A Conversation with Terry Gault on the Art of Executive Communication

When you meet Terry Gault, founder of Storytelling Guru, you immediately sense how his theatrical background has shaped his unique approach to executive communications. With decades of experience bridging the worlds of stage and corporate leadership, Terry brings a distinctive perspective to helping executives command their presence. Terry sat down with Colleen and shared his thoughts on executive communications.

“Your income and recognition are determined by your ability to use storytelling in high-stakes conversations. I’ve seen executives with superior products lose to competitors who told better stories. When you’re an effective public speaker and storyteller, people assume you can do all kinds of things well. Suddenly, opportunities start appearing that weren’t there before.”

Colleen: Tell me a bit about what services you offer through Storytelling Guru.

Terry: I work with clients in two primary ways. The first is on a retainer basis with C-level executives, helping them communicate more effectively across all audiences. For example, I recently worked with a startup CEO who needed to position his AI product set to secure additional funding. The second approach is through training programs and workshops, where I combine teaching principles with practical application. Participants present, get recorded, and receive feedback from both peers and myself. The sweet spot for preparation is usually six to eight weeks, which gives us time to shape both content and delivery.

Colleen: Who was your biggest influence as a communications professional?

Terry: David Henderson, co-founder of The Henderson Group. I worked with David for 6 years and the company for almost 20 years, serving tech clients in San Francisco. He taught me the value of storytelling and authenticity in corporate communications.

Colleen: Your extensive theater background is fascinating. How has that shaped your approach to executive communications?

Terry: Theater is fundamentally about storytelling, and those principles translate directly to the corporate world. Through my years as an actor, teacher, and director, I developed an invaluable eye for behavior and an ear for voice. Whether you’re on stage or in the boardroom, you need to understand audience engagement, use your voice effectively, and take listeners on an emotional journey. My theater experience gave me unique tools to use with executives right out of the gate, but it was equally important to develop deep knowledge of the tech industry and how corporations work.

Colleen: What’s your core philosophy about business communication?

Terry: It comes down to two essential elements: storytelling and authenticity. Most people in the corporate world don’t consider the emotional journey they want to take their audience on. As an actor, I learned that you need to take people on a journey – perhaps making them feel concerned about a problem, then offering hope, demonstrating a solution, and finally painting a picture of a possible future. That theatrical approach to emotional storytelling is what makes presentations memorable and impactful.

Colleen: You’ve mentioned energy levels are crucial. Can you elaborate?

Terry: Most people, when speaking to groups, don’t bring enough energy – they tend to be flat. From theater, I learned that energy manifests in multiple ways: volume, animation, expressiveness in voice and features, and gestures. Getting to the right energy level is particularly challenging for people starting out. Eventually, they develop a feel for the right energy level to address a crowd, but it takes time and practice. This is especially crucial for startup CEOs who might be in their first leadership role – they need to command the room and project confidence immediately.

Colleen: Can you share some success stories from your executive coaching?

Terry: Nat Friedman, former CEO of Xamarin, really embraced the power of storytelling. When preparing for their first global conference, instead of leading with a typical mission statement, we crafted a story about his trip to Angkor Wat. He described seeing people in a water-based village using flip phones, then painted a vision of how smartphones and connectivity could transform their world. It elevated the company’s mission far beyond just creating software.

Another great example is Aaron Harris, CTO at Sage. Working with him was like Spielberg directing Tom Hanks – when you have two skilled artists collaborating, they make each other better. Even though Aaron was already a strong communicator, we could push each other to new levels of excellence.

Colleen: How has business communication evolved throughout your career?

Terry: The pandemic dramatically shifted us toward virtual communication, which presents unique challenges. Just like in theater, where staging changes based on venue, virtual communication requires different techniques than in-person delivery. For instance, I recently had to reimagine a story I’d been telling for 20 years. In person, I could rely on my physical presence and one or two slides. Virtually, I needed many more visual elements to maintain engagement. Now I’m helping clients master both mediums because executives need to excel in both environments.

Colleen: What type of work most excites you now?

Terry: Conference keynotes are my favorite, probably because of my theater background. There’s something electric about having a large audience that demands all the skills of storytelling and commanding presence. It feels most like doing theater – you prepare extensively, the show happens, and then it’s over. And speaking of theater, when asked about my most significant theatrical role, it was Hamlet. The play contains one of my favorite pieces of prose about coming to peace with one’s destiny: “There’s special providence in the fall of a sparrow. If it be now, ’tis not to come; if it be not to come, it will be now; if it be not now, yet it will come. The readiness is all.” That same sense of preparation and readiness is crucial in executive communications.

Colleen: What’s your key advice for executives looking to improve their communication skills?

Terry: Your income and recognition are determined by your ability to use storytelling in high-stakes conversations. I’ve seen executives with superior products lose to competitors who told better stories. When you’re an effective public speaker and storyteller, people assume you can do all kinds of things well. Suddenly, opportunities start appearing that weren’t there before. As Shakespeare wrote in his advice to the players, “Speak the speech, I pray you, as I pronounced it to you, trippingly on the tongue.” 

Those words are just as applicable to corporate communication today as they were 500 years ago.

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