What People Are Saying
“Renira has the rare knack of being able to not only transform technical scientific content into plain language, but to also do it with flair, creativity and humanity. She is a born storyteller and has so much to teach anyone in research, science or health who would like to learn how to communicate in a way that really makes an impact.”
—Lauren Clegg, Manager, Research and Centres of Innovation Communications, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Canada
“I recently attended two of Renira's storytelling workshops, and they were an absolute game-changer. Renira’s ability to captivate and engage her audience is unmatched. From the very start, she created a welcoming and dynamic atmosphere that made learning the art of storytelling feel both natural and exciting. Her practical tools and hands-on activities not only helped me understand how to transform complex ideas into compelling narratives but also gave me the confidence to share my own stories. I walked away with clear, actionable strategies that I can immediately apply to my work. If you’re looking to sharpen your storytelling skills and connect with others through powerful narratives, I highly recommend attending one of Renira’s workshops!”
—Dr. Nicole Pope, Lecturer, Paediatric Nursing, The University of Melbourne, Australia
“I attended Renira’s workshop at the AESIS Societal Impact of Science Conference 2023. From the start, it was obvious that she is a professional storyteller – her poetry slam presentation on one of her own projects was only one of many captivating moments during her session —on top of that she is also a fantastic workshop facilitator. She knows how to engage and read the audience. Through her hands-on approach and the numerous examples that are given, it makes the art of storytelling particularly tangible. Participants will leave Renira’s sessions with concrete tools and methods that they can apply in their own contexts to reach wider audiences. I highly recommend attending any session by Renira if you want to learn how to tell a story compellingly.”
—Mathieu Mahve Beydokhti, Project Manager, Open Innovation in Science Center at the Ludwig Boltzmann Gesellschaft, Austria
“Renira is an outstanding speaker who knows how to captivate her audience! Our research group invited Renira to host a short series of storytelling workshops with our patient partners so they can better express their lived experience with diabetes. Our patient partners were so appreciative to have the opportunity to learn from Renira. It equipped them to start their own storytelling journey. Thank you Renira - From our Patients and Research Team! We look forward to future workshops!”
—Yesmino Elia, Senior Project Manager, Diabetes Research, SickKids, Canada
“This session with Renira was a gift. She is an exceptional presenter, and this was the most engaging workshop/presentation I have participated in in a long time! I greatly appreciate that she provided us with valuable tools and resources and helped to shape our planning and thought process - especially the 6-step guide.”
“Our team recently hosted Renira to do a storytelling workshop for our organization so we can better tell the story of our work and our research findings. What a fabulous decision this was. Renira is an excellent presenter and storyteller who brought real life examples to demonstrate the effectiveness of storytelling. We came away with practical tools and processes to follow as we embark on our journey. Thank you!!!!”
—Chronic Pain Centre of Excellence for Canadian Veterans, Canada
“Renira is not only a captivating storyteller, but an inspiring one too. She supported our team through a storytelling workshop, and was able to engage us all through her practical tools combined with hands-on activities – at the end, we couldn’t believe that 3 hours had passed so quickly! As a hybrid event, both our in-person and virtual participants had nothing but good things to say about the workshop. We are very lucky to have had Renira help us in better crafting our stories in a complex research space.”
—Sarah Czunyi, Program Officer, International Development Research Centre, Canada
“I credit Renira’s storytelling workshop for helping me see a bigger possibility for what research presentations could be. Today I presented the story of my research, and it was received so well, I was invited to present elsewhere. Woah!
The story structuring frameworks were so helpful. In the past, this is where I got stuck and overwhelmed – like how am I supposed to tie everything I want to say together? The frameworks were practical and melted the resistance/got the creativity flowing.
Renira’s workshop can also be applied to visual storytelling. As a science illustrator, I'm finding myself referencing Renira’s template even for design. Thanks for creating KT storytelling Renira!!!”
—Sunny Yimeng Dong, Mental Health Knowledge Broker, Mobilize Mental Health, Canada
“Renira is a natural storyteller. In fact, even in how she teaches us to tell our own stories, she is inspiring and gripping. Storytelling is one of the most important parts of sharing knowledge with others, and I can't think of a better teacher for this than Renira.”
—Matthew Prebeg, Clinical Research Project Coordinator, SickKids & Youth Engagement Specialist, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Canada
“Collaborating with Renira has been a highlight of my professional career. Renira and I worked together to develop a story for a topic that can be a little dry; however, Renira is naturally gifted at crafting engaging stories, and we have been able to create stories that are not only compelling, but also unique and authentic.
I was new to the world of storytelling, and Renira would always take extra time to explain and clarify the storytelling process—from describing different story elements to outlining key considerations—and she does it in a youth-friendly way.
I couldn’t imagine our project coming together as beautifully as it has without Renira. And most of all, Renira is simply a joy to work with—you’ll find yourself excited to chat with her anytime you have a meeting scheduled, and laughs can always be expected.”
—Claire Perry, Youth Engagement Specialist, McCain Centre for Child, Youth & Family Mental Health, Canada
