 5 Essential elements of any and every story
  • 8 ways that case stories support your business — beyond marketing!
  • 4 believability enhancers to add even more credibility to your testimonials and case studies.
  • What questions to ask to draw out the relevant content

*45-minute keynote to multi-day training

The Power of Purposeful Storytelling™

It is well-established that stories are more memorable and powerful than facts and statistics. Stories are the basis of leadership, coaching, influence, teaching, sales and team culture. From the beginning of time, stories are how we have passed on our values, made sense of the world and effected change. Today, it’s how we influence our customers, our teams and audiences.

Combining exercises in NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming), classic story-telling, stand-up comedy, improv, acting and professional speaking, Purposeful Storytelling helps participants to strategically turn personal experiences into stories that motivate, inspire and influence team members, customers and other stakeholder groups.

This presentation* can be customized to focus on any of the following elements:

  • Improv for speakers and presenters.
  • Storytelling performance & delivery
  • Storytelling structure and audience journey.
  • Topic descriptions that sell.
  • The craft of comedy for speakers and presenters

*45-minute keynote to multi-day training

The 4 stories that matter – what everyone in business needs to have in their back pocket!

If you want to become a more effective leader and influencer … if you want to sell without ‘selling’… if you want to gain the kind of confidence that only comes from knowing your unique value… you need stories.

Specifically, you need these stories…

  • Your ‘testimonial’ story (aka your customer story) tells people that the results achieve are real.
  • Your ‘human’ story shows you’re relatable and what it’s like to work with you.
  • Your ‘origin’ story defines the problem you solve and positions you as the natural solution; it’s also your ‘why me/us’ story.
  • Your ‘secret sauce’ story is the most strongly differentiating of all the stories.

The goal is to tell these stories clearly and confidently… and so naturally that they don’t even feel like ‘stories’. You share them in conversation, on stage, or with your team.

Key takeaways:

  • Why elevator pitches don’t, (and will never) work!
  • What truly interests people about your business, service or proposal.
  • Story structure specifically adapted to the needs of people in business. (It’s NOT the Hero’s Journey!)
  • 8 ways that stories make you better in business and in life!!

*45-minute keynote to multi-day training

Sales Telepathy™

This is a conversational approach to selling that works at the subconscious level. People will think you’re reading their mind!

In this powerful presentation*, participants learn how to use a simple communications tool to help them wrap their heads around their customers’ needs and hot buttons, speak their language, and create powerful communication that makes them buy.

The principles behind Sales Telepathy are grounded in sales techniques proven by some of the most effective direct response advertising and marketing, as well as change management communications. What’s more, it can be applied just as easily and powerfully in sales conversations as in letters, brochures and websites.

Key takeaways:

  • How to start a conversation to improve your chances of finishing with a sale.
  • How to elicit the needs and wants of the prospects so they sell themselves!
  • How to create a ‘burning platform’ to motivate the other person to take action now.
  • How to create a powerful sales letter in less than three minutes!

*45-minute keynote to half-day training

Platform Plus Presentations

Unique formats and ways to connect with audiences.
Workshop or Keynote | Sales Telepathy
This skill-based presentation or workshop is for everyone in an organization who ‘sells’, including salespeople, proposal writers, managers and leaders. Ideal for a concurrent session, it is based on principles of change management, neuro-linguistic programming and tried-and-true direct response copywriting techniques, participants learn how to engage listeners/readers in a conversational approach that often feels (to the reader/listener) that you are reading their minds. A template is provided that allows participants to write extremely rapid first drafts of introduction and sales emails/letters. Delivered in a fun, interactive style, audiences and groups learn how to get into the head and hearts of their clients ‐ without going out of their minds!
Workshop or Keynote | Conversational Networking, Marketing & Selling
This keynote or workshop helps participants develop customer-centric listening skills, and then teaches them how to develop intelligent questions that speak directly to customer interests and needs. This enables participants to ‘ask’ their way through a proposal or sale rather than ‘push’ their way to a decision. This is a highly interactive presentation that also helps participants learn about each other, making this ideal for networking events.

Audience reviews:

  • The Power of Purposeful Storytelling changed our Sales Organization’s ability to believe in themselves. This was the first time we implemented this sort of workshop, which made us anxious to see how the team would react. Michel’s humour and welcoming demeanor quickly built a bond with our often-skeptical group and our workshop became a fun, collaborative learning environment. Our team left with a respect for Michel and a value placed on Purposeful Storytelling. - Sales Director, Canada Goose
  • The messaging that Michel worked on with us not only helped us establish our brand differentiation and leadership position with customers, strategic partners and analysts, it helped keep us focused internally on our core strategy. And it was absolutely a factor in our growth and success. - Co-founder and CEO, CyberX (acquired by Microsoft)
  • You were absolutely and positively fantastic! Your keynote presentation was just the thing to get our people intrigued and interested in the workshop. It was fun, engaging and it certainly whet their appetites to dive into it deeper. As soon as you walked into the workshop room the next day you held their attention, and you kept it until the last second.

    - DHL Express
  • The messaging that Michel developed with our team provided clear differentiation and a distinct value proposition for our company. It also provided a key focus for our sales and marketing efforts, which helped us grow our business by 60% per year and become the #1 vendor in our space.

    - CEO, Guardium, an IBM Company
  • You were easy to work with and, in doing the interviews leading up to the event, you really went above and beyond the actual speaking engagement.

    - Director of Business Operations, Centric Consulting
  • It was the best work on this front that I have experienced – at this company and at any other company I have been in. More than an exercise in branding and positioning, I now see how powerful the Essential Message concept is for our people and how it impacts on our culture – that was unexpected.

    - Owner, LeanWerks
  • A true professional in every sense of the word! Michel provided exactly what we were looking for - a great presentation, a satisfied audience and most importantly a real value for his services. He comes prepared, is easy to work with and really wants his client and their audience to get the most out of his presentations.

    - Manager, Marketing & Communications Real Estate Institute of Canada

Speaker Biography

It’s well-established that stories are more memorable and powerful than facts and statistics. Stories are the basis of leadership, coaching, influence, teaching, sales and team culture. From the beginning of time, stories are how we have passed on our values, made sense of the world, and effected change. Today, it’s how we influence our customers, our teams and audiences.

There’s a big difference, however, between stories that simply entertain, and stories that are strategically crafted to change a listener’s behavior or belief.

Combining exercises in NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming), classic story-telling, stand-up comedy, improv, acting and professional speaking, Michel Neray helps participants strategically develop stories designed to educate, motivate, inspire and influence team members, customers and audiences.

A naturally dynamic, fun and engaging speaker, Michel has held a variety of leadership positions in the Canadian Association of Professional Speakers, and has spoken professionally in more than nine countries.

Michel has a BSc from the University of Waterloo and an MBA from McGill University. He is also an award-winning advertising copywriter, musician, and professional motivational speaker – and he brings it all to generate exciting outcomes for his clients.

Michel is also an accomplished singer-songwriter, with a collection of singles and a full-length album on all major streaming platforms, including Spotify and Apple music. Many of his songs are in fact ‘story songs,’ and he often performs them as part of his presentations to show how the core elements of stories are an intrinsic part of all storytelling. The added entertainment value of the music, of course, adds to the entertainment value of the event.