Thaler Pekar & Partners

Thaler Pekar & Partners We find the through line connecting your strategy, impact, & vision, & guide you in communicating it best.

For 15 years, Thaler Pekar & Partners has worked with visionary leaders around the world to align teams, inspire audiences, & engage customers. From narrative analysis to multiplatform visual storytelling, oral history collection to executive coaching, Thaler Pekar & Partners provides practical tools for powerful communication. Thaler Pekar & Partners is internationally-recognized for its deep exp

ertise in narrative, story, and communication. Both the BBC and the Smithsonian Institution have hailed the founder, Thaler Pekar, as one of the world’s leading experts on institutional storytelling. For 17 years, the team at Thaler Pekar & Partners has advised visionaries on being understood and influential. Our trademarked communication processes — Heart, Head, & Hand®, Engagement Equation® and Invitational Incline® — provide leaders with the confidence to speak, listen, and be heard, and sustain them in offering effective motivation. As a result, teams are more productive, audiences are more receptive, and visibility increases. Our award-winning work ranges from gathering 178 oral histories across four continents and six countries for Chuck Feeney’s The Atlantic Philanthropies; to finding and refining stories about integrity for Novartis senior leadership; to coaching a mainstage TED Talker; and to developing a communication and story skills academy for L’Oreál International Educators and Customer Representatives.

Tell me, please, about your use of open-ended questions.My ethos of invitational communication guides you to focus on ex...
03/16/2026

Tell me, please, about your use of open-ended questions.

My ethos of invitational communication guides you to focus on extending a proverbial welcome mat, with inquiries so open the person with whom you're speaking feels with certainty that they’ll be heard.

As a result, you're generously inviting context, complexity, nuance, and truth.

🫱 Instead of asking, “How was your weekend?” ask, “Tell me about your weekend.” Instead of, “How are you?” swap, “Tell me about what you’ve been up to.”

How do you issue invitations that welcome genuine response? (Extra points to those with adolescents who have managed to break through!)

When in conversation, slow down and offer the gift of silence. Allow space for people to listen to themselves and reflec...
03/11/2026

When in conversation, slow down and offer the gift of silence. Allow space for people to listen to themselves and reflect on what they’re thinking and saying. Give them ample time to find the words and emotions to fully express themselves.

Pauses allow you, too, to reset and gather your thinking.

What happens for you in silence — tension or insight? Do you remember a time when a pause shifted a conversation?

Are you creating space for people to be heard?A large part of the takeaway from any conversation is if we feel heard. Pr...
02/12/2026

Are you creating space for people to be heard?

A large part of the takeaway from any conversation is if we feel heard. Provide people with the space and time to listen. Reward people for excellent listening as well as speaking.

When have you felt truly heard? Who made that happen and how?

Hiring a Chief Storyteller is a bad idea.In my new article for The Robin Report, I write about how stories are a crucial...
01/20/2026

Hiring a Chief Storyteller is a bad idea.

In my new article for The Robin Report, I write about how stories are a crucial communication tool that invites your customers to understand, experience, and find resonance with your brand. The highest-impact stories emerge only when story is woven throughout a retail culture, not siloed in one C-suite executive.

"Narrative Intelligence is a competency, and storytelling is not a department. If you want to create a culture rich in stories and foster narrative alignment, you need to invite everyone, not anoint someone."

Read the full article at https://therobinreport.com/why-chief-storytellers-are-a-bad-idea/

We could all use a little assistance in listening better this holiday season.Better listening does three remarkable thin...
12/21/2025

We could all use a little assistance in listening better this holiday season.

Better listening does three remarkable things: it keeps us from reacting impulsively and prevents conflicts from spiraling; it signals genuine respect and humility and builds deep trust; and, delightfully, it makes conversations more memorable and genuinely enjoyable.

In the spirit — and necessity! — of the holiday season, we are sharing Thaler Pekar & Partners' top 7 tips for listening, live on our website now.

Wishing you a season filled with listening! May you fully listen to others — and may you be thoroughly listened to yourself!

Are you checking in with your listener to learn what they’re hearing?If you’re not asking, you’re guessing. Clarity and ...
12/17/2025

Are you checking in with your listener to learn what they’re hearing?

If you’re not asking, you’re guessing. Clarity and alignment depend on knowing how your communication is received. Pause and ask, “What does that have you thinking?” and “Where can I add more detail?”

Can you think of specific conversations you’ve recently had where this insight would have been helpful? What might have been different as a result?

Check your biases. Don’t assume consensus and buy-in because you’re hearing only what you want or expect to hear. Remind...
12/10/2025

Check your biases. Don’t assume consensus and buy-in because you’re hearing only what you want or expect to hear. Remind yourself you know only what something means to you. Let others tell you what something means to them, in their own words.

When have you realized you were totally off because you’d made an assumption? What helped you catch it?

Thaler Pekar & Partners is proud to work with Greater NY to connect our city’s smartest leaders in strategic service to ...
12/05/2025

Thaler Pekar & Partners is proud to work with Greater NY to connect our city’s smartest leaders in strategic service to the people of NYC.

My brand new Leaving Well, by Naomi Hattaway podcast conversation is super-interesting and inspiring, even to me! 😄 Naom...
11/22/2025

My brand new Leaving Well, by Naomi Hattaway podcast conversation is super-interesting and inspiring, even to me! 😄 Naomi Hattaway is generously uncovering and offering critical information to her listeners.

We focus on storysharing when leaders arrive and depart from positions and the paths toward creation of authentic legacy. I also mention the need for visionary leaders to share motivating stories and create spaciousness for what comes next.

If you’re leading change, facing a transition at work or on a board, or working to improve how your team shows up together, this 29-minute podcast is for you.

Give it a listen wherever you get your podcasts.

https://open.spotify.com/show/63r4VaeVsLugfz4NZ5xdY6

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/90-thaler-pekar-on-capturing-the-stories-of-an-organization/id1700989797?i=1000737202780

https://www.naomihattaway.com/podcast/thaler-pekar

Communication is both speaking and listening. When we listen, we demonstrate respect and humility and build trust. When ...
11/07/2025

Communication is both speaking and listening. When we listen, we demonstrate respect and humility and build trust. When we listen, we hear more. In cultures of excellent communication, leaders invite their customers, potential customers, and colleagues to hear others and be heard themselves.

What do you need to hear?

Be more intentional about what you need to hear, both inside and outside of your organization. What questions can you ask and what stories can you surface to hear what you need to hear?

→ Can you think of something you didn’t know you needed to hear — until someone said it? When have you intentionally sought out hearing something that wasn’t being said?

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