236: Using One Story with Different Angles for Different Audiences with Chanta Wilkinson

You know that including stories, especially personal stories, in your presentations is important to connect with and engage the audience. This is true whether you’re giving a keynote, a business presentation, or a training.

Along with integrating various stories and examples throughout your presentations, you can also have one core story that illustrates your topic and why it’s important.

This is what my guest Chanta Wilkinson and I have been working on during our coaching sessions as part of our Thought Leader Academy.

Chanta provides trainings and workshops for organizations around diversity, equity, and inclusion, so we identified a story going back to when she was a young girl that perfectly illustrates why she has gravitated to this work and why DEI is so important.

Even better, we’ve identified different angles she can use from this one core story, depending on who’s in the audience and what she wants to emphasize.

You are going to love Chanta’s energy and passion for what she does!

Enrollment for our Thought Leader Academy is opening again in September! Get the details and join our interest list at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/academy/.

About My Guest: Chanta Howard Wilkinson is the founder of Chanta Wilkinson Consulting, LLC, where she provides diversity, equity and inclusion consulting and assistance to organizations implementing diversity, equity and inclusion strategies and best practices. Chanta previously served as a Human Resources Consultant for small to mid-size businesses in Delaware and New York City. Prior to that, she served as the Associate Director of EEO/AA for Kings County Hospital in Brooklyn. In addition, she also served as a Deputy Attorney General and an EEO/Affirmative Action Coordinator for the New Jersey Office of Attorney General and an Associate at a large New Jersey law firm. Chanta holds a J.D. from Rutgers University School of Law, a BA from Rutgers College, and a Diversity & Inclusion for HR Certificate from Cornell University.

About Us: The Speaking Your Brand podcast is hosted by Carol Cox. At Speaking Your Brand, we help women entrepreneurs and professionals clarify their brand message and story, create their signature talks, and develop their thought leadership platforms. Our mission is to get more women in positions of influence and power because it's through women's stories and visibility that we challenge the status quo and change existing systems. Check out our coaching programs at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com.

Links:

Show notes at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/236

Chanta’s website: https://www.chantawilkinsonconsultingllc.com/

Download our FREE workbook on how to position yourself as a thought leader: https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/guide/.

Get on the interest list for our Thought Leader Academy: https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/academy/

Schedule a consult call to talk about creating your signature talk and thought leadership platform: https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/contact.

Connect on LinkedIn:

• Carol on LinkedIn = https://www.linkedin.com/in/carolcox
• Carol on Instagram= https://www.instagram.com/carolmorgancox
• SYB on YouTube = https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCS7AtXV0f_HL09mepAON65w
• Chanta on LinkedIn = https://www.linkedin.com/in/chanta-howard-wilkinson-547ab8a0/

Related Podcast Episodes:

• Episode 137: The Missing Ingredients in Your Stories with Carol Cox
• Episode 193: Five Kinds of Stories to Share in Your Thought Leadership Content with Carol Cox
• Episode 232: Are You an Influencer, an Expert, or a Thought Leader? with Carol Cox
• Episode 233: 3 Types of Thought Leadership Models with Carol Cox

Become Bookable Live Online Workshop - April 15, 2026
If you want to speak more but you’re not sure where to start or your efforts haven’t produced the results you want, I’m hosting a live online workshop called “Become Bookable: How to Get Speaking Invitations” on Wednesday, April 15th.

A lot of brilliant women assume they just need to pitch themselves more. But the real reason speakers get invited isn’t because they pitch harder — it’s because they’re positioned as bookable.

In this 3-hour interactive workshop live on Zoom, I’ll show you how speakers actually get invited — and help you clarify the positioning that makes event organizers say yes.

As a podcast listener, use the coupon code “Podcast100” to save $100 on your registration.

Learn more and register at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/bookable