"Donald Miller's presentation for Trek World was fabulous. Due to a travel issue beyond his control, he ending up driving 9 hours to make sure he got to our event, and he still did a great job speaking. I would highly recommend him. He is an absolute professional."
Donald Miller
StoryBrand and Business Made Simple, CEO
Featured Topics
Fee Range
Please contact us for pricingTravels From
Nashville, TN, US
Donald Miller
Biography
Donald Miller is the CEO of the marketing service StoryBrand, helping thousands of businesses each year to define their brand message. In total, Don’s books have spent over a year on the New York Times Bestsellers list, including: Building a StoryBrand 2.0, Marketing Made Simple, Blue Like Jazz, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years, and Scary Close. He helped write the major motion picture Blue Like Jazz, which premiered at the SXSW Film Festival and was named one of the top four movies to get you through freshman year by USA Today. Don has served on The Presidential Task Force for Fatherhood and Healthy Families, a collaboration between government and the private sector to rewrite the story of fatherlessness in America. Don is distinguished as one of the most captivating and informative speakers out there. His audiences are encourage to lean into their own story, creatively develop and execute the story of their team, and understand the story of their customers so they can serve them with passion. Don’s perspective on story have greatly influenced leaders and teams for Pantene, Ford/Lincoln, Zaxby’s, Chick-fil-A, Steelcase, Intel, Prime Lending and countless others.
Donald Miller
Featured Videos
Current: How to clarify your message so people listen
Time 24:33
More Videos From Donald Miller
Donald Miller
Featured Keynote Programs
How Do You Grow a Small Business?
Most small-business owners feel like they are winging it. But feeling like you are making it up as you go along gets frustrating and can make you want to quit. How do we alleviate that frustration and pain? Here’s the key: Understand that your business actually works like an airplane. That’s right, an airplane. The cockpit is your leadership, the right engine is your marketing, the left engine is your sales, the wings are your products, the body is your overhead and the fuel tanks are your cash flow.
If a small-business owner understands how to manage the 6 parts of their business, their business will fly far and fast.
This keynote comes with a robust handout allowing the audience to walk away with a checklist that will ensure their business is in great shape. Some audience members believe this single keynote taught them more than an entire business education.
Details:
45 to 60 minute keynote
Bonus session available: This keynote can be extended into a mini workshop that can run for 2 to 3 hours, giving the audience even more value
How to Sell Without Selling by Making the Customer the Hero
How to Invite Customers Into a Story and Close More Sales
Keynote Description:
Most people hate to sell but feel like they have to sell in order to grow their businesses. Most small-business leaders, real estate agents, financial advisors, and entrepreneurs don’t think of themselves as salespeople but the truth is if they don’t learn to sell, their businesses will suffer. So what’s the solution? The solution is to learn to make the customer the hero and enjoy sales conversations in which we invite customers into a story.
In this keynote, Donald Miller walks through the 5-step process that will make the customer the hero. Those who learn from this keynote will be able to engage in sales conversations that do not feel awkward or forced. They will also be able to write great sales emails, give terrific presentations and create proposals that earn new business. If your audience hates to sell, Donald Miller will help them stop selling and start making the customer the hero.
Details:
45 to 60 minute keynote presentation
Bonus session available: This keynote can be extended into a mini workshop that can run for 2 to 3 hours, giving the audience even more value
How to Differentiate Yourself and Your Business by Building a StoryBrand
How do we talk about what we offer in such a way people are guaranteed to pay attention. Most leaders, marketers and salespeople have trouble breaking through the noise. What’s the solution? Invite customers into a story that compels them to pay attention and take action. When you listen to Donald Miller deliver the Building a StoryBrand keynote you will learn a simple, 7-part framework you can use to invite customers into a story. If you are tired of being ignored and want to grow your business, learn to invite customers into a story.
This keynote is based on Donald Miller’s bestselling book Building a StoryBrand that has been read by more than 800,000 business leaders and continues to sell nearly 200,000 copies per year.
Details:
45-60 minute keynote presentation
Optional 30-minute One-Liner exercise can be added onto the keynote time or done as a breakout session
In the optional One-Liner exercise, your keynote speaker will make it feel as though the audience is experiencing a mini-workshop designed specifically to grow their businesses. Not only this, but Donald will teach your audience to write one sentence that will likely pay their expenses for attending the event, including travel. Attendees often walk out of the keynote saying “That keynote just paid for everything it cost me to be here” which translates into your event being perceived as an incredible investment. We will provide a physical handout with a clear outline for each attendee to use while going through the exercise.
Donald Miller
Featured Books
Blue Like Jazz
by Donald Miller
The runaway New York Times bestseller that became a cornerstone of Christian nonfiction, Blue Like Jazz is a fresh and original perspective on life, love, and redemption.
I never liked jazz music because jazz music doesn't resolve...Sometimes you have to watch somebody love something before you can love it yourself. It is as if they are showing you the way. I used to not like God because God didn't resolve. But that was before any of this happened.
Donald Miller was raised in a strict Texas denomination where he was only vaguely familiar with a distant God. When he grew older, he ran all the way to the least-religious university in the US: Rice College in Portland, Oregon. Still, God pursued him. When he came to know Jesus, he pursued the Christian life with great zeal. However, within a few years he had a successful ministry that ultimately left him feeling empty, burned out, and, once again, far away from God.
In this intimate, non-judgmental, and soul-searching account, Miller describes his remarkable journey with and back to the infinitely loving God, helping you...
- discover how the Christian faith is still relevant in a postmodern culture;
- learn how to have a genuine encounter with a God who is real; and
- enjoy a renewed sense of passion for your life.
Blue Like Jazz is a gentle, honest resource for those curious about the Christian faith, or new to it, and offers a fresh and original perspective on life, love, and redemption.
Building a Storybrand
by Donald Miller
More than half-a-million business leaders have discovered the power of the StoryBrand Framework, created by New York Times bestselling author and marketing expert Donald Miller. And they are making millions.
If you use the wrong words to talk about your product, nobody will buy it. Marketers and business owners struggle to effectively connect with their customers, costing them and their companies millions in lost revenue.
In a world filled with constant, on-demand distractions, it has become near-impossible for business owners to effectively cut through the noise to reach their customers, something Donald Miller knows first-hand. In this book, he shares the proven system he has created to help you engage and truly influence customers.
The StoryBrand process is a proven solution to the struggle business leaders face when talking about their companies. Without a clear, distinct message, customers will not understand what you can do for them and are unwilling to engage, causing you to lose potential sales, opportunities for customer engagement, and much more.
In Building a StoryBrand, Donald Miller teaches marketers and business owners to use the seven universal elements of powerful stories to dramatically improve how they connect with customers and grow their businesses.
His proven process has helped thousands of companies engage with their existing customers, giving them the ultimate competitive advantage. Building a StoryBrand does this by teaching you:
- The seven universal story points all humans respond to;
- The real reason customers make purchases;
- How to simplify a brand message so people understand it; and
- How to create the most effective messaging for websites, brochures, and social media.
Whether you are the marketing director of a multibillion-dollar company, the owner of a small business, a politician running for office, or the lead singer of a rock band, Building a StoryBrand will forever transform the way you talk about who you are, what you do, and the unique value you bring to your customers.
Business Made Simple
by Donald Miller
Is this blue book more valuable than a business degree?
Most people enter their professional careers not understanding how to grow a business. At times, this makes them feel lost, or worse, like a fraud pretending to know what they're doing.
It's hard to be successful without a clear understanding of how business works. These 60 daily readings are crucial for any professional or business owner who wants to take their career to the next level.
New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling author, Donald Miller knows that business is more than just a good idea made profitable - it's a system of unspoken rules, rarely taught by MBA schools. If you are attempting to profitably grow your business or career, you need elite business knowledge--knowledge that creates tangible value.
Even if you had the time, access, or money to attend a Top 20 business school, you would still be missing the practical knowledge that propels the best and brightest forward. However, there is another way to achieve this insider skill development, which can both drastically improve your career earnings and the satisfaction of achieving your goals.
Donald Miller learned how to rise to the top using the principles he shares in this book. He wrote Business Made Simple to teach others what it takes to grow your career and create a company that is healthy and profitable.
These short, daily entries and accompanying videos will add enormous value to your business and the organization you work for. In this sixty-day guide, readers will be introduced to the nine areas where truly successful leaders and their businesses excel:
- Character: What kind of person succeeds in business?
- Leadership: How do you unite a team around a mission?
- Personal Productivity: How can you get more done in less time?
- Messaging: Why aren't customers paying more attention?
- Marketing: How do I build a sales funnel?
- Business Strategy: How does a business really work?
- Execution: How can we get things done?
- Sales: How do I close more sales?
- Management: What does a good manager do?
Business Made Simple is the must-have guide for anyone who feels lost or overwhelmed by the modern business climate, even if they attended business school. Learn what the most successful business leaders have known for years through the simple but effective secrets shared in these pages.
Take things further: If you want to be worth more as a business professional, read each daily entry and follow along with the free videos that will be sent to you after you buy the book.
Marketing Made Simple
by Donald Miller
This guide from New York Times bestselling author Donald Miller, is a must-have for any marketing professional or small business owner who wants grow their business. It will teach you how to create and implement a sales funnel that will increase traffic and drive sales.
Every day, your company is losing sales simply because you do not have a clear path to attract new customers. You're not alone.
Based on proven principles from Building a StoryBrand, this 5-part checklist is the ultimate resource for marketing professionals and business owners as they cultivate a sales funnel that flows across key customer touchpoints to effectively develop, strengthen, and communicate their brand's story to the marketplace. In this book, you will learn:
- The three stages of customer relationships.
- How to create and implement the one marketing plan you will never regret.
- How to develop a sales funnel that attracts the right customers to your business.
- The power of email and how to create campaigns that result in customer traffic and a growth in brand awareness.
- The keys to wireframing a website that commands attention and generates conversions.
The inability to attract and convert new customers is costing business owners valuable opportunities to grow their brand. This prevents companies, both big and small, from making the sales that are crucial to their survival. With Marketing Made Simple, you will learn everything you need to know to take your business to the next level.
Hero on a Mission
by Donald Miller
New York Times bestselling author Donald Miller shares the plan that led him to turn his life around.
There are four characters in every story: The victim, the villain, the hero, and the guide. These four characters live inside us. If we play the victim, we're doomed to fail. If we play the villain, we will not create genuine bonds. But if we play the hero or guide, our lives will flourish. The hard part is being self-aware enough to know which character we are playing.
In this book, Donald will use his own experiences to help you recognize if the character you are currently surfacing is helping you experience a life of meaning. He breaks down the transformational, yet practical, plan that took him from slowly giving up to rapidly gaining a new perspective of his own life's beauty and meaning, igniting his motivation, passion, and productivity, so you can do the same.
The lessons in this book will teach you how to:
- Help you discover when you are playing the victim and villain.
- Create a simple life plan that will bring clarity and meaning to your goals ahead.
- Take control of your life by choosing to be the hero in your story.
- Cultivate a sense of creativity about what your life can be.
- Move beyond just being productive to experiencing a deep sense of meaning.
Donald Miller will help you identify the many chances you have of being the hero in your life, and the times when you are falling into the trap of becoming the victim. He will guide you in developing a unique plan that will speak to the challenges you currently face so you, too, can take find the fulfillment you have been searching for in your life and work.
Scary Close
by Donald Miller
When it comes to authenticity, is being fully yourself always worth the risk? From the author of Blue Like Jazz comes New York Times bestseller Scary Close, Donald Miller's journey of uncovering the keys to a healthy relationship and discovering that they're also at the heart of building a healthy family, a successful career, and a trusted community of friends.
After decades of failed relationships and painful drama, Miller decided that he'd had enough. Trying to impress people wasn't helping him truly connect with anyone--and neither was pretending to be someone he wasn't. He'd built himself a life of public isolation, but he dreamed of having a life defined by meaningful relationships instead. At 40-years-old, he made a scary decision: he was going to be his true self no matter what it might cost.
Scary Close tells the story of Miller's difficult choice to impress fewer people and connect with even more. It's about the importance of knocking down old walls to finally experience the freedom that comes when we stop playing a part and start being fully ourselves.
In Scary Close, Miller shares everything he's learned firsthand about how to:
- Deconstruct the old habits that no longer serve us
- Overcome the desire to please the people around us
- Always tell the truth, even when it's hard
- Find satisfaction in a daily portion of real love
- Risk being fully known in order to deeply love and be loved
- Apply these lessons to your everyday life
If you're ready to drop the act and find true, life-changing intimacy, it's time to get Scary Close.
A Million Miles in a Thousand Years
by Donald Miller
After writing a successful memoir, Donald Miller's life stalled. During what should have been the height of his success, he found himself unwilling to get out of bed, avoiding responsibility, even questioning the meaning of life. But when two movie producers proposed turning his memoir into a movie, he found himself launched into a new story filled with risk, possibility, beauty, and meaning.
A Million Miles in a Thousand Years chronicles Miller's rare opportunity to edit his life into a great story, to reinvent himself so nobody shrugs their shoulders when the credits roll. Through heart-wrenching honesty and hilarious self-inspection, Donald Miller takes readers through the life that emerges when it turns from boring reality into meaningful narrative.
Miller goes from sleeping all day to riding his bike across America, from living in romantic daydreams to fearful encounters with love, from wasting his money to founding a nonprofit with a passionate cause. Guided by a host of outlandish but very real characters, Miller shows us how to get a second chance at life the first time around. A Million Miles in a Thousand Years is a rare celebration of the beauty of life.
Donald Miller
Featured Review
Donald Miller
Featured Articles & Resources
Premiere University | Donald Miller + StoryBrand
Stories are usually seen as something we do to pass time and let our minds day dream. They’re often seen as a form of recreation but in fact, stories push some of the most...
Find Similar Speakers Innovation
How Do You Choose the BEST Speaker for Your Event?
We’ve had 30 years and 40,000 events to perfect the process—and we’ll do it for free.
