Courses and Public Speaking

When I started Legal Nomads in 2008, I planned for a sabbatical — not a career change, One year turned into several, and Legal Nomads has become a platform for public speaking, long form narrative, and photography. In the process of building this site I have continued to hone my ability to communicate with others effectively, working on the craft of writing and the ways that stories can change peoples’ lives.

How to Tell Better Stories in a Digital World
(4-Week Guided Course)

writing and storytelling course jodi ettenberg

Public Speaking

Jodi Ettenberg speaking at WDS 2011

This is a course to help you:

  • become a better writer and understand why it matters for your bottom line
  • learn about the nuts and bolts of storytelling
  • understand more about the neuroscience of why stories bind us together, and
  • understand how to communicate narrative effectively to help change people’s lives

Why take a course with me?

I’m a former lawyer who spent years drafting contracts and briefs, focused on persuasive writing and negotiation skills in a competitive New York law firm environment. With these technical skills as a base, I have spent the last eight years focused on telling better stories, learning how to share experiences in personable ways, and building an engaged community around travel and food.

I’ve presented keynotes and panels, held workshops and masterminds, all focused on helping people maximize the ways that they can communicate in their business and writing. I’ve worked with clients to come up with comprehensive branding messaging for their social feeds and websites. And now I’m putting all of this work into one course to help my readers open up and deepen their understanding of story, doing so within a complicated digital world.

What’s included?

This 4-week course will be live-taught via video sessions, once per week. An accountability group on Facebook will accompany the course, allowing for a private space to ask questions and share feedback. This is not a masterclass, so it will be very small: I plan on 10 students per class, to maximize learning. To that end, I have created a detailed workbook from scratch to accompany each module of the course.

I will be assigning weekly pieces for you to write and these will be edited with me. The goal is to provide direct, actionable feedback for your writing, so that you can hone your voice quickly as you learn.

Interested? Send me an email through the Contact page and I’ll add you to the list. Course outline and pricing coming soon!

Public speaking topics include:

  • The Neuroscience of Storytelling: In a world overwhelmed by information, how do you stand out? This speech focuses on the reason that stories matter, and how humans are wired for connecting to each other. By understanding how stories affect our brains, we can communicate more effectively — and build better businesses in the process.
  • Branding and the Effective Use of Social Media: Without optimizing a brand’s story for willing repeatability, social media becomes less effective. Learn how to create compelling messages, and spread them effectively on social media and other communications platforms.
  • How to build an Engaged Community:  short-term spikes in engagement do not translate to engaged communities. Focus on tools to build both engagement on social streams and to continuously reenergize core users and consumers.
  • Career breaks and Career Transitions, and Fear: How to work toward what you love in life, not sit and wait for an epiphany of purpose to figure it out for you.
  • Food and Travel: Traveling with food allergies, how to find cheap and delicious street food without getting sick, tools and packing lists for traveling safely while still enjoying street-side meals.

If you are interested in working with Jodi, please email her directly about speaking, writing, and interview requests.

Selected speaking experience:

  • Speaker, NAFSA: Association of International Educators Conference, “The Power of Story to Dissolve Bias and Encourage Global Citizenship” in Denver, Colorado (2016)
  • Closing Keynote Speaker, Travel Bloggers Exchange Conference, “Why Travel Blogging Needs more Storytelling” (Summary here) in Bangkok, Thailand (2015)
  • Keynote Speaker, The World Food and Tourism Summit, “Bloggers and Food Industry Stakeholders” in Estoril, Portugal (2015)
  • Speaker, Travel Bloggers Exchange Conference, “Building a Business Beyond your Blog“, Lloret de Mar (2015).
  • Speaker, Travel Bloggers Exchange Conference,  “How to Turn Readers into a Thriving Community” Toronto (2013)
  • Closing Keynote Speaker, Travel Bloggers Unite, Umbria, “Getting People to Listen to You Online” (2012)
  • Speaker, World Domination Summit, Portland Oregon (2012), on curation and social media strategy. (Summary here.)
  • Keynote Speaker, The World Domination Summit, “On Taking Risks, Long-Term Travel and Finding your Path in Life” Portland Oregon (2011)

Selected Video clips

 

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