Top Story: The Secrets of Becoming a Masterful Storyteller

Stories have a place in business communication. To illustrate and simplify complex ideas. To align employees to common goals. And to reveal how we think and feel in challenging situations. 

An art and a science, storytelling is the ultimate communication tool. Stories are the fastest way to achieve results, because they bring clarity and conviction into conversations and help storytellers engage employees in new directions or toward different strategies.

Mastering the skill of storytelling isn’t easy, however. It takes a person who is willing to be transparent, vulnerable and honest. It means admitting mistakes to help people believe in second chances or sharing personal growth to encourage others to strive for results. Every story has conflict, and great storytellers help us believe it can be overcome.

In working with many hopeful storytellers, we’ve found that their stories are often missing three important elements:

A point

In business settings, stories often leave the audience thinking, “So what? Why did you just tell me about that?”

Often, the speaker fails to tell a story well by becoming bogged down in too many details or by adding elements to the story that aren’t relevant to its main point. As a result, the story seems to go on forever. Listeners find themselves wondering what the story has to do with them. Most storytellers make the mistake of simply relating the events of their story as the details came back to them, with little structure in mind — which leads to rambling and disjointedness.

Listener interest

Even if a story has a compelling point, it can falter if the storyteller fails to make the audience feel like part of the experience. Just as we don’t want to include too many unnecessary details, stories that have too few relevant details are not evocative or interesting, either. Most speakers don’t know how much detail is too much or too little, or what kinds of details make a story interesting. Focus on what you want the listener to relate to in the story, and bring it alive with supporting details.

As long as it doesn’t stray from the main point, it’s OK if the story takes a while to tell. Most storytellers worry about pacing, and as a result don’t give themselves permission to embellish the narrative enough to make it interesting.

Audience response

Few stories draw reactions from listeners. But eliciting responses is the point of telling stories. A good storyteller paints a picture, adds elements to help listeners relate to the story and then brings the experience to life for them. Good stories stimulate feelings, emotions and reactions. When stories are well told, they become the parts of presentations that listeners remember and repeat. 

When we work with aspiring storytellers, we teach them the science and coach the art, so they can quickly gain competency and then gradually master the skill. From observing great storytellers, we’ve identified three principles that are universal to the best ones:

1. Build a structure.

All great storytellers have a clear sense of direction. They know where the story begins, where its “aha” moment should occur for the listener, and where the story ends. Because they are effective communicators, most people assume the flow happens by chance. But it doesn’t. 

Great storytellers have structures behind their stories. They plan the story’s structure and practice telling it for a smooth presentation that feels unrehearsed, but almost never is. Great storytellers are purposeful in how they organize their stories. They think through the flow of the story as much as they do the storyline itself. They know and practice their stories before sharing them. 

Storytellers who skip these steps are less effective. In many cases, they’re trying to imitate a compelling storytelling approach without understanding what makes it work. Those who lack a clear sense of structure and direction end up telling haphazard stories.

2. Add interest.

Great storytellers add color commentary to their stories. They know that colorful details bring stories to life, making them memorable and worth repeating. The gap between great storytellers and ones that we see struggling is about intention. They want their stories to be interesting and relatable to listeners, so they add color throughout to create multiple places where audiences can connect to the stories. 

3. Transfer emotion.

While listening to hundreds of stories over the course of our research, I’ve become fascinated by the question of why people respond to some and not to others. What magic makes certain stories work while others flop? In short, it’s emotion. Great storytellers don’t just want the audience to hear their stories; they want you to feel them. 

Great storytellers keep working for responses from listeners as they tell their stories. They know how they want their audience to feel, and they are engaged enough with listeners to be able to read their reactions throughout the story.

These concepts set good storytellers apart. The structure is the science of stories, but it leads to the art of creating interest and transferring emotion. It’s a tough formula, and it takes a while to master — which might be why many people don’t work at it. But that’s a missed opportunity to leverage the power of communication. 

The communication divide shouldn’t be between those who can tell stories and those who cannot. Companies need good storytellers to ensure that ideas spread across their organizations. And those who invest the time to master storytelling become compelling communicators.

On Feb. 13, Sally Williamson presents “Becoming a Master Storyteller.” This live webinar is free for PRSA members, and will be available on demand.


photo credit: vectormine