SPEECHES & WORKSHOPS

 

“Terrence McNally’s Tap the Unique Power
of Story and Narrative workshop was spectacular!”
Curt Coffing, State Environmental Leadership Program;
League of Conservation Voters

 

“You could feel the buzz in the room as the group learned about
the power of narrative, honed their own story ideas, and shared them
on stage. We would not hesitate to recommend Terrence to anyone.”
Gregg Shibata, Center for Health Improvement, Sacramento, CA

 

“Your three hour presentation may have changed my life forever.”
Korey Wolfe, Audubon Missouri

 

You can scroll down or jump to Recommendations and a List of Clients..

 

 

 

SPEECHES and WORKSHOPS

Most of these can be presented as a keynote speech or a workshop and can be customized or expanded to meet specialized client needs. For additional details or to book any of them, click here or call us at 310.486.3691 (Note: My office is in a canyon with reception issues. If you leave a message, please also send an email.)

 

Tap the Unique Power of Story and Narrative

Keynote: 1 hour, Workshop: 3 hours or more

 

Keynote: Learn how and why narrative and storytelling engage and motivate audiences. Learn the elements of good story – whether in a big budget screenplay or a one-to-one conversation. Develop your ability to communicate in "story packages" – combining a compelling story, a memorable piece of data, and a clear call to action. Find your roles in the many interconnecting narratives in which you work – from stories of individual clients or staff to the overarching narrative of changing the world.

 

WORKSHOP: Participants come prepared with 2-3 story ideas they could use to help accomplish a work goal. The first hour is basically the keynote. Participants then spend time working on their own stories, while I offer non-stop, one-on-one coaching and share highlights with the group. Finally, volunteers share their stories with the group and receive feedback from me and from their peers.

 

Message and Media Mastery Workshop (You choose the length)

This highly interactive workshop offers information and exercises to help you: 1) figure out, clarify and what you or your organization really want want and need to say, 2) communicate effectively in a variety of situations and media, including print, radio, and television.

Toolbox for the 21st Century:
Attention, Engagement, Activation and Flow

Keynote: 1 hour, Workshop: 3 hours or more

I draw on experts I’ve interviewed over the years as well as the latest science, to offer ideas and actions to help us thrive. Four qualities/experiences not only help build community within an organization but also offer individuals a path toward greater presence, aliveness and health:
• Attention, our most precious resource, because the quality of our attention determines the value of our time.
• Engagement, what we crave and what makes us feel most alive.
• Activation, the process that draws people toward deeper, more rewarding engagement with organizations and with themselves.
• Flow, the state of being totally immersed in an activity. Athletes call it being in the zone.

Wake Up! Your Life and Your Best Work are Waiting

Keynote: 1 hour, Workshop: 3 hours or more

Drawn from years of remarkable radio conversations with inspiring individuals, this interactive workshop explores how to break unconscious negative patterns and habits and replace them with constructive new ones. We focus on four qualities, experiences or practices:

 

• Courage. When and where do we stick our necks out? What calls it forth? What does it feel like? How can we make it more a part of who we are?
• Flow. Athletes call it being in the zone, the state of being totally immersed in an activity. What conditions bring it forth? How can we set up our lives and our work to experience it on a regular basis?
• Presence. We explore lessons from cutting edge science that offer potential breakthroughs to achieve freedom from patterns, habits, and ruts.
• What’s working? We introduce an “effective questions” approach to planning and problem-solving. Two keys: begin with the positive and learn from success as well as failure.

 

I also offer these workshops created by Andy Goodman of The Goodman Center:

 

The Four Connecting Points (90 Minutes)

Every time you reach out, there are four potential points of connection between you and your target audience. In this Age of Too Much Information, people are looking for opportunities to tune out. We cover the basics of framing and strategic communications, message creation and delivery, looking at case studies from the public interest sector.

 

Why Bad Presentations Happen To Good Causes (3 hours +)

Participants are invited to submit a few minutes of a PowerPoint presentation. After sharing Why Bad Presentations Happen To Good Causes (created by Andy), I offer personalized feedback on individual submissions. Participants then redesign and rewrite their presentations, while I offer non-stop, one-on-one coaching and share highlights with the group. Finally volunteers share their presentations with the group, and receive feedback from their peers and from me.

 

Dramatically Better Meetings (90 minutes)

Dramatically Better Meetings is an interactive, hands-on workshop that uses humor to change the way people think about meetings.

 

 

 

 

SPEAKING & TRAINING RECOMMENDATIONS

 

Terrence is both erudite and entertaining, savvy and approachable. His enthusiasm as a first-rate story teller is infectious, elevating the most ordinary tales to extraordinary compositions. His workshop inspires hope and optimism for social change agents, and learning to tell your story well is the bedrock of moving an organization to the next level of public recognition. Practical, upbeat and supportive with a sense of fun. Terrence is a master of his craft.

— Judith Stavisky, Friends of the Children;
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

 

Terrence McNally’s "Becoming A Better Storyteller" workshop was spectacular! Storytelling is a critical skill that every activist should hone and become comfortable doing, and this workshop helps you uncover your inner storyteller, understand why it is important, and most importantly how to do it effectively. Terrence’s wealth of knowledge, sense of humor and wonderful presentation style made this one of the most popular sessions in the history of our annual conference.

— Curt Coffing, State Environmental Leadership Program;
League of Conservation Voters

 

Terrance is dynamite. As a speaker he is in a class by himself. He is the consummate professional presenter. He worked diligently and creatively with the session planner, spending hours in background preparation – researching both by interview and lit review for our workshop. He made examples and comments about story telling relevant to our audience of 5 A Day coordinators and public health nutritionists. He received the highest speaker’s rating and our session was referred to throughout the rest of the conference. I would work with him again in a minute and highly recommend him.

— Kathy Cobb, National 5aDay Coordinators,
NIH National Institutes of Health / NCI National Cancer Institute

 

Terrence McNally’s Storytelling workshop made an excellent contribution to our conference. He did his homework, learning a great deal about our project well in advance of the workshop. He then worked with us to create a learning experience tailored to our needs — even doing preparation work with our audience. His extra efforts enabled us to make the best use of our time and produced a session unique to our group.

— Betta Owens, NIATx / Network for the Improvement of Addiction Treatment

 

The storytelling workshop was one of the best sessions I have attended at any environmental conference. As a result, one or two staff at MCEA are writing and reading a story at our weekly staff meetings and we are putting them in our story bank. It has been a great way to learn about each other’s work and some interesting history.

— Martha Brand, Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy

 

 

 

SPEAKING AND TRAINING CLIENTS

ASSOCIATION of CALIFORNIA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRAS, Sacramento CA.
ASSOCIATION of ZOOS AND AQUARIUMS, Silver Spring MD.
AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION New York NY.
AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION – Pacific Mountain Affiliate, Albuquerque NM.
AMERICAN RECREATION COALITION, Washington DC.
ANNENBERG FOUNDATION Los Angeles CA.
ARENT FOX (Attorneys), New York NY.
ASSOCIATION of FUNDRAISING PROFESSIONALS (WESTERN PA), Pittsburgh PA.
ATLAS FAMILY FOUNDATION Los Angeles CA.
BANK of AMERICA NEIGHBORHOOD EXCELLENCE INITIATIVE, Charlotte NC.
BANNER HEALTH, Phoenix, AZ.
BERKELEY, CA (City of).
BERKELEY RESOURCE CENTER for ONLINE EDUCATION, UCB, Berkeley CA
BREAD for the WORLD, Washington DC.
BREAKTHROUGH COLLABORATIVE, San Francisco CA.
CALIFORNIA COASTKEEPER ALLIANCE, Fremont, CA.
CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION of NONPROFITS (CAN), Los Angeles California.
CANADIAN CANCER SOCIETY, Toronto, CN.
CERES, Boston MA.
CHCF/UCSF CENTER for the HEALTH PROFESSIONS, San Francisco CA.
COCONINO COUNTY HEALTH DEPARTMENT, Flagstaff AZ.
DEACONESS FOUNDATION, St. Louis MO.
DENTAL PIPELINE PROFESSION & PRACTICE, Princeton NJ.
5ADAY / CDC-CENTERS for DISEASE CONTROL, Atlanta GA.
EYCEJ / EAST YARD COMMUNITIES FOR ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE, Commerce CA.
ESALEN INSTITUTE, Big Sur CA.
FINRA, Washington DC.
FOSTER CARE ALUMNI of AMERICA, Alexandria VA.
FRIENDS of the CHILDREN, Philadelphia PA.
FRIENDS of the EARTH, Washington DC.
FSG SOCIAL IMPACT ADVISORS, Cambridge MA.
BILL & MELINDA GATES FOUNDATION, Seattle WA.
GLAXO-SMITH-KLINE FOUNDATION, Chapel Hill NC.
GRANTMAKERS IN HEALTH, Washington DC.
GREEN, HASSON, JANKS – Accounting, Los Angeles CA.
GREENPEACE USA, Washington DC.
GRID ALTERNATIVES, Oakland CA.
HAWAII STATE DEPARTMENT of HEALTH, Honolulu HA.
HEALTH RESEARCH AND EDUCATIONAL TRUST, Chicago IL.
HEALTHY CAROLINIANS, Raleigh NC.
INDIANA GRANTMAKERS ALLIANCE, Indianapolis IN.
INTEL CORPORATION, Santa Clara CA.
IOWA DIETETIC ASSOCIATION, Des Moines IA.
JAPANESE AMERICAN NATIONAL MUSEUM, Los Angeles CA.
JEWISH WORLD WATCH, Los Angeles CA.
THE ROBERT WOOD JOHNSON FOUNDATION, Princeton NJ.
KPFT-FM, Houston TX.
LEADERSHIP RESEARCH INSTITUTE, Middletown CT.
LEAGUE OF CALIFORNIA CITIES, Sacramento CA.
LEAGUE OF CONSERVATION VOTERS, Washington DC.
LISC – LOCAL INITIATIVES SUPPORT CORPORATION, New York NY.
LONG BEACH NON-PROFIT PARTNERSHIP, Long Beach CA.
JOHN D. AND CATHERINE T. MACARTHUR FOUNDATION, Chicago IL.
MICHIGAN DEPARTMENT of COMMUNITY HEALTH, Lansing MI.
MICHIGAN PUBLIC HEALTH INSTITUTE, Lansing MI.
HERMAN MILLER, Grand Rapids MI.
MOREHOUSE SCHOOL of MEDICINE, Atlanta GA.
LOCAL PUBLIC HEALTH ASSN of MINNESOTA (LPHA), St. Paul MN.
MISSOURI DEPARTMENT of HEALTH and SENIOR SERVICES / LPHA, Jefferson City MO.
NADO – NATIONAL ASSOCIATION of DEVELOPMENT ORGANIZATIONS, Washington DC.
NASA GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER, Greenbelt MD.
NASD INVESTOR EDUCATION FOUNDATION, Washington DC.
NATIONAL COUNCIL ON AGING, Washington DC.
THE NATURE CONSERVANCY, Arlington VA.
NATIONAL NETWORK TO END DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, Washington DC.
NEBRASKA VOLUNTEER SERVICE COMMISSION, Lincoln NE.
NEIGHBORWORKS AMERICA, Washington DC.
NEMOURS FOUNDATION, Wilmington DE.
NIATX / NETWORK for the IMPROVEMENT of ADDICTION TREATMENT, Madison WI.
NEW YORK STATE ASSN of COUNTY HEALTH OFFICIALS, Albany NY.
NON PROFIT FINANCE FUND, New York NY.br>
NORTH CAROLINA PUBLIC HEALTH ASSOCIATION, Raleigh NC.
OKLAHOMA STATE DEPARTMENT of HEALTH, Oklahoma City OK.
OSHER LIFE LONG LEARNING INSTITUTES, Portland, ME.
PACHAMAMA ALLIANCE, San Francisco CA.
PALM HEALTHCARE FOUNDATION, INC., West Palm Beach FL.
PARTNERS OUTDOORS, annual recreation industry conference, Washington DC.
PUBLIC WORKS INSTITUTE (State of California).
PUBLIC RADIO DEVELOPMENT & MARKETING CONFERENCE, St. Paul MN.
RECLAIMING FUTURES, Portland OR.
JOHN REX ENDOWMENT, Raleigh NC.
SAN DIEGO COUNTY HEALTH and HUMAN SERVICES, San Diego CA.
SAN JOSE, CA (City of).
SAN JOSE (CA) PUBLIC LIBRARY.
SANTA MONICA, CA (City of).
SISTERS OF CHARITY FOUNDATION, Cleveland OH.
SOCIAL VENTURE PARTNERS, Seattle WA.
SOURCEAMERICA, Vienna VA.
STATE & TERRITORIAL PUBLIC HEALTH NUTRITION DIRECTORS ASSN, Washington DC.
SELP – STATE ENVIRONMENTAL LEADERSHIP PROGRAM, Madison WI.
TOGETHER GREEN Collaboration of Audubon Society & Toyota, New York NY.
TURNING POINT, Seattle WA.
UC BERKELEY OFFICE of PUBLIC AFFAIRS, Berkeley CA.
URBAN LIBRARIES COUNCIL, Chicago IL.
US CLIMATE ACTION NETWORK, Washington DC.
UTAH DEPARTMENT of HEALTH, Salt Lake City UT.
VISTAGE EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP COACHING, San Diego CA.
VOLUNTEERS OF AMERICA, Alexandria VA.