Where great stories are born.
An immersive storytelling experience led by TED speaking coach Cathey Armillas. For team leaders, ERG directors, TEDx producers, and storytelling series curators who know their people have something to say and want to make sure the room hears the message as it's intended to land.
The best talks don't start in front of a room full of people. They start in the wild, on a Storytelling Adventure Experience™.
Every keynote, every high-stakes presentation, every story that moves a room started somewhere quieter. Maybe it was on a walk. Or over a coffee, in conversation. Possibly it was a simply moment of reflection that ultimately cracked something open.
The Storytelling Adventure Experience™ takes your speakers out of the conference room, off the stage, away from the projection screen and into an immersive environment to do the work that just cannot happen as fully inside a box: find the story underneath the story and get outside!
We have produced the Storytelling Adventure Experience™ around TEDx Portland in the Columbia River Gorge, around The Moth in New York City, and are producing it for TEDx San Diego in August 2026. The methodology travels. From old-growth forests in the Pacific Northwest to the Brooklyn Bridge at golden hour, we find the immersive environment that unlocks the story your speakers need to tell.
Trust us, this is the last thing from an office retreat. It's a real life training ground, outside the box.
The Storytelling Adventure Experience™ is the finale of something bigger.
Speaker Skills Academy's Creative Lab is a three-part wraparound program built for large events. We wrap your event in structured programming: a creative activation beforehand, shared attendance at the event itself, and a post-event debrief that culminates in our signature experience.
The Storytelling Adventure Experience™ is the cherry on top. It is the moment where everything the group has been building together lands.
Creative Activation
Pre-EventDinner, icebreaking, and a creative activation the evening before the main event. Speakers meet the people who will hear them. The room warms up before anything happens on a stage.
Attend the Event Together
The Main EventThe group attends the main event as a cohort. A TEDx event. A Moth Story Slam. A corporate summit. An ERG speaker series. Whatever the event, they experience it together with shared context and a debrief waiting on the other side.
Storytelling Adventure Experience™
Post-Event / The FinaleThe group reconvenes for structured discussion and reflection. Then the day opens into SSA's signature experience: nature-based story-finding, story architecture with Cathey Armillas, and live drilling with the group. This is where everything becomes material your speakers can use.
Want the full arc? The Storytelling Adventure Experience™ is also available as the signature finale of our Creative Lab wraparound program. Book a call to talk through what works for your group.
One day. Two environments. Your team's stories.
We build your organization a custom Storytelling Adventure Experience™. No slides. No microphones. No rehearsal mirrors. Just your team, the story, and a dedicated communication coach who is here for it!
Every program starts on site with your group, then moves into "the wild." The wild could be chasing a waterfall in a nearby national park, crossing the bridge in your own city, or even stepping directly outside your office walls. We design the adventure around your team, your location, and the stories your speakers need to find.
Start in the room. Set the intention.
- Group activation and creative warm-up with your team
- Introduction to Cathey's Idea Map framework
- Identify the story each speaker needs to find
- Prepare to step outside the box, literally
Leave the building. Find the story.
- Guided storytelling walk through your immersive environment
- Sensory exercises: listening, observing, being present
- Nature-based or urban reflection prompts
- Story architecture and live coach feedback
- Closing circle: tell your story to the group
Portland, OR • New York City • Your City
Your speakers are in hands that have been on the TED stage.
Cathey ArmillasCathey has coached both TED and TEDx speakers onto stages worldwide for 25 years and has stood on the TED stage herself. She created the How to Rock a TED Talk program and authored A Kids Book About Public Speaking.
She does not teach from a podium. She walks alongside speakers through whatever environment they are in and helps them hear the story only they can tell. That same methodology powers every Storytelling Adventure Experience™.
Clients include speakers at TED, Nickelodeon, Nike, JP Morgan, OHSU, and Tillamook.
Built for speakers with something at stake.
You book the venue, you book the speakers, you run the show. The Storytelling Adventure Experience™ gives you structured speaker preparation that elevates the entire event without adding to your production load.
Your speakers are leaders and subject-matter experts, not professional speakers. This experience teaches them to tell the human story inside the business story. Your event goes from informational to unforgettable.
You give talks regularly. You know they are good. You want them to be unforgettable. The landscape strips away the formula and helps you find what is actually yours.
Come experience the methodology firsthand. See how nature-based storytelling training produces breakthroughs that classroom settings cannot.
The speaker training experience you wish existed.
If you produce events with speakers, you know the hardest part is not the logistics. It is the speakers. Getting a group from "I have an idea" to "I am ready for the stage" is a process that most organizers handle ad hoc.
The Storytelling Adventure Experience™ is a structured, professional speaker preparation experience led by a coach who has been doing this at the highest level for over a decade.
We build this around your team.
The Storytelling Adventure Experience™ is one of the models we build for teams. Every cohort is different, and we design the program to fit your group size, your timeline, and your location. Book a call and we will build a custom program for your cohort.
If you are an individual speaker looking to join an upcoming public session, sign up for our newsletter to be the first to know when the next Storytelling Adventure Experience™ is open to the public.