Effective Ways to Use Storytelling in Workshops

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗲𝗰𝗿𝗲𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗠𝗮𝗴𝗻𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗞𝗲𝘆𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗲 𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗲𝘀: 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗠𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗔𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝗬𝗼𝘂 Ever given a whole speech with all the stats, slides, and preparation and still felt like you were talking to a wall? 𝘐’𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦. We all have, especially when you’re just starting, trying to sound confident but ending up with a flat, forgettable delivery. A few years ago, I spoke to a diverse group of women at a large non-profit. I went through my slides, confidently, thinking I was delivering a gold standard. But I noticed a few blank stares. Like, they weren’t quite getting it. Even though what I was saying was important, it wasn’t landing. 𝗦𝗼, 𝗜 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗜 𝗱𝗶𝗱𝗻’𝘁 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻. I paused. 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗽𝘁, 𝗜 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗮 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗼𝗽𝗶𝗰 𝗜 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴. ☑️ And boom. The room lit up. People started participating. Questions flowed. It was like I’d flipped a switch. ☑️ Turns out, people don’t remember your slides. ☑️ They remember your story. Want your next keynote to be memorable? Here’s my secret sauce: 1. 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗮 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗸𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 Your audience decides in seconds if they’re in or out. Pick a moment that’s vulnerable, honest, and relatable. 2. 𝗨𝘀𝗲 𝗮 𝘀𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲 4-𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 🔵 Setup: Set the scene 🔵 Struggle: Show the challenge or mistake 🔵 Resolution: Share the breakthrough 🔵 Lesson: Connect it back to your message 3. 𝗟𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲 🔵 Show how failure sparked innovation. 🔵 How personal growth built your leadership. 🔵 Or how resilience turned into revenue. 4. 𝗧𝗼𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗲𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘀 ☑️ If they feel it, they’ll follow. ☑️ If they remember it, they’ll believe in you. 5. 𝗘𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗮 𝗿𝗲𝗳𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗲 Your story isn’t just entertainment. It’s persuasive. 🔵 What moment in your journey made you who you are today? Your story is more than a memory—it’s a tool investors, clients, and teams will remember. Don’t be forgettable. Share one sentence from your defining story below. Or tag a speaker who nails storytelling, because we all learn through examples. Make your next speech unforgettable. Or risk being lost in the noise. What’s your go-to story?

Some executives inspire action. Others get ignored. Why? Because facts fade. Stories stick. After a 1-minute pitch, Stanford research found: ⟶ 5% recalled a statistic ⟶ 63% remembered the stories Here’s how storytelling can reshape your career: Too often, leaders default to data dumps: ⟶ Dense board decks ⟶ Endless bullet points in team updates ⟶ Info overload in all-hands meetings The result? Information is shared—impact is lost. After a career in corporate communications, I know firsthand how storytelling makes the message stick. Here are four ways to bring your messages to life with narrative: 🟡 Board Meetings ⟶ Don’t just share quarterly results—frame them as a journey: What challenge did you overcome? What shifted? ⟶ When outlining strategy, position it as the next chapter in a larger story. People engage with progress they can visualize. 🟡 Team Communications ⟶ Go beyond status updates—share moments of resilience, creativity, or lessons learned. ⟶ Instead of reciting company values, illustrate them with real team examples that people remember. 🟡 Customer Presentations ⟶ Open with a real customer journey: their pain point, your partnership, and the change they experienced. ⟶ Before/after stories make transformation tangible—more than any stat ever could. 🟡 Change Management ⟶ Paint a picture of the future state so people see themselves in it—not just the steps to get there. ⟶ Share your own experience navigating change to build empathy and trust. ↓ ↓ Want to start? 1/ Look for the human impact inside your metrics 2/ Use a simple structure: beginning, conflict, resolution 3/ Practice with small stories—in meetings, Slack, or 1:1s 4/ Always end with a clear shift or takeaway Facts inform, but stories move people. Try adding one story to your next presentation using these ideas—then watch what changes. P.S. Have you used any of these approaches already? I’d love to hear what worked. ♻ Repost to help your network lead with more story. (Research: Jennifer Aaker, Stanford GSB)

Storytelling is so important, but most reps don't use it enough. Here's an easy way to benefit from the power of storytelling in discovery. One area that many reps feel awkward about is how to start discovery. When done wrong, the transition can feel like starting an interrogation session. You can avoid that feeling by starting discovery with storytelling using a Visual Context Question (VCQ). What's a VCQ? A VCQ is a something that paints a mental picture (visual - V) about a scenario you can create value for (context - C) using a story that ends in a question (question - Q - haha!). Example: "Betty, mind if I ask you a question to start a conversation that helps me understand your situation and/or challenges better? Let's say that you are in a meeting room. Your CEO walks in and looks upset. She grabs a red marker, walks up to the whiteboard, and writes 2 numbers on it. She breaks the marker underlining the second number, then walks out of the room. What did she write on the whiteboard?" Let's break down this VCQ: 1. Did you picture in your mind the CEO and her storming out of the room? You did. It's like me saying "pink elephant." Your mind creates a mental picture. It can't help it. This is more mentally engaging than "What are your top challenges?" which offers no mental picture at all. 2. Subconsciously, your mind included in that mental image the 2 numbers the CEO "wrote" on the board. When I ask you to recall that information, your answer is influenced by the pre-work your brain has done as part of the mental image it's created. 3. This is easily adjustable to other scenarios like "You walk into the break room and 4 of your reps are huddled around the table and are complaining about something. They immediately stop talking when they see you, but what did you overhear?" Create a scenario that makes sense to you but requires a bit of a story. 4. People engage in stories. You create a stronger relationship by kicking off discovery with a story rather than a standard question. It changes the tone and feel of your discovery call. People will lean in more. 5. When you put people in a frame of mind that isn't a discovery call, they'll talk more or with higher quality. Buyers are trained on how to deal with sales people over time. This is a great pattern interrupt that gets you information other people won't get bc buyers go into "I'm going to get sold" buget-protection/risk-aversion/resistant-to-change mode. Sometimes, this technique bombs, but more often than not, it helps you do better discovery, and better discovery creates more wins!