Meet the team: Bron
Meet Bronwyn Kilroe – a Corporate Facilitator, Storytelling Trainer, Laughter Coach and TEDx speaker who has recently joined our Project Delivery team. Bron helps leaders to motivate, energise and ‘happy up’ their people. She shares her story with Hari and encourages everyone to laugh, laugh and laugh some more.
Tell us about Sunny South Africa…
I’m based in the beautiful city of Cape Town. I’m mostly two hours ahead of the UK; one hour in the Summer months.
How did you become a Storytelling trainer?
Storytelling has been an integral part of my life and career. I come from a Film and Television background. I was a television director for a TV series in South Africa for 5 years. I then moved into the Film Industry working on International Film Commercials. Here, I learnt the power of storytelling to grab attention, build emotional connections, increase audience engagement and maximise memorability.
As a Trainer, TEDx Speaker and Laughter Coach, (yes, I am also a Ho Ho Haa Haa Coach) I have been facilitating Staff Development programmes, for leaders and teams across various industries, for 15 years, refining my storytelling skills. I use the mediums of laughter skills, positive mindset techniques and most importantly storytelling, to enhance the learning.
Why do stories play a vital role in communication? What’s your view?
Stories teach us about life, about ourselves and about others. Storytelling (like laughter) connects and bonds people. Through stories we find common ground and understanding, and stories are a powerful way to get people thinking about viewpoints beyond their own.
Storytelling has the power to spark our imagination, engage our emotions, inspire change and leave a lasting impression.
What superpower do you bring to the 13 Times Project Delivery team?
My laughter!
One of my favourite quotes by Jeffrey Gitomer is:
“The end of laughter is followed by the height of listening.”
As a Storytelling Trainer (and Laughter Coach) I encourage my clients to bring some laughter, fun and levity into their speeches and workshops, to effectively connect with their audiences and to spice up their presentations.
When your audience is laughing and having fun - they are listening, they are learning and have a higher rate of retaining the information you are providing.
And incorporating some laughter exercises into your pre-performance ritual (before taking the stage or before a workshop) will help to boost your self-confidence and effectively manage any nerves or performance anxiety.
What’s been your most rewarding client experience? Tell us a transformation story!
There are many but my greatest joy is seeing the transformations in teams before and after my workshops.
Delegates come into my workshop feeling stress and overwhelmed, and seeing them leave with big smiles, laughing with each other, feeling good about themselves and ready to conquer the world – this is pure bliss for me.
What’s one thing you think everyone should know or try?
Don’t forget to laugh and have a sense of humour!
Laughter helps you to remain calm during any ‘Murphy’s Law’ scenario. It is not uncommon for speakers to have to deal with unexpected challenges before and during their presentation. This could mean tech issues, late arrivals or having a complete blank moment. Having a sense of humour and not taking ourselves too seriously, will help you to confidently cope with these unexpected challenges.
Every time you find humour in a difficult situation, you win. And according to studies from the University of Chicago, having a great sense of humour can add 8 years to your life span… A good reason to start laughing more.
Expanding our team means our work spans further afield. We can partner with organisations across more time zones and bring even more perspectives to the work we do - to help organisations build their people's confidence in how they communicate. Check out the training and coaching we offer.
