Mastering the Art of Corporate Storytelling
August 13, 2024

Storytelling is certainly a powerful art - both in the creation of intentional stories released into the world to entertain, enthuse, or inspire, and in the internal dialogue which has evolved to keep each of us safe. But it also holds significant weight as an effective corporate communication tool…


We recently shared our insights about the importance of determining your truth in amongst the truth when it comes to the tales we tell ourselves as a response to the world around us. But once this has been mastered, storytelling can help you to further connect and engage – whether at Board level or communicating with your entire workforce.

Stories aid you in getting your point across more powerfully, in a way that will be retained and remembered by those who need to know. And there’s six core stories that you can adopt: 


  • The Ice-breaker – Used to build rapport from a cold start, think of this as a 30-second pitch to create some kind of engagement at the start of a Board meeting or team presentation


  • The De-Mystifier – With this story you are taking something complex and deliberately making it much easier and simpler to understand


  • The Case Study – An effective storytelling tool already widely used in the corporate world, case studies are very outcome-focused, taking you from problem to solution to evidence the effectiveness of a particular approach


  • Emotional Epic – Hugely useful in a corporate setting to inspire or engage the emotion of an audience. Told correctly, it depicts a rollercoaster diving to the depths of challenge and despair and soaring to the heights of success and celebration, taking listeners along for the ride on ‘the hero’s journey’


  • Transformation Tale – Quite literally transformative, this story takes us from one state to another - usually from challenge to opportunity, or problem to resolution – unequivocally telling the listener that you are a problem solver


  • Elephant’s Tale – So called because it’s your one core objective and the kind of message nobody forgets. Way beyond the excitable chatter at the end of a strong presentation, this anecdote still exists and infiltrates conversations around office water coolers the next day. 


It’s likely that one or two of these stories will land more naturally with you than others, but they’re all really powerful ways of helping you to become a truly compelling communicator. We’d absolutely encourage you to consider how you can build stories into your own corporate communications, and do let us know how you get on.

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A Tale as Old as Time: Storytelling Myths We Tell Ourselves

By Felicity Wingrove • July 10, 2024
From early childhood we’re taught the ancient art of storytelling. We start with ‘once upon a time’ and end with ‘happily ever after’, and we carry on telling ourselves stories as we grow and step into the world around us. But they don’t always serve us well. And that’s in large part because we’re each so unique and we view the world through our own personal stained-glass window sunglasses. Each pane of glass has been shaped and coloured by our own lived experiences, the culture in which we were raised, and the many ‘truths’ we’ve been taught along the way. And these impact how we interpret, respond and react to the stories we’re told, and that we tell ourselves. We read into a person’s intent, decipher what they ‘really’ mean, or work to sense what’s coming next. It’s all perfectly natural and it’s ultimately how our brain has evolved to keep us safe, but it’s rarely the truth and very much more often our truth. Take a lunch with friends as an example. Imagine walking into the restaurant and seeing them all together over the other side of the room, laughing and having a great time. You walk towards them and as soon as they see you, they fall quiet and look a bit awkward. You could make that behaviour mean that they were talking about you, or that they were planning a surprise birthday party for you. Neither may be the whole truth but just think about how you’d act if you believed either of those stories, how your friends would respond, and how the end of that lunch might look and feel… So few of us realise that our inner narrative doesn’t come from a neutral place, instead, just like our stained-glass sunglasses, it’s moulded by our experiences, self-image, and personal filters. And this is ever-applicable in the corporate world too. Two individuals receiving the exact same email, can have wildly different interpretations, and that comes down to their filters and how they read or process it. When we assume the intent behind a message based on our inner storytelling narrative, it absolutely impacts our response to that message. Our reaction may be defensive, potentially leading to a negative exchange that may have been completely unnecessary in reality. So always pause. And bring conscious awareness to anything that a communication (regardless of its form) brings up for you, and then ask yourself if the messaging you took from it was the truth, or was it your truth?

How A Four Letter Word Can Make A Big Difference

By Felicity Wingrove • June 18, 2024
Even an otherwise eloquent and emotionally intelligent person can invoke a real sense of judgement and shame in the person they’re communicating with – whether verbally, written, or otherwise.

Download our guide to learn the five secrets to compelling communications.

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