Entrepreneurs: your story is everything.

Reconnect with your core reason for starting your business. Rediscover your magnetic story. And have some fucking fun with it.

StoryLine is the storytelling training you’ll wish you had when you started your business.

Congratulations! You’ve arrived at the small, arcane corner of the Internet where you’ll find a three-hour group training unlike any other storytelling or communications training you’ve ever been forced to sit through.

The fast-paced, weird alchemy of StoryLine blends cognitive neuroscience, behavioral psychology, and the age-old truths of narrative structure to help you hone and tell your powerful story, simply. 

And it works like fucking magic.

“Frank Spring gave me a framework for storytelling and invaluable feedback on ideas and structure.”

– Representative Katie Porter, CA-47

When you’re fighting for attention…

Facts and figures are important, but stories are critical.

From would-be customers to potential investors to your own parents, entrepreneurs are faced with constant skepticism. 

It’s no wonder you’ve decided to lead with the facts. With your business case. With your total addressable market, and your customer personas, and your “competitive landscape” ...yawn.

The problem is that hearts don’t open to facts. Hearts (and wallets) open to stories. 

Your potential investors and customers need to hear your story. And you’ll only have a few slim seconds to tell it right.

Story must come before facts.

First you tell your incredible story. Then you back it up with the facts.  Why? Because your story creates their reason to care.

When you start with data, your listeners — whether they’re strangers in the grocery store or a cluster of self-important VCs in some Silicon Valley high-rise — will only be half-listening. 

They’ll be thinking about dinner later…

their weekend getaway in Lake Tahoe… 

what color Patagonia vest to buy next (gray, obviously)….

But when you start with story, you cut through the usual distractions. 

You cup your audience’s rapt attention in the palm of your hand.

With every word, you win permission to be heard. 

Chaire Everhart

“I’ve attended many similar trainings over the years and have never experienced one come close to Frank’s — in both quality of content and delivery, as well as truly novel and game-changing advice for leaders seeking to move audiences to action. I can’t recommend Frank Spring and Undaunted Ventures highly enough for anyone looking to harness their effective story-telling abilities.”

– Claire Everhart, political advocacy

“I already know how to tell my story.”

When telling their own story, most people make one crucial mistake: they confuse information with narrative.

You might be experienced at presenting information in a compelling way. But without a narrative — without that clear arc keeping the tension tauter than the line between funding and failure — your story will fall flat.

Stories are far more than sequential information. There’s a science to shaping your narrative in a way that sticks with your listener (or reader) long after your words fade. Not to mention…

You might not even be telling the right story.

Many life experiences carry emotional weight. The older you get, the more experiences you’ll have to pull from. If you’re lucky.

So how do you pick the right stories to share? How do you build a narrative that really resonates? How can you use the age-old traditions of storytelling to rally your people?

Reserve your seat at the next StoryLine virtual training and it will be our pleasure to show you.

Ally Byzewski

“Even though it might have seemed like I had my speech down and was confident, I don't think I would have nailed it as well as I did without Undaunted’s support. It gave me the much-needed little push to shine on the stage.”

– Ally Byzewski, environmental advocacy

Tell your story more effectively with our simple, repeatable method

Instead of a complicated framework you’ll never remember,
StoryLine shows you the four-step approach behind every scintillating story.

Step 1:

Find where your story begins

Step 2:

Understand who the characters are

Step 3:

Show your audience why they should care

Step 4:

Keep them hanging on your every word

Why is your story so important to your business success?

1. We use stories to pass information in a memorable way.

If we told you:

“Watch out for snakes with a black diamond-shaped pattern, because they’re poisonous.”

You might remember “black diamonds” for a little while. Eventually, you’d probably forget. After all, there are so many emails to reply to and errands to run.

But if we told you instead:

“Three years ago, I almost lost my life on a hiking trail. A rattlesnake leaped out from the brush and sank its fangs into my ankle. The pain was excruciating, as if fire were radiating through every nerve in my body. As I passed into merciful unconsciousness, I saw a kaleidoscopic pattern repeating before my eyes. Black diamonds, black diamonds: the same as the snake’s skin.”

You’d be paying so much attention by the time we reached the part about black diamonds, you’d SEE the pattern in your own mind’s eye. And you would remember to watch out for Western Diamondback Rattlesnakes without having to be bitten yourself.

2. We use stories to create culture.

In tribes, the act of storytelling can be a bonding ritual. Stories create group norms and expectations that shape our behavior. And while most of us no longer have a “tribe” (dysfunctional corporate “team-building” activities aside), we still use stories to create our own communities and shared culture.

Not convinced? Think of an inside joke you share with friends, and how it came to be an inside joke. That’s group culture, created by story.

3. We use stories to choose our leaders.

Humans have always chosen leaders by whose stories we connect with, whose personalities we like, whose character we trust. Every leader is expected to be able to tell a story — if not of themselves, than of the people they represent. 

To use a behavioral science term, stories “enhance the fitness of the narrator” in the eyes of the audience. That means when we like the story, we like the storyteller. And when people like you, you can move them to act.

StoryLine is the process of defining & refining your story

StoryLine combines cognitive neuroscience, behavioral psychology, and narrative structure to create a repeatable structure you can come back to again and again, with any story you want to tell. 

This is not the type of training where you watch LeBron James sink 60 baskets and then get told, “Pick up the basketball and do the same thing.” Everything you learn in StoryLine is accompanied by videos, exercises, and other concrete materials to help you really get what you’re learning.

You should also know you’re safe here. Thoughtfully designed in consultation with a licensed trauma therapist, StoryLine prioritizes your emotional well-being. So even if your personal story includes trauma, you will not be re-traumatized. Scout’s honor.

The first element: cognitive neuroscience

Inside StoryLine, you’ll discover exactly how properly crafted stories create a predictable and replicable effect on multiple cortices of the brain.

These responses are chemical (cortisol and dopamine, to be precise). They happen in the deepest, most fundamental parts of your listener’s brain. The simple act of listening or reading bonds the listener to the storyteller. And you can harness this effect.

During this short portion of the training, we’ll look at two versions of the same story to see why one works and the other doesn’t.

The second element: behavioral psychology

Your story can (and should) impact your listener’s behavior. Whether they’re opening their web browser to buy your product, going to your social media profile to follow you, or running to the polls to vote for you, your audience takes action based on your story.

StoryLine explores the powerful behavioral triggers available to the storyteller, and explains when to use each for maximum effectiveness.

The third element: narrative structure

If you’ve ever suffered through your friend Paul’s long-winded, pointless anecdote about the time he lost his AirPods, you know that effective stories are all about TENSION (and ineffective stories are looser than hammer pants in a wind tunnel). 

As we look at examples of great modern storytelling, we’ll explore how their airtight structure maintains tension to keep us fascinated — and you’ll discover easy, intuitive tools to build, evaluate, and edit your own narrative structures.

Rowenna Davis

“Frank has a powerful ability to connect your story with the story of the place you hope to serve… He wants to hear your story rather than impose it. What emerges is something truly special and authentic to you.”

– Rowenna Davis, elected official, Labour Party, UK

“How is this different from other storytelling trainings?”

First of all, please tell us how much you actually remember from the last storytelling or communications training you did. We’ll wait.

Struggling to recall your last set of instructions? That’s because many other storytelling trainings start from a blank slate. They ask you to build your story from scratch, using 25 proprietary acronyms that you’ll forget a week later.

The StoryLine method is concrete. It’s relatable. It’s a structured system that’s simple enough to remember.

In a few critical steps, you’ll learn how to use story to create a predictable and repeatable effect in the human brain.

You’ll understand how to structure a story, to maintain tension, and how to tell it in a way that’s persuasive. Can you layer on more sophisticated approaches later? Certainly, and we hope you do that with us. But the basic approach is simple. 

Clients come back years later to tell us, “We’re still using your method, and it’s still working great.”

“How will I feel after the StoryLine training?”

☝️ The question you weren’t asking, but should.

You’ll feel like you finally get it. As if that epiphany that’s been circling your brain, hovering just out of reach for years, is now firmly within your grasp. 

You’ll feel seen — like you’ve been shown something about your essential self that you’ve never quite known how to express before. 

You’ll feel light. Clear. Focused.

You’ll feel like a more confident, more magnetic storyteller. Not just in your investor pitches or customer updates, but in your everyday life. You’ll understand the structure and sway of stories on a molecular (literally, we get into the neuroscience) level. 

And you’ll be excited and motivated to tell your story.

Nota bene: We’re not very woo-woo, but…

StoryLine is a true “more than the sum of its parts” experience. While you’ll come away with simple, memorable, and most importantly repeatable tools to make you a more effective storyteller in both your life and your work, you’ll also come away feeling like you’ve learned something more. Something magic.

Your enrollment in StoryLine comes with…

  • Lifetime access to the workshop recording. Revisit, download, and review anytime you like.  

  • Our 100% satisfaction guarantee. If you attend this virtual training, participate with an open mind, and leave feeling like you didn’t learn anything, let us know and we’ll promptly refund your enrollment fee. 

Frank A. Spring

I’m Frank Spring, and I’m going to demystify storytelling for you.

Welcome, dear reader. I’m Frank Spring, founder of Undaunted Ventures, and creator of StoryLine.

During my decade-plus of political campaign experience, I’ve written and witnessed electrifying speeches that captivated audiences so thoroughly, there wasn’t a smartphone in sight. I’ve coached high-ranking politicians and big-shot leaders on how to capture their audience’s attention, interest, and credit card information.

My popular Origin Story training for political advocates has drawn rave reviews from more than twenty political and advocacy organizations (most bring me back to give it again, and again). StoryLine is a version of Origin Story that I created just for entrepreneurs and business leaders. 

If your mission is feeling muddled, if your story is feeling saggy, then I invite you to spend three hours with me.

Curious? Skeptical?
Here are the answers you’re looking for.

  • StoryLine is a three-hour live training that takes place live over Zoom. There’s room for 15 attendees. In one fell swoop, you’ll learn how stories work in the brain, how to structure them for maximum effectiveness, and how to apply your new superpowers to stories — both within and outside of your business goals.

  • This training is designed specifically for leaders, entrepreneurs, and business owners. When it comes to selling and motivating people, your story is everything. And there’s no other storytelling training on the planet quite like this one.

  • A life story, which you’ve likely got. That’s it.

  • StoryLine is not for people who think of investors like vending machines, i.e. “Insert business plan, receive money.” (It’s also not for people who need help with their business plan.)

  • No. While your story may be rooted in personal trauma or difficult experiences, one of the goals of StoryLine is to figure out how you can tell a version that doesn’t trigger you.

    Think of telling your story like your jump shot in basketball, or your jab in boxing. It’s something you practice over and over until it feels completely natural and normal. It shouldn’t hurt.

    Something else you should know: StoryLine is designed extremely thoughtfully to preserve your emotional safety. It’s a welcoming environment, created in consultation with practicing therapists.

    You may have an emotional reaction to some of the very effective stories and videos we share during the training (that’s what makes them so effective!). But we’ll never ask you to dredge up or share any painful experiences.

  • Yes, BUT. You will work on a story with a partner, but that story can be anything you want. It doesn’t even have to be about you! And you won’t have to share that story with the larger group.

    We don’t discuss your personal information or your story during the program, since the work happens in your mind and on your own page. You may be called on for your opinion of an ad or video we watch during the training, but you can always pass. If you want to share, great (within limits, of course)! But if not, that’s really fine, too.

  • Everyone — and we mean everyone — has a story. Especially entrepreneurs. After all, SOMETHING drove you to start your business. We guarantee there are stories there.

    But it’s surprisingly tough to shape your own story (helpful hint: you don’t need to start at birth). This training will take you through the process of identifying the critical points in your story, and putting them together to create an emotionally captivating, persuasive narrative.

  • Having lived a lot of it, we’re well aware that life happens. Should you need to cancel with more than 48 hours’ notice, we’ll apply your workshop fee to the next StoryLine workshop, and will look forward to seeing you then. However, if you cancel within 48 hours of your scheduled training, your fee is nonrefundable.

  • Unlike many other popular trainings, StoryLine doesn’t prescribe any rigid and overly complicated frameworks. Instead, we look at the structure of great stories, and what happens in the brain when we hear (or read) them. The method is simple, scientific, and sticks with you.

  • Frank A. Spring. More about me here.

  • Contact us here for upcoming dates and any other questions you have!