Why They Resonate

How Stories Happen is now Why They Resonate. Here's why and what to expect next. Plus, learn the single Italian word which says so much about our creative work — and why it's the driving force behind the show's rebrand and revival. EPISODE CREDITS:Written and produced by me, Jay Acunzo. For more, subscribe to my newsletter→Music by Embleton (Instagram - Facebook).***ABOUT ME, JAY ACUNZOI'm a public speaking and storytelling advisor trusted by bestselling authors, TED speakers, seven-figure coaches, and brands like Mailchimp, Wistia, and...

I've been through the ringer these past few years and come out the other side with something special. It's time for a transparent look inside my business.  ***To get regular advice, frameworks, and stories helping you communicate with greater clarity and resonance, subscribe to my newsletter→PS: As mentioned in previous episodes, please expect a name change and cover art change for the show soon. Can't wait for things to come!***ABOUT ME, JAY ACUNZOI work with entrepreneurs, execs, and teams on the journey from com...

I can't believe people can do THAT.I can't believe people can DO that.I can't believe PEOPLE can do that.***To get regular advice, frameworks, and stories helping you communicate with greater clarity and resonance, subscribe to my newsletter→PS: As mentioned in previous episodes, please expect a name change and cover art change for the show soon. Can't wait for things to come!***ABOUT ME, JAY ACUNZOI work with entrepreneurs, execs, and teams on the journey from competent to resonant. To do...

I'm sharing the full story in this episode. It's time to take stuff like this more seriously.To get regular advice, frameworks, and stories helping you communicate with greater clarity and resonance, subscribe to my newsletter→PS: As mentioned in the episode, please expect a name change and cover art change for the show soon. Can't wait for things to come!***ABOUT ME, JAY ACUNZOI work with entrepreneurs, execs, and teams on the journey from competent to resonant. To do that, I help transform your thinking into cl...

When you want to make speaking a real revenue engine, the temptation is to invest in a couple of incorrect things. In this episode, I set the record straight for what actually works to drive results as a keynote speaker, so you can focus on the right things, in the right order, for the right results.This is Part 2, to be paired with my last episode, "The last great advantage."To get more ideas like this, subscribe to my newsletter→PS: As mentioned in the episode, please expect a name change an...

Thanks to the ubiquity of AI, this is the last great advantage.To get more ideas like this, subscribe to my newsletter→PS: As mentioned in the episode, please expect a name change and cover art change for the show soon. Can't wait for things to come!***ABOUT ME, JAY ACUNZOI work with entrepreneurs, execs, and teams on the journey from competent to resonant. To do that, I help transform your thinking into clear, captivating ideas, speeches, and IP. Stop chasing attention. Become the one others seek....

The way we write pitches is broken compared to what actually works, all because of one nuanced but critical reality:We're good at describing our talks. We're bad at describing why they'd BOOK US TO SPEAK. But isn't that the point? In this short episode, you'll learn how to re-think your pitches and write better session descriptions to pitch event planners. It'll also be useful for pitching podcast hosts, editors, and any gatekeeper who might platform you.To get more ideas like this, subscribe to my newsletter→PS: As men...

There is a very big difference between having a good idea and actually owning it publicly. In this episode, a means to re-think your approach to crafting and publishing your content, no matter the channel or medium. The goal is to both clarify your thinking to yourself and build an audience of passionate fans along the way. Subscribe to my newsletter→***ABOUT ME, JAY ACUNZOI work with entrepreneurs, execs, and teams on the journey from competent to resonant. To do that, I help transform your thinking into clear, captivating id...

It's been a good long while since I've had a good long rant. *Cracks knuckles.* Let us begin.Join the next cohort of Design My Signature Talk (starts Feb. 23, 2026)→Subscribe to my newsletter→***ABOUT ME, JAY ACUNZOI work with entrepreneurs, execs, and teams on the journey from competent to resonant. To do that, I help transform your thinking into clear, captivating ideas, speeches, and IP. Stop chasing attention. Become the one others seek.I’m a former marketing leader a...

When you give a presentation of any kind, you don't actually have a captive audience. YOU need to captivate. This is a story structure that can both captivate your audience AND deliver the message or lesson they most need (and you need to distribute to do your job).As mentioned, there are just a few spaces left in the next cohort of my public speaking accelerator. Grab yours here:Join the next cohort of Design My Signature Talk (starts Feb. 23, 2026)→***ABOUT ME, JAY ACUNZOI work with entrepreneurs, ex...

Go inside inside my public speaking accelerator, Design My Signature Talk, with this clip from our final group call.Watch the full video of this episode→Join the next cohort of Design My Signature Talk (starts Feb. 23, 2026)→In this episode, hear Brian Piper deliver his brand new signature story as a reliable opener of his brand new signature talk that we developed in the cohort. He used this material to get 3 brand new client leads from his first attempt.Brian is a marketing consultant and an author who works with people in h...

If you want to book more and better speaking opportunities, this is the episode for you. I take a closer look at the process most speakers miss, not because they haven't had any success selling their offerings, but precisely because they have. Speaking works in the opposite way to almost everything else. It's an inverted commercial model. We need to embrace this fact and invest our time, energy, and budget accordingly, if we want to book more and better stages, charge or raise our speaker fees, and develop a sustainable pipeline of keynotes and speaking engagements.<...

There’s this THING that happens to a public speaker and storyteller that feels addicting. It happens after you’ve internalized your content and put in the reps. You’re no longer consciously thinking about what to say next or how to say it. Instead, you can just walk up on stage, or fire up the camera, or switch on the mic, and just BE.Few speakers and storytellers have achieved that level of internalized, authentic performance like Scott Stratten (LinkedIn).Scott is a Hall of Fame public speaker and the founder of UnM...

The more experienced and accomplished my guests are, the more they tend to care deeply about the little things. They're the ones who could "wing it" and actually get away with it, and yet, they don't. In their speeches, stories, messages, and everywhere they show up, they focus on the tiny details that make their words resonate.My guest in this episode is the perfect picture of this phenomenon. It's David Burkus.David is the bestselling author of 5 books, including his latest, a national bestseller: Best Team Ever: The Surprising Science of High-Performing Teams. David's...

When you’re an expert in something, it’s tempting to assume the role of your communication is to deliver something in an academic way. Instruct, advise, and teach. Sometimes, this devolves into shoving a wall of smarts *at* the world. But you need to translate what you know into language that causes others to care. That's something today's guest embraced 10 years ago, and the combination of his ideas and his influence have put him in rare company.Today's guest is David C. Baker, a 7-time author which the New York Times once called "the expert's expert." His...

Very excited for this one, my friend: I'm releasing a recording of a coaching call I had with entrepreneur Michelle Florendo, who runs a business called Powered by Decisions. You'll hear us walk through frameworks you can use to turn messy or scattered thinking into a clear and differentiated premise Michelle can use to strengthen her messaging and thought leadership.First, I share a primer on premise development. What's a premise, and what makes a premise effective?Then, you'll hear the full call with me and Michelle.Michelle is a decision engineer, which...

It's one thing for a solopreneur with a microphone to tell you to trust your own lived experiences to differentiate, resonate, and tell stronger stories. But what happens when there are millions of dollars at stake and millions of viewers consuming your work? Meet Jordan Geary, an Emmy Award-winning producer and storytelling expert. As the Senior Creative Producer of Current Series at Sesame Workshop, he helped shape iconic live-action and animated shows, including Ghostwriter and Helpsters for Apple TV+, Sesame Street Mecha Builders and Bea’s Block for HBO Max, and over 300 Sesame Studios shorts for YouTube.<...

If you’re an expert in something, chances are, you share content about that something. But so does everyone around you. Merely sharing your expertise makes you a commodity. I can get it anywhere, and I guess you’re anywhere. That’s why I routinely say, you need to stop creating content and start creating IP. Your IP is built on top of your premise, the core idea informing the rest, but more experts should also develop their signature frameworks, or what our guest today calls "contextual models." Your contextual models help turn complexity into simplicity, so people...

One of the hallmarks of great business storytellers is something called the catalyst story. They don't just shove their expertise at you like a wall of smarts. They take you on a journey. Often, in a speech, a book, or even just a single piece or post, they can retrace their own journey of discovery to ensure the audience cares and understands. Because you might be at letter Z of your understanding of something, but others start at A. You need to meet them in that reality, then move them to something better, beat by beat. That...

There are 2 books I recommend most often to others who say they want to be a stronger storyteller: one is from a world-famous legend, and the other is from our guest today. It's Jessica Abel, author of Out on the Wire: The Storytelling Secrets of the New Masters of Radio. This exceptional book just celebrated its ten-year anniversary.This book takes you inside the storytelling processes of the makers of This American Life, Serial, Radiolab, The Moth, Planet Money, and Snap Judgment, and the two voices taking you through the book (in cartoon narrator forms) are Jessica...