372 The Art of Storytelling: Connection Over Persuasion, One Relationship At A Time

Time makes a folktale of the storyteller, and yet even hundreds if not thousands of years later, the stories that mattered -that we connect with- endure. To tell a story effectively means you need to connect with the person who is listening to you.

In today’s episode Sarah Elkins and Jeff Ikler discuss the importance of genuine connection over persuasion in the art of storytelling, and how it is far more meaningful to build a bridge between one another, rather than forcing them to choose one side of the river.

369 Nurturing Community

We’re all human. We all have family, we all have struggles, we all have experienced some sort of adversity, which means we’re more alike than we are different. It can be easy to view the world with blinders on, to ignore it all and keep your nose to the ground, but then your community suffers for it. The people who rely on you, whether it be your friends and family, or a client or customer, by choosing to nurture only our corner of existence, the rest of our community suffers. Just like tending a garden, you must tend the whole garden, spread love and nutrients where you can, and remove what is harmful. It’s hard work, but all things worth doing require effort.

In today’s episode Sarah Elkins and Claudia Krevat discuss the importance of caring for your community as a whole, how vital it is to remove the blinders and to see things as they are and how you best can contribute to a healthy and happy community.

368 Choose To Step Up And Step In

It’s a strange and frightening world we are living in right now. With divisiveness and anger seeming rampant, it falls to us to maintain our community, to show up with a heart of love and understanding for each other and ourselves, to save our village from burning and refusing to let a lack of empathy and communication drive us to destruction.

In this episode Sarah Elkins and Erin Miller discuss the vital importance of community and taking care of one another, of building bridges and allowing our differences to strengthen us instead of divide us, as well as accepting when a bridge cannot be built and an olive branch is refused and trying to find peace with the results.

364 NLV 2025

This year in Austin Texas February 10th and 11th is the eighth annual NLV Summit hosted by Sarah Elkins. A meeting of great minds, incredible opportunities, and a sharing of impactful stories.

In today’s episode Sarah reminisces on many of these stories from the previous several NLV Summits and how they have helped her shape her path going forward.

354 Amy's Mess

Hunger, for the lucky among us, is an inconvenience, the final straw during a bad day that fuels a bad temper, or an awkward moment in a silent room. But for many in our community hunger is painful, difficult, and inescapable making it near impossible to do anything let alone attend school. Approximately 2.5 million children are homeless in the United States, many of whom somehow still have to attend school, often hungry. But we can help, whether it be through donations or time, we can help the children in our communities.

Today Sarah Elkins and Amy Adams discuss Amy’s Mess, a nonprofit organization that seeks to feed the children and families of the Helena Community and to spread awareness of the plight of homeless families.

349 Community Building

349 Community Building

How we choose to spend our time directly impacts the way we live both in our careers and in our day to day lives, however if we are spending our precious time surrounding ourselves with negativity and naysayers we are very unlikely to succeed. Which is why it is so important to find a community that encourages and supports each other.

In this episode Sarah Elkins ruminates on the path that led her to success and satisfaction, the importance of the individuals that helped her along the way, and the community they built.

Highlights

Identifying paths and the advocates who encourage you and see the best in you.
What is your role? And are you in a place that helps you thrive in that role?
Belonging and inclusion.

Quotes

“There’s no way I could’ve known this path before I took any of the steps on it. Some people know what they want to do at a very young age, I was not one of those people. What I did have, and continue to have, are people in my life who believe in me, who often see more in me than I see in myself.”
“Feeling so supported and valued, changed the way I spend my precious time and energy.”
“Remember you can’t really build community if you don’t allow and encourage others to contribute. And that means you can’t always be the one giving, you have to be someone who can ask for help and receive it with grace.”

Dear Listeners it is now your turn,

I encourage you to take time this week to consider who is in your circle. Do you have a diverse group of friends and colleagues who support and encourage you? Who ask you the hard questions, and who believe in you, sometimes more than you believe in yourself? Are you that person to others and do you receive that help with grace? If you can’t jot down at least 3 names off the top of your head, you might have some work to do. Here’s one idea to help you find and nurture that community: Look back at the times in your life that you felt confident, when you felt like you were contributing, when you felt like you were contributing and found satisfaction in the work you were doing. Now look for local activities where you are likely like hearted, not like minded necessarily but like hearted people. Maybe that’s joining a book club, spending time at the library or a local bookstore, getting outside for walks -hikes-, or maybe take a walking tour of your community, if you’re feeling really brave maybe it’s time to join us at our next No Longer Virtual Summit.

And, as always, thank you for listening.

About Sarah

"Uncovering the right stories for the right audiences so executives, leaders, public speakers, and job seekers can clearly and actively demonstrate their character, values, and vision."

In my work with coaching clients, I guide people to improve their communication using storytelling as the foundation of our work together. What I’ve realized over years of coaching and podcasting is that the majority of people don’t realize the impact of the stories they share - on their internal messages, and on the people they’re sharing them with.

My work with leaders and people who aspire to be leaders follows a similar path to the interviews on my podcast, uncovering pivotal moments in their lives and learning how to share them to connect more authentically with others, to make their presentations and speaking more engaging, to reveal patterns that have kept them stuck or moved them forward, and to improve their relationships at work and at home.

The audiobook, Your Stories Don’t Define You, How You Tell Them Will is now available!

Included with your purchase are two bonus tracks, songs recorded by Sarah's band, Spare Change, in her living room in Montana.

Be sure to check out the Storytelling For Professionals Course as well to make sure you nail that next interview!

344 Evolving Stories

Returning for his second episode, Tom Jackobs and Sarah Elkins discuss how storytelling has changed for both of them since their last conversation, how their tools and strategies have changed, as well as how important storytelling is as a medium for both of them.