How to use storytelling in your business
Telling stories is about evoking emotion and creating vivid imagery for the audience. You can do it with text, video, sound, or visuals.
And if you can do it in a compelling, inspiring, and authentic way, you can use it to build relationships and trust between you and your customers.
What is storytelling?
I could start with the obvious:
"Storytelling is the art of using facts and narratives to create stories."
But that misses the point. Because yes, storytelling literally means telling stories. But that doesn’t really help you much.
When you hear the word storytelling here, it's in a specific context: where you use the story to communicate something.
It’s not small talk about the hairdresser’s daughter who got a new hamster.
It’s a story carefully chosen and shaped to deliver your message.
This is purposeful storytelling.
And it’s a discipline that goes further back in time than I dare to guess.
Because we've always told stories.
Around the fire, human experiences were passed down through storytelling.
- Some stories defined the rules of our society (a lot of religious texts try exactly this).
- Some were cautionary tales meant to scare or warn (horror and true crime aren’t modern inventions).
And before I lose myself in the rich history of storytelling—let’s just say you get the point.
Storytelling is ancient and deeply human. We intuitively understand it.
A good story breathes life into your ideas and creates a bond between the storyteller (you) and the listener (your future customer).
But it’s also a particular way of communicating. When you tell stories in writing, your words need to paint vivid images.
We can all tell a story. But just like with public speaking, it quickly becomes clear at dinner parties who stumbles through a muddy plot—and who grabs everyone’s attention with a captivating tale.
Telling a story is one thing. Being a storyteller and mastering the craft? Something else entirely.
Why do we tell stories?
There are countless reasons why we tell stories:
- To elevate ourselves
- To entertain
- To teach and share knowledge
- To sell and persuade
But if most of us think of ourselves as rational beings, why do soft, human stories work better than cold, data-driven PowerPoint bullets?
Because: Stories make abstract ideas tangible. And they make complex messages easier to understand.
Stories make abstract ideas tangible
It’s hard to explain how anxiety is a primal emotion that exists to protect you—when it feels so terrible.
But if you say anxiety is like a bodyguard who’s always scanning the room for threats—you’re a lot closer to making your point land.
Then you tell a story. Maybe even put the reader right in the middle of it:
"You know the feeling. You’re pedaling hard—late for your first meeting. But your legs feel strong and you’re ready to push it.
You lean into the turn. And suddenly—
VROOM. A truck barrels around the corner toward you.
Before your conscious brain even reacts, your lizard brain slams the brakes. Screech.
That’s your anxiety-bodyguard stepping in—long before your rational brain catches up."
Even if my math teacher missed the mark by trying to explain Pythagoras through a story about building a carport, the story still stuck. Along with the formula.
Cold hard data is great for comparison and overviews, like this:
"87% of customers were satisfied or very satisfied with their support experience."
That’s handy for internal reporting. But for emotional resonance? One small story brings it to life.
Stories bring people closer together
Storytelling is a universal language. We instinctively understand tales of heroes, heartbreak, dreams, hope—and underdogs winning it all, like Denmark in '92.
We all recognize those emotions. And we share them. Hope, despair, fear, joy.
Stories help us build connections across differences. (Of course, they can also be used to create a shared identity in opposition to others.)
At the core, stories build community. Because they speak through emotion, they have the power to transcend the obvious divides—like religion or politics.
Stories inspire and motivate
Stories are human. They can turn even the driest brand into something alive and relatable.
What makes a great story?
Sure, in the end, your audience decides whether a story is good. But here are a few traits that make a story both engaging and effective at delivering a message:
- Entertaining: Keeps your reader engaged and curious about what happens next.
- Educational: Sparks curiosity and teaches something new along the way.
- Universal: Taps into emotions and experiences the reader can recognize from their own life.
- Organized: Follows a clear structure that guides the reader and delivers the point sharply.
- Memorable: Uses humor, surprise, or vivid imagery to stick in the reader’s mind.
The 3 core elements of a compelling story
- Characters: You need someone doing something. Your audience will relate to the character’s experience. If they see themselves in the story—they’ll keep reading.
- Conflict: The obstacle the character must overcome. Conflict triggers emotion and learning. No conflict? Then it’s probably not a real story.
- Resolution: There has to be an end. It doesn’t have to be happy—but it must conclude the conflict and leave the reader with a path forward (ideally, a call-to-action).
How to work with storytelling
You probably have tons of great stats and strong messages you want to highlight. There’s rarely a lack of things to say about ourselves.
So where do you start if you want to end up with a sharply focused story?
Here’s a process to guide you through storytelling in your business.
1. Know your audience
You can approach this two ways:
- Find out who’s interested in hearing your story.
- Find out what story your ideal audience wants to hear.
Before you type a single word, you need to know your audience. This is classic positioning work:
- What does the market look like?
- Who exactly are you targeting?
You need to know who’s actually going to read your story. It’s the foundation for everything else.
2. Nail your core message
Your story has one core message. That’s why it’s called the core. Whether your story is one page or twenty, it only gets one primary takeaway.
(Even if your boss really wants to sneak in three extra points. Tell your boss you’ll gladly write three more brilliant stories—but each one only gets a single message.)
You can use a journalistic trick called the “angle sentence” to define your message:
“I want to tell that...”
That’s it. One sentence. A short one.
If you can’t get it down to 10 words, your message isn’t sharp enough yet. Keep shaping until it’s as sharp as a LEGO brick under your foot at 3 AM.
What are you trying to communicate with this story? Are you selling something? Explaining a concept? Rallying support?
3. Choose the type of story you’re telling
This is about choosing what emotion you want to evoke—and what action you want the reader to take.
- You want action: Tell a success story and show how the reader can do the same. Focus the story tightly on the one action you want them to take.
- You want to share about yourself: Talk about your struggles, mistakes, and lessons. Be real. Make it relatable.
- You want to highlight your values: Use a relatable story—maybe a dilemma—that shows your values through the solution.
- You want to teach: Share what didn’t work. Talk about the problem, and then deliver the solution. You can also present alternative ways forward.
4. Pick a razor-sharp call-to-action
Your call-to-action (CTA) is the clear, concrete thing you want the reader to do:
- Boycott a product
- Buy a product
- Enter a competition
- Sign up for a webinar
- Donate money
- Share the content
If your goal is to grow a community, your CTA might be “Share this story.”
If your goal is to sell your software, your CTA might be “Start your free trial”—the exact action shown in the story.
5. Choose your medium
- Written story (blog post, case study, article)
- Spoken story (talks, pitches, presentations)
- Audio story (podcast)
- Interactive digital story (scrolling story pages, videos, animations)
6. Write
If you’ve done your prep right, this is where the words flow.
7. Publish and promote your story
Creating the story is just the beginning. Now it needs to live out in the world. Push it out there. Promotion doesn’t happen on its own—no matter how moving, funny, or brilliant your story is.