I'm Now Officially a Speaker With Vistage Wolrdwide - 3 Lessons I've Learned So Far

What I am learning as a speaker for the Vistage network.

I’m pretty excited to have connected with Vistage Worldwide.

It’s the world’s largest CEO executive coaching and peer advisory organization. After doing a few workshops for them, they offered to make me a Certified Vistage Speaker. I will be speaking at different Vistage groups around the country (and world) beginning next year.

They’re used to smart people coming into their groups to help them become better leaders. I am learning that my content is a bit different than what they might typically receive. I am teaching improv and storytelling skills for leaders.

Here are three things I’ve learned after doing four of these sessions for executives over the last month:

1. Basic improv games work for everyone. At first I was a bit intimidated to teach some of the “silly” games I typically use in my improv workshops. What if these high level executives refuse to play? What if they think it is all ridiculous? Turns out, there was nothing to fear. The jumped right in and learned the valuable lessons everyone learns when they begin to study improv — things like the power of being present, the value of saying “yes,” and the importance of letting everyone play.

2. Most people haven’t had basic training around storytelling and story theory. I wondered if teaching the basics of story theory to a more highly educated group would be redundant for them. Turns out, 90% of them had never been taught the framework of a great story. It has been fun to watch them devour the information.

3. Most people haven’t taken the time to write down their own story or their future vision for their lives. I know when I teach for Vistage that I am teaching busy people. Busy-ness has a way of getting in the way of the most important things in life. I firmly believe that everything aligns for people once they are crystal clear on their origin story (where they came from) and their vision story (where they’re going). In my workshops I spend quite a bit of time on this. The result? Surprisingly, it’s been rather emotional. I’ve seen these no-nonsense executives begin to tear up as they tell others the vision for the rest of their lives.

If you want to participate in a similar workshop, I will be doing three in the coming months open to anyone — one online, one in Cincinnati and one in Dayton, OH. More information on those here.

Oh! And if you are a part of Vistage Worldwide, let your Chair know that I am available to bring this to your group. They can email me directly at joe@joeboyd.net.