After teaching skiing for four years, I learned what teaching someone to ski for the first time really teaches you. Do not bombard them with theory or information. You have a short window to help someone feel confident enough to move forward. And if you do not meet them where they are, you end up with cold, miserable students who might not come back for more.

That is exactly what founders face every time they share their story.

In this issue I explore how years of teaching skiing shaped my method for helping learn how to share their story as well as:

Enjoy ‘coming down the mountain’ of story ala Janes addiction…LG

A group of friends decided to go skiing for the first time. They wanted lessons so they could enjoy themselves, and hopefully not spend the weekend sliding headfirst down every run or leave with a broken arm.

You are their ski instructor. Theory will just confuse them. Skier jargon is a foreign language. You have to teach in a way that works for them, and by extension, for you.

Snow skiing is expensive. When someone signs up for a lesson, they are not there to listen to you talk. They want confidence, control, and to feel like they belong on the mountain as quickly as possible.

After plenty of trial and error, and a lot of time comforting frigid young skiers with hot chocolate and kind words, I began to see that empathy and clarity should be part of my teaching methods.

I could not teach successfully using an approach that worked only for me. I had to adapt my teaching in ways that worked for my students.

Their success was my success. 

If adult students had a rough morning, they might seek liquid courage over the lunch break, which made afternoon sessions seem like auditions for the emergency room.

What I learned watching people transform from terrified to confident in a single morning became foundational to how I help founders tell their story.

Because when you are pitching investors across a conference table, standing in front of a demo day audience, or explaining your vision in a boardroom, you are in the same position.

The question is not whether you have a good story. The question is whether you know how to share it so people believe it.

THE REAL JOB

Most people think a ski instructor’s job is teaching technique. Edging. Turning. Stopping. That is only half true.

The real job is helping people enjoy the mountain and trust themselves in an unfamiliar environment. They want to ski and tell people about it afterwards.

Mountains amplify fear. Cold. Speed. Height. Public visibility. Students fall in front of strangers. They compare themselves to others on the lift. They worry about losing control or looking foolish.

Founders face the same pressure. Pitch rooms amplify fear too. You are being evaluated. Compared. Judged on clarity, confidence, and control in real time.

You are not just explaining movements or slides. You are helping someone imagine themselves moving forward with you. That is why how you teach matters as much as what you teach.

Here is the lesson that changed everything for me: people do not all absorb information the same way. Which means as a founder, you cannot tell your story one way and expect everyone to buy in.

HOW PEOPLE ABSORB NEW THINGS

Others barely looked at my demonstration. They leaned in when I spoke. They asked for different wording. They wanted deeper explanation.

Then there were students who struggled until I had them close their eyes and bend at the ankles instead of the knees so they could feel the front of their boot engage. You could see the moment it clicked in their posture and in their smile.

The breakthrough was not labeling which type of learner each student was. It was teaching in multiple ways at the same time so everyone had a way in.

PIZZA AND FRENCH FRIES

It works because it removes thinking and replaces it with recognition. The brain instantly sees the shape. No translation required.

I could show the shape with my skis.
I could say the words so they heard it.
I could describe what it would feel like as the friction increased or decreased.

When students saw it, heard it, and felt it at the same time, something clicked. Fear softened. Confidence followed.

That is not accidental. That is how learning sticks.

And it is exactly how your founder story needs to work.

If you only tell your story one way, you will lose everyone who processes information differently. Tell it visually, verbally, and emotionally at the same time and you give every listener a way to lock in.

The investor who can see your vision, hear your logic, and feel the stakes is not just interested. They are already imagining what happens if they say yes.

WHAT SCIENCE ACTUALLY SAYS

You may have heard that people have one fixed learning style. That idea has not held up under scrutiny. Research shows that 63.8 percent of people prefer multiple modes of information at the same time, not just one.

What does have strong support is multimodal learning. Presenting information through multiple channels strengthens comprehension and memory.

Different brain regions process visual input, sound, movement, and emotion. When those systems activate together, learning becomes more expansive, more durable and easier to apply.

That is exactly what was happening on the mountain. I was not guessing each student’s style. I was layering instruction so their brain had multiple entry points.

The result was faster progression. Bunny hill to greens. Greens to blues. Blues to blacks.

WHY THIS MATTERS FOR YOUR STORY

When you tell your founder story, you are not just sharing information. You are asking people to understand, remember, and care enough to act.

If your story only talks, you lose people who need to picture it.

If your story only paints pictures, you lose people who need meaning and explanation.

If your story only leans on emotion without context, it feels vague or ungrounded.

Strong storytelling uses multiple channels at once. It lets people hear your logic, see your vision, and feel the stakes. That combination builds belief.

EXPERIENCE, NOT DOWNLOAD

On the mountain, my goal was never for students to understand skiing intellectually. The goal was for them to ski. Confidently. Safely. Joyfully.

In storytelling, the goal is not for someone to admire your words. It is for them to buy in.

Good stories are experienced. People replay them internally. They repeat key phrases. They picture specific moments. They feel something shift.

That is why storytelling works in business. It engages the same systems that guide real-world decision making.

The investor who can see your vision, hear the logic, and feel the momentum is not just interested. They are already leaning forward.

FROM CONFIDENCE TO BELIEF

I watched hesitant skiers transform in a single afternoon. Their posture changed. Their breathing steadied. They stopped apologizing.

They trusted themselves.

That is the same shift you need your audience to feel. From uncertainty to clarity. From interest to commitment. From listening to supporting.

The difference between a founder who gets the funding and one who does not often comes down to this: Did you make them feel what is possible, or did you just tell them about it?

THE TAKEAWAY

Approach your story the way a great ski instructor approaches a lesson. Not as information to deliver, but as an experience to guide the listener.

Your audience does not all process meaning the same way. Give them multiple ways in.

That is how belief forms. That is how someone goes from watching from the lift to carving down the mountain with you.

And that is how a pitch meeting becomes a partnership, a conversation becomes a customer, and a story becomes momentum.

People learn fast when they can see progress, feel confidence building, and understand what comes next. On the mountain, that meant adjusting how I taught so students could succeed quickly. In storytelling, the same rule applies. Founders do not just need a good story. They need a story people can process, remember, and believe in. These three lessons translate directly from the slopes to how you should approach your own story.

This video of the 2025 Toastmasters World Champion shows how layering presentation techniques pulls people into a story. He does not rely on words alone. Kissing the stage, describing his love for being in front of an audience, and getting the room to woo hoo all work together to draw you in.

Through movement, voice, visuals, and humor, you feel the message he shares before he ever explains it. When you layer how you present, people buy into your story faster because it becomes easier to feel, remember, and trust. Watch here:

https://youtu.be/GTc7nbTFxa4?si=wsgSFZwwTSsUaQMl

Send an email to [email protected] and someone from my team will circle back with you.