David Gee

Storyteller and Strategist

United States

Strategic storyteller and communications strategist with wide and deep experience in broadcast journalism, publishing, corporate communications, earned media, and executive messaging. I help brands and leaders use clear, compelling stories to build trust, capture attention, and drive results across multiple platforms.

I began my career as a TV news anchor and reporter for a nationwide network and CBS- and Fox-owned stations, later producing and anchoring news cut-ins for VH1, Showtime, and USA. I have interviewed five U.S. Presidents, covered major Hollywood figures, and reported live from five Academy Awards ceremonies.

I later led editorial strategy for both B2B and B2C business publications, successfully returning two underperforming magazine titles to profitability through audience-first content, brand positioning, and editorial discipline.

In parallel, I have worked as a keynote speaker, media trainer, content director, corporate PR director, communications consultant, and agency account manager—helping organizations translate complex ideas into compelling narratives.

Clients and brands include the U.S. Navy, Nissan, Pfizer, GE Ecomagination, Symantec, AIG, Audi, Mitsubishi, McDonald’s, Rolex, Nestlé, General Foods, Pepsi, and others.

Across every channel, my focus remains the same: using strategic storytelling to earn attention, build credibility, and influence decisions.

Portfolio
Linkedin
Why Your Marketing Isn't Relevant - And How To Fix It

There is about an 80-percent chance there is something fundamentally wrong with your marketing. It's flawed because it's about you, not them (your prospect or customer), because you're the hero of your own story, and because you don't demonstrate value.

Business Storytellers
Keynote Speech

Speech I wrote for an executive at Valic; The Variable Annuity Life Insurance Company, a subsidiary of American International Group, Inc., an insurance corporation that specializes in tax-qualified retirement plans, supplemental tax-deferred and after-tax investments. The speech was delivered to an internal audience of several hundred sales reps.

Social Media
03/04/2019
GE Ecomagination Social Posts

These are social media posts I wrote as a contractor for a marketing agency. Client was the renewable energy division of General Electric.

G-Force Communications
05/05/2015
Valor Ridge Speech

Speech I wrote for a retired Marine Colonel soliciting help from the construction trades in building a home for disabled American veterans.

G-Force Communications
Valor Ridge PowerPoint

I did the pro bono marketing, public relations and fundraising for a team of volunteers working to develop an affordable, first-of-its-kind, non-profit, multi-housing, assisted living health care facility for homeless and disabled military Veterans called Valor Ridge Residences.

G-Force Communications
11/18/2020
Valor Ridge Press Conference Talking Points

Talking points I wrote for a press conference with the City of Minneapolis to announce the kickoff of our fundraising campaign for this disabled veterans housing project.

G-Force Communications
Valor Ridge homeless veterans brochure

This was a brochure I developed for the project to effectively house and care for a large and growing number of aging, homeless and disabled military veterans.

G-Force Communications
2017
GE Ecomagination Social Media Posts

I did the social media posts for GE's green brand initiative while their regular person at a B2B agency was out on maternity leave.

Business Storytellers
The Power of Partnership

This is a speech I wrote for the then-CEO of Piper Jaffray investment bank as they were revealing an all-new brand strategy to their employees.

3 Second Selling
09/29/2022
You Can't Reason Your Way To A Sale

Do you want the good news first, or the bad? The good news is, it has never been easier to reach large numbers of people. The bad news? It has never been more difficult to actually connect with them. And creating emotional connections, quickly, as in seconds, is vital if we are to earn someone's...

Minnesota Business Magazine
Editor's Letter

Preview of the cover story about the mortgage meltdown

3 Second Selling
10/13/2022
Want More Sales? Tell Better Stories!

STORY = information, knowledge, context and emotion When facts are so widely available and instantly accessible, each one becomes less valuable. What begins to matter more is the ability to place these facts in context and to deliver them with emotional impact. So stories and sales go together! Stories connect us.

3 Second Selling
10/03/2022
Don't Waste Big Selling Moments With Boring Small Talk

When the average American adult is subject to between 6,000 and 10,000 marketing messages every single day we can safely say it is an incredibly cluttered, crowded, chaotic world we live in. If we want to cut through that clutter, we don't have very long to pique someone's curiosity, capture their attention, and earn some...

Boating Industry
01/29/2021
2021 Economic Forecast

Challenges and opportunities for the recreational boating industry in 2021.

Boating Industry
Surf's Up

Surf's up and so are towboat sales

Boating Industry
07/01/2021
Outboards are in

Outboard engine sales have been propelled to record levels

Boating Industry
05/01/2020
The meaning of community

Op ed I wrote about what it means to be in community, especially during times of crisis.

LinkedIn Pulse
05/28/2015
The Most Effective & Least Expensive Marketing Concept You Will Ever Use

If you want people to know, like and trust you, and eventually do business with you, you should be constantly telling and selling. Right?Maybe that worked back in the day. But it doesn't work today. So let's reframe the sales and marketing process and sell more by selling less.How about instead of doing all the talking, you do more listening.

LinkedIn Pulse
07/08/2014
Don't "We, We" All Over Your Customers

Does your typical sales and marketing messaging sound like this? "We offer cutting edge technology." "We feature best in class service and support." "We have the best people." "We are the market leaders. "We are the fastest." "We are the cheapest." We are the ______."Don't "we" "we" all over your customers.

LinkedIn Pulse
06/25/2015
Want More Sales? Tell Better Stories

Stories and sales go together. Stories connect us. They can be your differentiator in a crowded, chaotic, commoditized marketplace. That's because your story is unique. No one else has your founding myth, your organization's DNA.

Staffingtalk
03/05/2015
Employee Engagement And Retention A

Employee engagement, retention, and culture. Those are the biggest issues facing American employers today, according to the just-released Deloitte Human Capital Trends 2015: Leading in the New World of Work ;one of the largest-ever studies of talent trends ever undertaken. The study includes research from over 3,300 companies representing 106 countries around the world.