Raquel Ark is a communication expert, coach and facilitator. She is an American living in Germany with over 20 years’ experience managing, coaching, facilitating and teaching in the communication field both in academia and in the chemical industry. She has a Master of Arts degree in Interpersonal and Organizational Communication and is a certified professional coach. She partners communication with leadership when working with clients and groups. She is also an instructor at Fresenius University of Applied Science for the International Business School and the Digital Management Master of Arts program.
As founder of listening ALCHEMY, Raquel is very curious about the conditions and capacities to hold a listening space that connects and inspires. She has been researching and experimenting with listening beyond traditional training, including interviews with experts, both researchers and professionals, implementing listeningLABS in different countries with international groups and prototyping a virtual listening ambassador program. She believes that listening is a skill to develop, an art to master and a gift of love.
What does listening have to do with storytelling? Listening research shows that asking for stories as well as storytelling has a large impact on both the listener and the speaker. Also, the quality of the listener impacts the quality of the speaker.
At BEYOND STORYTELLING 2018, together with Jodie Goulden, she will hold a workshop about how to listen to discover inspiring stories where you least expect it, with techniques and tools so that you can be surprised by your own stories and inspired by others.
