Effective storytelling can set your business apart.
Jeff Bezos once said, “You can have the best technology, you can have the best business model, but if the storytelling isn’t amazing, it won’t matter.” Amazon’s CEO knew the power of strategically sequencing facts and emotions.
Your business could be based in Australia or you could be leading a diverse team that operates from different parts of the world. Irrespective of geography, storytelling training is important because it can quickly become your differentiator. We live in a world where information and numbers are easily accessible so imagine how effectively, clearly and credibly your leaders could navigate high-stake conversations, if they just knew how.
At TransforMe, we believe in the power of storytelling: it all comes down to telling the right story vs telling the story right. As you read further, you’ll discover why every business needs storytelling training today.
What is storytelling training and why does it matter?
Storytelling training exists because humans don’t make sense of the world through bullet points and slides. Carnegie Mellon conducted a study that found facts activate only the language centres of the brain, while stories activate up to seven regions, including those responsible for emotion, memory, and sensory experience
In other words, people don’t just hear a story, they experience it.
Storytelling training for business matters because it teaches leaders how to work with this reality. It helps them choose the right story for the context, structure it deliberately, and anchor it in real experience rather than abstraction.
A quick search about the ‘Burning Platform’ by Stephen Elop, reveals the memo Nokia’s then CEO Stephen Elop sent its global employees in 2011. He had to tell them that the organisation was in troubled waters and people were going to lose their jobs.
Stephen sent out a memo telling them that they were on a burning platform where they could either choose to jump to save themselves or slowly burn with it. It’s one of the most memorable examples of business storytelling that still lives on the internet.
How storytelling can help your business
When storytelling coach Gatik Chaujer was working with Vanessa, she was preparing to speak at a conference for technical managers. Her subject was the tension between customer privacy and personalisation which made her content rigorous, data-rich and heavy. So she opened with an incident we often share in our storytelling training sessions.
When her daughter was six, she loved to personalise everything: backpacks, stationery, books with stickers of her name on them. By the age of 13, she wanted absolute privacy. “I decide what I want to share,” her daughter announced.
Vanessa went on to add, “Customers grow too. Their expectations evolve. If we keep treating them like they’re still six because we like the convenience of personalisation we’ll lose more than trust.”
Her story caught everyone’s attention because it was familiar and that’s something most businesses miss. Kevin Cashman, author of the book Leadership on the Inside says, “Numbers are numbing to most people while stories speak to the whole person, both head and heart.”
If you want to enable your leaders to tell a story like Vanesssa, invest in an effective storytelling training programme that will help:
- Sharpen how your brand is understood
Stories help people remember what you stand for. - Simplify complex decisions and processes
By helping people interpret data and organise information in a way they can understand it best. - Increase persuasion without increasing pressure
When people recognise themselves in the narrative, they’re less likely to resist leading to quicker decision-making. - Replace compliance with internal alignment
Teams align to company values better when they understand why a choice was made and what it protects
People respond to stories not numbers
Today, you can find data, analysis and frameworks by simply tapping a few buttons on your phone or laptop. But how often do you stop scrolling just to pause and process all that information?
Think about the pandemic when deaths were reduced to mere numbers. What’s etched better in your memory, fluctuating numbers on screens or a friend recounting their recovery journey? Stories cut through saturation because they give people context. They help audiences understand why something matters now, not just what is happening.
Every business is made of people who connect to moments that reflect real choices and consequences. In competitive environments, that clarity becomes a differentiator especially when we’re dealing with shorter attention spans.
Storytelling training helps you humanise information by making it familiar and relatable.
3 secrets of powerful storytelling
Anyone who tells you that storytelling is about waiting for inspiration is probably lying. The truth is it’s all about preparation. What often looks spontaneous is usually the result of deliberate thinking done in advance.
In our storytelling training, we often share these tips with the participants:
- Tactfully insert “key words” or “emotions” you want to invoke
Strong stories don’t leave interpretation to chance. Tell your audience exactly how you felt, “I was thrilled the project finally came to an end” or “My energy was at an all-time high.” will help you establish strong emotional appeal - Build up to your JDM (Jaw Dropping Moment)
When you’re telling a story, you know what’s that one moment that will instantly grab everyone’s attention. Scripting your story will help you sequence the build-up - Make it visual
If they can imagine it, they can experience it. Something as simple as “I was about to board a flight when my phone rang…” can help them visualise the details
Getting started: Storytelling Training for Your Business
If you’re looking to invest in storytelling training for your business, choose one where the emphasis is on engaging, influencing, and capturing attention in everyday work scenarios using hands-on practice.
Remember that storytelling cannot be treated as a one-size-fits-all skill. A finance leader, a founder, and a people leader don’t tell stories the same way and need a tailored storytelling strategy to adapt narrative structures to their goals and audience.
The Art of Storytelling, TransForMe’s flagship storytelling training programme combines experiential workshops, proven narrative frameworks, and personalised feedback to help leaders apply storytelling where it matters most. We’ve helped 200+ clients across Australia and around the world master the art of storytelling.
See programme details here.
