Design Your Storyin your own voice
Six weeks. A room of five. You leave with a curated story, and the craft to tell it so it wins the room.
Five people in the room. Not fifty. When a room of five is full, it is full.Your place also gives you a ticket to the first ever Festival of Creative Entrepreneurs, April 2027
I would rather ask you this in person. This is the next best thing.
Sally and I built Design Your Story because we kept meeting people who were brilliant at what they did and went small the moment they had to say it out loud. Not through any lack of ability. Nobody had ever taught them how, and most people are quietly winging it.
So this is an invitation, not an advert. Six weeks, four other people, and the time to learn the craft of storytelling, find your confidence, and actually practise. That last one is the part almost nobody gets.
Then in April there is the festival, and I want you there. That part matters to me more than any of the rest of it.
The next wave starts on 2 November, and the one after it on 11 January. Each has ten places, and you pick the morning or afternoon room that suits your week. If the timing is not right for you, that is a completely fine answer, and I would rather know than have you hover.
Rachael
You already have the story. Telling it so it lands is the hard part.
You know what you are building. You know why it matters. Then someone asks what you do at an event, or a funder asks for 200 words, or a client asks why you and not the cheaper option, and it comes out flat, hedged, and nothing like the thing in your head.
Design Your Story works from the inside out. We start with your raw material, the things that actually happened to you, because a story that is not true does not hold. Then we craft it and curate it until it is a story rather than a list of events.
The focus is you. Six weeks on your material, your voice, and the rooms you actually walk into. That focus is what makes it work, and it is why the room stays small enough for everyone to be worked on properly.
Creativity is today's currency, in every sector. We do not divide the world into creative people and everyone else. We see the creativity in everyone who comes into the room, and a good part of the work is helping people recognise how brilliant they already are. People have come to this from manufacturing, technology, services and the arts, and they join from Scotland and well beyond it.
Telling stories is not something to leave to chance, and it is not something to wing. It is a skill that gets crafted, and your stories get curated. You leave with something you can use on Monday morning.
Who this is for, and who it is not for
This is for you if
- You want to develop your public speaking
- You want more confidence in meetings, and more authority as a leader
- You are raising investment and the pitch has to land
- You are raising awareness for your business or your practice
- You want to be pushed by a small group who take their work as seriously as you take yours
- You are anywhere in the world. It runs online and the rooms mix countries and sectors on purpose
This is not for you if
- You want a done for you script handed over at the end
- You want to sit quietly at the back and watch
- You are looking for a marketing course, a funnel, or a growth hack
- You cannot give two hours a week for six weeks right now, and that is completely fine, come to the next wave when it opens
Small room, six weeks, real work
Five people
One room, five people, the whole way through, deliberately mixed across sectors and places. Small enough that everyone speaks every week and nobody hides. By week three you know what each other is building, which is when the useful pushing starts.
Two hours a week
Six live sessions, two hours each, online so you can join from anywhere. Between sessions there is work to do, and it is the kind you were going to have to do anyway. No busywork.
Time with Rachael and Sally
Two one to one sessions across the six weeks, so the things that are only yours get worked on properly, away from the group.
A guest who does this for real
One session each wave belongs to a guest. Past waves have had the award winning comedian Jay Lafferty in the room. People who hold an audience for a living, talking about how they actually do it.
Your own group
A dedicated group on CEC Social for your wave. Share resources, practise what you are working on, and get eyes on it before the next session comes round.
A story that wins the room
A curated story you can actually tell, and the craft to keep making more of them. Good in a room, on a stage, on a page, or in a pitch, without shrinking.
Before, during, after
A box in the post
A welcome box arrives before week one with everything you need: a notebook, pencils, cue cards, tea bags and a caramel wafer. Your joining details come with it, and a short prompt so you turn up with something real to work on rather than a blank page.
Six weeks, cameras on
Six two hour sessions, a guest session, and two one to ones with Rachael and Sally. There is homework, and a workbook to keep it in. Every session is recorded, so if a week gets away from you, you catch up rather than fall behind.
It does not stop at week six
You keep the workbook, and you keep your wave. Your ticket to the Festival of Creative Entrepreneurs in April comes with your place, so there is a room waiting for you months after the programme ends.
What happens, week by week
- Week oneWhat's in a storyThe raw material. What makes something a story rather than a list of things that happened.
- Week twoHow to listenBefore you can hold a room you have to hear one. The week most people say changed the most.
- Week threeGuest sessionSomeone who holds audiences for a living, in the room with you. Past waves have had Jay Lafferty.
- Week fourConfidence doesn't have to be loudPresence is not volume. Finding the version of authority that is actually yours.
- Week fiveSticky storiesWhy some stories survive twenty years and others do not last the walk to the car park.
- Week sixLet's hear itYou tell it. To the room, to camera, properly. This is the week people surprise themselves.
Rachael and Sally
A six week masterclass in how you tell, craft and love your story, so that others will too. Two people who do this for a living, in the room with a small group who need it.
Rachael Arnold
Founder and CEO of Creative Entrepreneurs Club, comedian, and keynote speaker. Entrepreneur in Residence at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. She has spent a career getting people to say the true thing out loud, on stages and in small rooms.
“It was a masterclass in holding an audience. No sign that you had shifted in the moment.”Mary Duffy, Juniper
“An honour to be there to see the pivot in progress. You brought the house down.”Alastair Davis OBE, Chief Executive, Social Investment Scotland
Sally Gray MBE
TV presenter, presenter coach, and Director of Presenters Inc. She trains people for television, radio, corporate film and live events, which means she knows exactly what happens to a person the moment a camera or a room turns towards them, and how to get them through it sounding like themselves.
“One of the most authentic and down to earth people I have ever met.”Anthony Gell, Strategic Advisor, CEO Council, The Wall Street Journal
“Presenters Inc are masters in their field.”Sir Bradley Wiggins
Two waves, ten places each
Pick the wave that suits you, then your room. Each wave runs two rooms at the same time, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Two people from the same company can join the same wave in different rooms, which is usually better for both of them.
Sessions run in UK time. If you are joining from another timezone, tell us when you book and we will confirm exactly what that means for your week.
Starts 2 November 2026
Six Mondays online, running through to the week of 7 December
Morning room
10:30 to 12:30, UK time
Afternoon room
13:30 to 15:30, UK time
What is included
- Six live sessions, two hours each, online
- Two one to one sessions with Rachael and Sally
- A guest session where a professional storyteller shares their craft
- A welcome box posted to you before week one
- Homework, and a workbook that is yours to keep
- Every session recorded, so a missed week is caught up rather than lost
- Your wave's group on CEC Social
- A ticket to the first ever Festival of Creative Entrepreneurs, a global celebration powered from Glasgow, 28 to 30 April 2027
Good to know
Who is it for?
Leaders and creative people from every sector, from those just starting out to experienced presenters.
Is the Festival ticket really included?
Yes. Every place includes a ticket to the Festival of Creative Entrepreneurs, 28 to 30 April 2027 in Glasgow, worth £295.
How big are the rooms?
Small and friendly, with five places per room, so everyone gets time and attention.
What if I need to move waves?
Just tell us. We will do our best to find you a place in the next wave.
The festival ticket
Your place on Design Your Story also gives you a ticket to the first ever Festival of Creative Entrepreneurs, a global celebration powered from Glasgow, April 2027.
This is not a bonus bolted on to sweeten the price. It is an invitation, and it is the part I care about most. The festival is three days in a room full of people I know and whose stories I want to hear. You already have a story. By April you will have a curated one, and the festival is exactly the right kind of place to tell it, with the four people you spent six weeks with beside you.
Early tickets for everyone else are £195 for the first 30, then £295 from the end of November 2026. Yours is worth £295 and is included with your place.
Paying for it
Secure your place with a deposit of £120. The balance is then split into two payments during the programme, so the cost lands across three months rather than one.
- £120on booking, to hold your place
- £540at the start of week one
- £540at the start of week four
If a different shape would work better for you, ask. We would rather sort it than lose you over timing.
Pay the £120 depositPay it forward · £1,500
If you are in a position to, pay £1,500 rather than £1,200. The extra £300 goes into a fund that buys a place for someone who could not otherwise be in the room. Four of these fund a full place. We will tell you when your contribution is used, and who it went to if they are happy to be named.
No badge, no upgrade, no better seat. You get exactly what everyone else gets. That is rather the point.
Book at the pay it forward rateBringing a team
We take full teams. Book five places and the sixth is free, so five becomes six. Teams usually split across the morning and afternoon rooms, which means people come back with different material and a shared language for talking about it.
Talk to us about team placesThe Festival of Creative Entrepreneurs
The first ever Festival of Creative Entrepreneurs. A global celebration powered from Glasgow: three days, around two hundred people, and from now on it happens every April.
It is built for people who are making something and have to keep making it while also running the thing. Talks from people worth listening to, workshops that leave you with something, and a lot of the useful conversation that happens between sessions rather than during them. The first CEC founding wave also launches here.
Announced soon
I have asked some incredible people and they have said yes. I am fairly well known for my address book, and this is the best use I have ever put it to. Names are announced soon.
Already held
Early tickets for everyone else are £195 for the first 30, then £295 from the end of November 2026. Yours is worth £295 and comes with your place on Design Your Story.
The doorway to the founding wave
In April 2027 we launch the first CEC wave at the Festival of Creative Entrepreneurs in Glasgow. Twenty five founders and CEOs from a range of sectors and countries, one year together, a proper programme rather than a membership.
Your festival ticket comes with your place on Design Your Story, so you will be in the room when it launches.
There is no obligation either way. Plenty of people do the six weeks and that is exactly the right amount.
What people say afterwards
More focus, better preparation, and more me.
Doing the course made a massive difference to how I show up and tell my story. I would encourage anyone who wants to work on how they communicate better to check out the brilliant course Rachael and Sally Gray MBE deliver. I am jealous of the next cohort.
Chloe Cannon, GoodBusiness
I had a blast. Design Your Story helped me get clear on how to pack a punch with my storytelling. Rachael and Sally provided a vibrant and safe space to experiment, sharing useful frameworks and giving lots of helpful feedback along the way.
Sharon Harvey
This is not the type of course you do and then forget about. It has changed how I think about communication, how I interact with colleagues, and how I get the most out of conversations.
Sarah C., Edinburgh
Three things I got from this course that I hoped would not turn me into a corporate dude, and it has not. What it has done is give me the confidence to speak in front of people and get my message across clearly.
Stephen, publishing
I would recommend it to anyone, from those starting out on presenting through to people well honed in telling their story, or organisations needing to breathe new life into their presentations. You will learn tons and have fun on the way.
Kate D., Thankerton
I absolutely loved it. I learnt so much and it has definitely boosted my confidence with speaking to camera. Just need to do lots of practise now.
Trudi Donahue, Founder, Wild n Kind
Five things we hold to
Better questions than answers. Nobody is here to be told what their story is.
Your voice, not a borrowed one. If it does not sound like you, it does not go in.
True stories, told straight. And a price that means what it says.
Direct feedback given warmly. You will be pushed, never embarrassed.
Six weeks of this should be a good laugh. It usually is.
Ready when you are
Take a place on the November or January wave, or tell us to keep you posted and we will let you know when later waves open. Both are a completely normal thing to do, and nobody will chase you.