Leaders, Scientists and Innovators from Across the U.S. Now Seek Out Articulation to Help Them be Better Communicators
Ruth Milligan is marking 20 years of entrepreneurship, having built one of the most sought out storytelling and communication coaching firms in the country.
What began in 2002 as Milligan Communications is now known simply as Articulation. Articulation’s roots can be traced to Milligan’s founding of the first TEDxColumbus in 2009. This experience led her to search for someone — anyone — who could help coach her next round of speakers in message method and storytelling. Finding no one, she created what would become today’s storytelling authority.
Articulation serves organizations from coast to coast. Clients come from Fortune 500 companies, as well as established leaders in research, education and philanthropy, and from smaller firms across the economic spectrum. The overarching goal is to drive change through better storytelling.
“We are honored to be celebrating 20 years of service and impact and appreciate the ongoing support we have received from our clients, partners, collaborators, and friends,” Milligan said. “This anniversary presents a unique opportunity to reflect on where we started and look ahead to how we can continue to help others harness the power of stories well told.”
While many local businesses continue to struggle due to the pandemic, Articulation emerged stronger than ever before.
“The fact is, COVID nearly flattened Articulation. We watched helplessly as the world shut down, along with the events that are the lifeblood of our business. But Articulation not only recovered. Last year was our most successful to date,” Milligan said.
Much of that success can be credited to the firm’s focus. Over the last few years, Milligan and team perfected a new specialization helping craft compelling science and innovation stories, working with primary investigators, research leaders and start-up innovators. Articulation prepares them to successfully present at events such as pitch competitions, innovation showcases, annual meetings, donor cultivation events, awards programs, postdoctoral training initiatives, and TED-like events.
While Articulation has a strong focus in health care, science and innovation with organizations including UnitedHealthcare, The Ohio State University, Nationwide Children’s Hospital, and Ohio’s PitchX initiative, they also have assembled major corporate clients such as Ford, NetJets, Huntington, Nationwide, and Designer Brands, among others.
To meet demand, these expansions have been recently made or are underway within Articulation:
- Acacia Duncan was promoted to Director of Coaching and Training. Acacia has been with Articulation since 2017.
- Articulation is also partnering with Stephanie Weaver, California based speaker coach, to assist with its TED-like event coaching.
- Incubating a managerial practice to represent paid speakers, especially those in underrepresented demographics.
- Adding training offerings in facilitation (train the trainer), virtual presence classes and a group coaching model cohort for emerging scientists.
- A partnership with Rowan Winterwood as a resident production manager. Rowan is bridging the gap between speaker content, visuals, video production and events.
- A search is underway for a new, full-time coach to support science and innovation training and coaching.
- An additional function on the website, a search feature of 200 short talks coached by Articulation primarily of research, science and innovation presentations in the last 10 years.
“While we are hired to support speakers for specific events, the lasting impact on the speaker as a result of coaching and training is what is inspiring our growth,” Milligan said. “We are able to help make them more effective and influential storytellers anytime they present, which is the impact we hope for everyone trying to improve our world.”