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.

(Research: Jennifer Aaker, Stanford GSB)