Speaker
Author
Business Storyteller

DO YOU WANT TO...

Connect, engage and inspire people?

Never hear the words ‘I still don’t get this’ again?

Move people to action?

Have people come on board - to invest emotionally?

Translate data so it’s compelling?

Have people understand and embrace the strategy?

Achieve personal and professional impact?

Then you are in the right place. We can help you with business storytelling.

MEET YAMINI NAIDU, CSP
Australia's Number 1 Business Storytelling Speaker - Captivating leaders and corporate audiences as the world's only economist turned business storyteller

For over 15 years, Yamini Naidu has been at the forefront of business storytelling Australia. Through her books, her masterclasses and her transformative speaking keynotes, Yamini has been connecting, engaging and inspiring audiences in the areas of business storytelling and leadership.

HMM, STORYTELLING?

The word storytelling conjures up many images. Let’s clarify right here and now, the storytelling we are talking about is Business Storytelling. Storytelling with a purpose and for results

Business storytelling is the practical application of appropriate, purposeful (on message) short stories in the work context. The stories support your data; they don’t take the place of data but add to it.

Here is a story shared by one of my clients:

PASTA AND OUTPUTS

One afternoon when I was five, my sister (who is older than me) asked me to make lunch because she was busy. She said, ‘Just add pasta to water for five minutes, then add pasta sauce and some salt’. I made the dish following her instructions and proudly called her to the table. On the table she saw: uncooked pasta in a bowl of water, with sauce floating on top. I was standing by with the salt shaker in my hand, ready for the final flourish . . . We ended up having takeaway pizza for lunch that day!

In life and in business, our input determines the quality of our output.

STORYTELLER: ALESSANDRO CARONTI, TRANSPORT ACCIDENT COMMISSION (TAC)

This is a great example of a business story. The purpose of this story is found in the last line: output depends on input.

Pass on that advice, and it is Teflon – it simply won’t stick. People will agree with the idea, then immediately forget it. It will wash over them and away with all the other instruction and communication debris that floods their day.

A good story, on the other hand, is pure velcro. When you share a story, people connect with it in the moment. With a story, your audience thinks about what you have said — and it sparks an ‘aha’ in their hearts and minds. What’s more, they understand, remember and will often retell it.

HOW CAN I HELP YOU?

Business storytelling helps us to stop wasting time on the unnecessary (more PowerPoint-heavy presentation stacks, overloading our audiences with ever more information).

Storytelling gives us a different strategy that is fresh and relatable in business, so we are not condemned to putting in the hard yards and wondering why it’s not working.

And storytelling helps us avoid the drunkard's search: it is not the most obvious or easiest place to look, but it will give us the richest rewards

What is the drunkard's search?

A police officer sees a drunken man intently searching the ground near a lamppost and asks him what he is looking for. The man replies that he is looking for his car keys, and the officer helps for a few min- utes without success. Then the police officer asks the man whether he is certain he dropped the keys near the lamppost.

‘No,’ comes the reply, ‘I lost the keys somewhere across the street’. ‘Why look here then?’ asks the surprised and irritated officer. ‘The light is much better here,’ the intoxicated man responds, as if stating the obvious.

Abraham Kaplan, the first philosopher to examine behavioural sciences systematically, referred to this as ‘the principle of the drunkard’s search’, a type of observational bias that occurs when people search for something only where it is easiest to look.

Yamini is an economist turned business storyteller and works with leaders and business professionals helping them craft, find and share stories that connect, engage and inspire. Whatever you are trying to achieve in business, storytelling can help you get there faster… guaranteed!

WOWING AUDIENCES ALL AROUND THE WORLD

LISTEN TO YAMINI

Yamini - Story V1.9 B&W from Hunting With Pixels on Vimeo.

BUSINESS STORYTELLING FOR LEADERS

WORK WITH YAMINI

KEYNOTE SPEAKING

How to entertain, inform and inspire any audience. Yamini Naidu, CSP is not just a speaker, but a transformative experience.

LEARN MORE

MASTERCLASSES

Immersive, Experiential and Participatory. We immerse you in the world of storytelling and then we get you to actually do it!

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X-FACTOR

When you hear the words X factor – you immediately start to wonder
What is my X factor? Do I even have one? What if I don’t have one?

LEARN MORE

WATCH THE FIRST VIDEO BELOW AND SUBSCRIBE TODAY FOR THE COMPLETE SERIES

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5 Sizzling Story Starts to Make You Unforgettable...in a Good Way!

Introduction

Ever had one of those moments where you are scrambling for the perfect opening for your story? A story beginning that instantly connects and captivates your audience? But your mind draws a blank? I’ve got you covered! Presenting my video series: '5 Sizzling Story Starts to Make You Unforgettable...in a Good Way!' 🌟 Story beginnings in business storytelling are power moments. Why? Beginnings are how and when your audience decides to lean in and listen – or not. Your story's beginning is the door to your audience's attention and heart. One of the most important decisions you make with a story is where and how to begin.In each video I share one story start to captivate your audience from the get-go.

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING

Yamini attended our all-company meeting and showed us not only the importance but also the impact of storytelling. She engaged the whole group from start to finish. She did it in such a wonderful way that had us all thinking hard about how we could tell our own stories; after all, we all have an interesting story to tell!

Allison Rossiter, Managing Director Roche Diagnostics Australia

Yamini led our leadership team on a storytelling journey which was remarkable in both its insight and impact. Her ability to identify and distil the key elements of a situation, and package these into an engaging narrative, drawing on emotion and instinct as well as logic, is unique in my experience. Yamini transforms the mundane to the inspiring, thereby bringing to life both the story and the storyteller.

Grant Kelley, Chief Executive Officer, Vicinity Centres Limited

Yamini spoke at our 2019 conference in June and the feedback overwhelmingly indicated that Yamini should have been a keynote! To address this, we invited her on our August lunch roadshow around Australia and had our biggest numbers in all locations. Yamini’s engaging and humorous style made her stories memorable, complimented by her warm and friendly nature. Her session on storytelling, with examples woven throughout, helped association professionals realise the potential stories can have including demonstrating the value of being a member.

Toni Brearley, Chief Executive Officer, Australasian Society of Association Executives

Yamini is a wonderful storyteller, mentor and human being. Her wisdom and charisma are infectious and she is guaranteed to bring light into any gathering.

Tania de Jong AM, Entrepreneur, Speaker, Soprano at Creative Universe, Creativity Australia, MindMedicine Australia & Creative Innovation

I’ve yet to meet a person who hasn’t called themselves ‘Yamini’s #1 fan’ after seeing her speak. She is breathtaking in every way. Authentic and professional, hilarious and insightful, big on inspiration but even bigger on practical value. Audiences don’t just learn a few things or feel good for a few hours after seeing Yamini on stage. They find the courage and clarity to make immediate changes in their work, life and relationships, resulting in a tsunami of positive impact in their careers, families, organisations and communities. If you want a speaker who doesn’t just nail the brief, but leaves your audience enthralled, pick up the phone and call her agent ASAP!

Mykel Dixon, award-winning speaker and Creative Leadership Expert, author of Everyday Creative: A dangerous guide to making magic a work

Yamini’s ability to help leaders unlock the power of storytelling in a fun and authentic way is inspiring, insightful and transformative. I am forever grateful that our paths crossed many years ago. Yamini has had such an impact on me, and I am sure on many others.

Edweena Stratton, Chief People Officer, Culture Amp