What do you think?
Rate this book
Story First: The Business Leader's Guide to No-Pitch Public Speaking
You just gave a 20-minute talk. Good content. Solid delivery. Polite applause.
By the time the audience reaches the parking lot, they've forgotten everything you said.
Meanwhile, another speaker—same event, same audience—said less, covered less, pitched nothing. A week later, people are still talking about their talk. Repeating their one point. Reaching out to work with them.
What did they do differently?
They broke every rule you were taught about presenting.
Most business leaders treat speaking opportunities like marketing. They pack in five key takeaways. They build to a pitch. They open with credentials and close with a call to action.
It doesn't work. The audience's defenses go up. Trust evaporates. And everything you said gets recontextualized as a sales pitch the moment you ask for something.
Story First teaches a different approach—six counterintuitive shifts that transform forgettable presentations into talks that build trust, spread beyond the room, and generate more business than any pitch ever could.
You'll
Why removing all self-promotion makes people more likely to hire youHow to earn attention in the first 90 seconds ( don't announce your topic)The three paths of vulnerability—and why two of them destroy your credibilityHow to make your point undeniable without ever arguing for itWhy one point beats five (and how to find yours)The challenge close that turns passive listeners into Monday-morning action-takersThis book includes a complete workbook with ten exercises that build your signature talk from the ground up—a talk you can deliver in fifteen minutes or expand to thirty, at conferences, client dinners, investor meetings, or chamber events.
The talks that earn the most trust don't pitch. They don't convince. They don't try to look impressive.
They tell stories that let the audience arrive at the conclusion themselves.
That's the method. This is the guide.
By the time the audience reaches the parking lot, they've forgotten everything you said.
Meanwhile, another speaker—same event, same audience—said less, covered less, pitched nothing. A week later, people are still talking about their talk. Repeating their one point. Reaching out to work with them.
What did they do differently?
They broke every rule you were taught about presenting.
Most business leaders treat speaking opportunities like marketing. They pack in five key takeaways. They build to a pitch. They open with credentials and close with a call to action.
It doesn't work. The audience's defenses go up. Trust evaporates. And everything you said gets recontextualized as a sales pitch the moment you ask for something.
Story First teaches a different approach—six counterintuitive shifts that transform forgettable presentations into talks that build trust, spread beyond the room, and generate more business than any pitch ever could.
You'll
Why removing all self-promotion makes people more likely to hire youHow to earn attention in the first 90 seconds ( don't announce your topic)The three paths of vulnerability—and why two of them destroy your credibilityHow to make your point undeniable without ever arguing for itWhy one point beats five (and how to find yours)The challenge close that turns passive listeners into Monday-morning action-takersThis book includes a complete workbook with ten exercises that build your signature talk from the ground up—a talk you can deliver in fifteen minutes or expand to thirty, at conferences, client dinners, investor meetings, or chamber events.
The talks that earn the most trust don't pitch. They don't convince. They don't try to look impressive.
They tell stories that let the audience arrive at the conclusion themselves.
That's the method. This is the guide.
168 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 11, 2026
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
No one has reviewed this book yet.