Storytelling: The Art of Persuasion

Published December 24, 2023

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Why

A couple years ago, I was on a panel at a marketing conference. When called upon to introduce Netcore, I explained what we do. “Netcore helps B2C/D2C companies build better digital experiences. Our martech stack helps with communications, marketing automation, and search and product discovery.” A little later in the day, I listened to a competitor introduce his company. “We touch your lives in many ways. Those messages you get from ABC Bank? We power them. Those relevant recommendations on XYZ eCommerce site? We help with those.” He went on to give a few examples of the outcomes that end customers saw because of their product. He humanised their products in a way that it resonated and connected with everyone in the room. I thought to myself, “Why did I not tell our story like this?”

I had written in “Worldbuilding, Storytelling and Entrepreneurship”: “Entrepreneurs live in and build tomorrow’s world. For this, they must persuade those around them – co-founders, first employees, investors, and first customers. They have to bring to life a tomorrow which seems like fiction to many and yet is just around the corner. Entrepreneurs need to set and sell stories in this new world, just like how some writers have been doing. Worldbuilding and storytelling are the tools entrepreneurs use to make their breakthrough ideas and products succeed.”

I added, “A good entrepreneurial story is not just about what the product does, but why it matters. It paints a picture of a better future and positions the product or service as a means to that end. It humanises the company, making it easier for people to connect with its mission… the most effective stories are often the ones that tap into universal human experiences and emotions. They present the company’s mission as a shared journey, where every stakeholder is a crucial participant. This narrative strategy is powerful because it makes people feel a part of something bigger than themselves…Entrepreneurs thus need to become storytellers – imagining and even living in the future. They are building for a world a few years ahead because that is what it takes to go from an idea to customers. That world must be alive in their mind all through this time. Entrepreneurs compete for different visions of the future. Battles are first won by the stories because that is what the early adopters buy into.”

Storytelling has been at the heart of human culture since time immemorial. It’s an intrinsic part of our history and evolution, bridging the gap between generations, cultures, and geographies. The power of a story lies in its ability to leave a lasting imprint; it is through our tales that the essence of our lives and businesses come alive. They resonate with emotions, inspire action, and create memories. And yet, we don’t do enough of it. In this series, I will delve deeper into storytelling and why it matters – not just for entrepreneurs, but every one of us.

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Wisdom – 1

Here is a collection of wisdom on storytelling.

Wikipedia: “Storytelling is the social and cultural activity of sharing stories, sometimes with improvisation, theatrics or embellishment. Every culture has its own stories or narratives, which are shared as a means of entertainment, education, cultural preservation or instilling moral values. Crucial elements of stories and storytelling include plot, characters and narrative point of view. The term “storytelling” can refer specifically to oral storytelling but also broadly to techniques used in other media to unfold or disclose the narrative of a story.”

National Storytelling Network: “Storytelling is the interactive art of using words and actions to reveal the elements and images of a story while encouraging the listener’s imagination.”

Hubspot: “Understanding new ideas can be confusing; stories can offer a way around that. Think about times when stories have helped you better understand a concept. Maybe a teacher used a real-life example to explain a math problem, or a speaker used a case study to convey complex data. Stories help solidify abstract concepts and simplify complex messages. Taking a lofty, non-tangible concept and making it relatable using concrete ideas is one of the biggest strengths of business storytelling… Stories are a universal language; they can bring people together and create a sense of community. Despite any barriers and differences, stories connect us through feelings and how we respond to them. We all understand the story of the hero, the underdog, or heartbreak. We all process emotions and can share feelings of elation, hope, despair, and anger. Sharing a story gives even the most diverse people a sense of commonality and community.”

Robert McKee (In Harvard Business Review in 2003): “A story expresses how and why life changes. It begins with a situation in which life is relatively in balance: You come to work day after day, week after week, and everything’s fine. You expect it will go on that way. But then there’s an event–in screenwriting, we call it the “inciting incident” – that throws life out of balance. You get a new job, or the boss dies of a heart attack, or a big customer threatens to leave. The story goes on to describe how, in an effort to restore balance, the protagonist’s subjective expectations crash into an uncooperative objective reality. A good storyteller describes what it’s like to deal with these opposing forces, calling on the protagonist to dig deeper, work with scarce resources, make difficult decisions, take action despite risks, and ultimately discover the truth. All great storytellers since the dawn of time – from the ancient Greeks through Shakespeare and up to the present day–have dealt with this fundamental conflict between subjective expectation and cruel reality.”

He adds: “A storyteller creates all characters from the self by asking the question, “If I were this character in these circumstances, what would I do?” The more you understand your own humanity, the more you can appreciate the humanity of others in all their good-versus-evil struggles. I would argue that the great leaders Jim Collins describes are people with enormous self-knowledge. They have self-insight and self-respect balanced by skepticism. Great storytellers – and, I suspect, great leaders – are skeptics who understand their own masks as well as the masks of life, and this understanding makes them humble. They see the humanity in others and deal with them in a compassionate yet realistic way. That duality makes for a wonderful leader.”

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Wisdom – 2

Paul Zak: “My research has also shown that stories are useful inside organizations. We know that people are substantially more motivated by their organization’s transcendent purpose (how it improves lives) than by its transactional purpose (how it sells goods and services).  Transcendent purpose is effectively communicated through stories – for example, by describing the pitiable situations of actual, named customers and how their problems were solved by your efforts. Make your people empathize with the pain the customer experienced and they will also feel the pleasure of its resolution – all the more if some heroics went into reducing suffering or struggle, or producing joy.”

Vanessa Boris: “Good stories do more than create a sense of connection. They build familiarity and trust, and allow the listener to enter the story where they are, making them more open to learning. Good stories can contain multiple meanings so they’re surprisingly economical in conveying complex ideas in graspable ways. And stories are more engaging than a dry recitation of data points or a discussion of abstract ideas. Take the example of a company meeting. At Company A, the leader presents the financial results for the quarter. At Company B, the leader tells a rich story about what went into the “win” that put the quarter over the top. Company A employees come away from the meeting knowing that they made their numbers. Company B employees learned about an effective strategy in which sales, marketing, and product development came together to secure a major deal. Employees now have new knowledge, new thinking, to draw on. They’ve been influenced. They’ve learned.”

Shalini Lal: “Stories are particularly powerful in times of great change. They help us make sense of what is happening around us and what we should focus on. They help us reinterpret our place in the world and understand what action we need to take. As we enter a time of great change across our worlds, people will search for stories that help them make sense of these shifts. There is so much that is changing, and following all such shifts is beyond the capacity of most. Even if they managed to track change, they would need to give meaning to all that they were seeing and how these trends were connected. This is where powerful stories that focus attention will be compelling.”

Marie Hattar: “One of the biggest challenges facing the modern marketing team is how to break through rather than be drowned out by the content tsunami. Instead of pinning your hopes on the next magical adtech tool or some other marketing tactic in your arsenal, you should reorient everything around storytelling. This is because I’ve found that people don’t remember data or speeds and feeds; it’s stories that transcend time, people and cultures.”

Yoast: “To tell a good story, you usually have to include four elements: a character, a problem, an action, and a solution.”

Masterclass has 7 tips on how to tell a good story:

1. Choose a clear central message.
2. Embrace conflict.
3. Have a clear structure.
4. Mine your personal experiences.
5. Engage your audience.
6. Observe good storytellers.
7. Narrow the scope of your story.

On structure, it explains: “There are many different ways to structure a story, but the three ingredients a story must have are a beginning, middle, and end. On a more granular level, a successful story will start with an inciting incident, lead into rising action, build to a climax and ultimately settle into a satisfying resolution.”

Marshall Ganz talks about the story of self, us, and now as part of a public narrative for building movements, as distinct from marketing: “[It goes] back to the questions of Rabbi Hillel, the first-century sage, which I’d learned about as a child: “If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If I am for myself alone, what am I? If not now, when?” It adds: “Public narrative is a process and not a script. It’s not something to tell over and over. It incorporates the stories of others as well as your own. It’s learned and practiced by telling, listening, reflecting, and telling again. Public narrative’s aim is building grassroots power by activating people through storytelling and connecting those stories to clear policy and campaign goals.”

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Wisdom – 3

Peter Guber in “Tell To Win”: “The building blocks of all compelling stories, whether they’re told in person, in the pages of a book, or via actors on a screen or monitor, are challenge, struggle, and resolution. First … get your listeners’ attention with an unexpected challenge or question.  Next … give your listeners an emotional experience by narrating the struggle to overcome that challenge or to find the answer to the opening question.  Finally … galvanize your listeners’ response with an eye-opening resolution that calls them to action…The best stories lead from the heart, not the mind…Stories that “work” transport audiences emotionally. They move us to laugh, cry, gasp, sigh, or yell in sympathetic rage, and every listener intuitively demands this emotional propulsion.”

Jonah Sachs in “Winning the Story Wars”: “Stories are a particular type of human communication designed to persuade an audience of a storyteller’s worldview. The storyteller does this by placing characters, real or fictional, onto a stage and showing what happens to these characters over a period of time. Each character pursues some type of goal in accordance with his or her values, facing difficulty along the way and either succeeds or fails according to the storyteller’s view of how the world works.” He writes about the five qualities that make stories success:

• TANGIBLE: Stories present information that makes concepts visible and human scale. They make people feel that they can “touch” and “see” an idea.
• RELATABLE: Stories matter to us because their characters carry values that we want to see either rewarded or punished.
• IMMERSIVE: Stories allow people to feel that they have experienced things that they have only seen or heard.
• MEMORABLE: Stories use rich scenes and metaphors that help us to remember their messages without conscious effort.
• EMOTIONAL: Stories elevate emotional engagement to the level of, and often beyond, intellectual understanding.

Carmine Gallo writes in “The Storyteller’s Secret” about the five types of storytellers: those who ignite our inner fire, those who educate, those who simplify, those who motivate, and those who launch movements. He adds: “History’s most inspiring leaders were storytellers…Many of the storytellers featured in this book changed the course of history. Some are business heroes. Some inspired movements. Above all, they are all dream makers. They reach for the stars and inspire the rest of us to create our own moonshots. This book is about the visionaries and risk-takers who have mastered the art of telling stories and who inspire us to live better lives. Some make us laugh. Some make us think. Some make us change. Through artfully telling stories that inform and challenge, they build companies, drive the world forward, and make us feel like we, too, can achieve the impossible.”

Some of the secrets discussed in the book:

• Identify your brand’s core purpose.
• Dream in moonshots.
• Introduce a “hero”—person or product—who triumphs over adversity.
• Make stories at least 65 percent of your presentation.
• Deliver serious topics with a side of humor.
• Use pictures to illustrate your story.

John Walsh, in his book, “The Art of Storytelling”, lists 14 steps for telling stories:

• Step 1: Select a story
• Step 2: Push through the story
• Step 3: Envision the scene with present-day feelings and concerns
• Step 4: Tell the story from the view of someone at the scene
• Step 5: Establish the story’s central truth
• Step 6: Find a memory hook
• Step 7: Tell a story within a story
• Step 8: Plan your first words
• Step 9: Know how the story ends
• Step 10: Research the facts
• Step 11: Eliminate needless detail
• Step 12: Add description to the story
• Step 13: Include audience participation
• Step 14: Arrange practice audiences

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Wisdom – 4

Kindra Hall writes in “Stories that Stick”: “The most obvious gap in business is the void between the customer and the company…But while the sales gap is important, there are other gaps everywhere in business. There are gaps between entrepreneurs and potential investors, between recruiters and prospective employees, between managers and employees, between leaders and executives. To make a business work, you need to bridge the gaps…You must master three main elements to have any hope of building a bridge strong enough to get your intended audience—potential customers, key team members, investors, etc.—across the great divide: attention, influence, and transformation. First and foremost, the best bridges must capture attention and captivate the audience, so they know the bridge is there in the first place. The second element, influence, is the means by which you’re able to compel the audience to take the action you desire. And third, if you don’t want to have to keep bridging the same gaps over and over again, the best bridges transform the audience, creating a lasting impact and leaving the audience changed, so they never even consider returning to the other side of the bridge, thereby closing the gap forever.”

Jerry Weismann writes in “Presenting to Win”: “The good presenter grabs their minds at the beginning of the presentation; navigates them through all the various parts, themes, and ideas, never letting go; and then deposits them at the call to action…The effective presenter makes it easy for the audience to grasp ideas without having to work. The effective presentation story leads the audience to an irrefutable conclusion. The journey gives the audience a psychological comfort level that makes it easy for them to say “yes” to whatever the presenter is proposing. Presenting, therefore, is essentially selling…In the end, the most subtle impact of a clear and compelling presentation is perhaps the most powerful effect of all: The person who is able to tell an effective business story is perceived as being in command, and deserves the confidence of others. When you are in command of your story, you are in command of the room. Your audience will follow where you lead, and so will money, influence, power, and success…Persuasion is the art of moving your audience from Point A, a place of ignorance, indifference, or even hostility, toward your goal . . . navigating them through an unbroken series of Aha!s . . . to Point B, a place where they will act as your investors, customers, partners, or advocates, ready to march to your drum.” He adds: “Constantly ask the key question: What’s in it for you?” He calls it WIIFY, with the “you” referring to the audience.

In “Everyday Business Storytelling”, Janine Kurnoff and Lee Lazarus write: “To the majority of us, it’s not obvious how to authentically incorporate storytelling into our daily work lives. Instead, we resort to what we do know. We leverage existing content for a “quick fix.” We grab our latest slide deck that we (or our co-worker) built as a starting point, and from there we cobble together slides. We load up on bulleted text. We pile in every chart we can find. We even add in some “pretty” slides that we found on the corporate portal from the marketing team. We have a very technical term for this type of incoherent, hodgepodge communication. We call it a Frankendeck.” They add: “Every story has four structural elements—or signposts. They are setting, characters, conflict, and resolution. These signposts create a pattern of ideas that feel familiar, feel human, feel satisfying, but most importantly, just feel. And if ideas make us feel, we remember them…The first three signposts of storytelling—setting, characters, and conflict—can be introduced in any order. In fact, many stories start with conflict before we have zeroed in on any characters or established setting… The resolution must always come last.”

Indranil Chakraborty writes in “Stories That Work”: “For Sale: Baby shoes. Never worn. When you read these six words, what feelings do they evoke? Don’t these six words immediately make us empathize with an unknown, grief-stricken woman? We can almost visualize the situation and our hearts go out to her. Ernest Hemingway wrote this story, calling it a six-word novel. It shows the almost visceral effect stories can have on us.”

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Wisdom – 5

Janis Forman writes in “Storytelling in Business”: “If you are planning to use storytelling in your work, the place to begin is by putting together your signature story. Much like your signature, your “signature story” is unique to you and is probably the most personal of stories you’d share in business settings. It may reveal something about your character—what you value—and take the form of an autobiographical excerpt; that is, a personal story (and versions of that story) about a significant experience, relationship, accomplishment, or failure that has given you insights about who you are as a person and a professional.” Janis lists some questions to ask:

• What specific experiences have you had with a mentor, a family member, a teacher, friend, boss, colleague, or significant other who has had a substantial impact on who you are as a person and a professional?
• What major challenge have you faced in your personal or professional life? What choices did you make, and what insights did you gain from this experience?
• What stories told to you, read in a book, or seen in a film move you,—and what does this say about you as a person and a professional?

Matthew Luhn writes in “The Best Story Wins”: “There is a scientific reason why stories stick in our minds. Way back in our evolution, when humans developed the ability to speak, we communicated about life or death situations, like being chased by a tiger, successfully hunting a bison, or avoiding poisonous plants. We know that storytelling was important to our early ancestors because we have “storyboards” of those life lessons that date back thousands of years painted on cave walls. The ancient people that learned the lessons of those stories lived, and the ones that didn’t died…Along with being memorable, stories are impactful. Stories take us on a roller-coaster ride, a journey through high moments (happiness, anticipation, surprise) and low moments (sadness, fear, anger) that actually affect our bodies on a chemical level. Science has revealed that the chemicals in our tears produced by laughter are different than the chemicals in our tears produced by sadness. When we see or hear people—or even animated toys, robots, or rats—laughing, smiling, or sharing stories of suspense, dopamine and endorphins are released in our bodies; when we see or hear anything sad or somber, oxytocin is released. When we place these sad and happy moments next to each other in a story, we build an amusement park ride for people’s hearts and minds. Ups and downs, tension and release, you’ve created a story that keeps an audience sitting on the edge of their seats.”

Bernadette Jiwa writes in “Story-Driven”: “Every business is driven by one of two philosophies. A company is either competition-driven or story-driven. The competition-driven company is reactive to the marketplace and prioritises beating its competitors and racking up profits. It identifies with the capitalist ideal and is intent on keeping score. The people who lead competition-driven organisations seek to dominate the market and maximise shareholder value. They care about increasing market share, boosting the single bottom line and raising their status as ‘the leader’ in their category. Their goal is to win. In contrast, the story-driven company is responsive to customers and prioritises having a clear sense of purpose and identity. It makes little reference to the competition and is intent on creating an impact. The people who work there derive a deep sense of meaning from their work because they know their company exists to do more than simply make a profit. The leaders of story-driven companies (big and small) have clear visions for the future they want to see, and they inspire their teams to join them on the journey to creating that future. They often succeed by doing things that can’t be measured or are not immediately scalable. Story-driven companies have a positive impact on their customers and society. They thrive by making the connection between their purpose and prosperity. Their goal is to make a difference.”

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Hero’s Journey

One of the most common templates for storytelling is the hero’s journey, or the monomyth. It involves a hero who goes on an adventure, faces challenges, is victorious, and comes home changed or transformed. Think Frodo Baggins in “Lord of the Rings” or Luke Skywalker in “Star Wars”. Here is an illustration from Wikipedia of the Hero’s Journey.

I asked ChatGPT to summarise the hero’s myth in the context of storytelling (with light editing).

The art of storytelling is ancient, predating written language and serving as the bedrock for human civilization’s cultural and moral structures. Among its varied formats, the ‘Hero’s Journey,’ as conceptualised by Joseph Campbell in his seminal work “The Hero with a Thousand Faces,” stands out as a particularly resonant and universal template. This narrative pattern has been employed in epics, films, novels, and even in modern business storytelling. The consistent appeal of the Hero’s Journey lies in its reflection of human experiences, challenges, growth, and transformation.

At its core, the Hero’s Journey comprises three fundamental stages: Departure, Initiation, and Return.

Departure: This is where our protagonist, often an ordinary individual in a familiar world, encounters a ‘Call to Adventure.’ The hero may be reluctant at first, often exhibiting resistance or refusal. However, with the guidance of a mentor, the hero musters the courage to cross the threshold into an unknown, often fantastical world.

Initiation: As the hero ventures into the unfamiliar territory, they face trials and tribulations, confronting enemies and uncovering allies. This stage is crucial for character development, as the hero learns, adapts, and grows stronger, both internally and externally. The climax of this phase is the ordeal, where the hero must confront their biggest fear or challenge, resulting in a transformation or rebirth.

Return: With the ordeal overcome and the reward in hand, the hero commences the return journey to the ordinary world. However, this path is seldom smooth. The hero must reconcile the lessons and powers acquired during the initiation with their original environment, often facing resistance or final tests. Ultimately, the hero emerges triumphant, bringing boon or knowledge back to their community, resulting in the betterment of both the self and the society.

So, why does this template remain so universally appealing in storytelling? Firstly, the Hero’s Journey mirrors the human life cycle and our personal quests for meaning, purpose, and identity. Each of us, in different ways, embarks on journeys, faces challenges, grows, and aims to return transformed. The narrative template taps into this shared human experience, making the story both personal and universal.

Secondly, the Hero’s Journey showcases transformation. It highlights that challenges, no matter how insurmountable they seem, can lead to growth. This underlying message of hope and the possibility of metamorphosis resonates deeply with audiences, providing both escapism and inspiration.

Moreover, the cyclical nature of the Hero’s Journey, where the end often hints at a new beginning, reflects the cyclical nature of life itself. It emphasises the idea that learning and growth are continuous processes, and challenges will always lead to newer horizons.

In modern storytelling, variations of the Hero’s Journey have been employed in blockbuster films, bestselling novels, and even brand narratives. Think of classics like “Star Wars” or “Harry Potter” or brand stories where companies position their products as solutions to challenges, making the customer the hero of their own journey.

In conclusion, the Hero’s Journey, with its stages of departure, initiation, and return, offers a timeless narrative structure that resonates deeply with human psychology and experience. It serves as a mirror to our challenges, aspirations, and transformations, emphasizing the potential for growth inherent in every challenge. As storytellers continue to adapt this template to contemporary contexts, the Hero’s Journey will undoubtedly remain a cornerstone of compelling narratives, connecting us to our shared human essence.

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My Stories

Over the past couple years, I have tried to bring more storytelling in my writing and presentations. My book, “Startup to Proficorn”, has many stories from my entrepreneurship journey. While I do not always follow the templates of good storytelling, I do try and bring in the problem-solution aspect. Within Netcore, when I need to talk about some of the changes we need to do, I try to begin with a customer story. Here are my stories that I have found resonate with the audience.

• IndiaWorld origin: the story of how I returned from the US, failed with my early entrepreneurial efforts, and then got the idea of creating India’s first Internet portal focused initially on the information needs of Indians outside India.
• Launching Samachar, Khoj, Khel, Bawarchi: the story of how I lost IndiaWorld.com (the primary domain) and then came up with sites with Hindi names that differentiated us and became memorable.
• IndiaWorld exit: this is by far the most exciting story I tell of how I sold IndiaWorld for 166 times revenue. There is some drama (failed efforts to raise venture capital), a bidding war, and excitement (how the valuation went from $40 million to $115 million in less than a couple weeks). There is also an epilogue – the dotcom crash and how the exit timing mattered.
• Replacing myself as CEO of Netcore: this is the one founders I speak to have the most questions on – how I made the decision to bring in a CEO to run the business in 2007. How did I decide? Who did I choose? What was it like after I made the decision?
• Netcore’s SaaS transition: this is the story about the time in 2019 when Kalpit (Netcore’s current CEO) and I attended SaaStr and realised we needed to change Netcore’s product, sales, and marketing model if we had to target markets like the US.

At a personal level, there are a few stories that connect well.

• The story of how I returned from the US: this was because of what my father had told me when I left – finish Masters in 9 months, work for 2 years, and then come back.
• The failures in the first 3 years after I returned: how I tried multiple ideas as an entrepreneur and each one of them failed
• My 30 failures over 30+ years as an entrepreneur: while I do spend time talking about my successes, I also discuss how the journey of experimentation has many flops and the pain of each idea that did not grow.
• The birth of Abhishek: how my wife and I went through 5 years of IVF treatment to have a baby.
• My political entrepreneurship with Niti Digital and Nayi Disha: why I embarked on that path, and the outcomes in 2014 (success) and 2019 (failure)

When I tell my personal stories, I tell it like it happened and with authenticity and humility. In the past few months since the publication of my book, I have done multiple interviews and presentations, and it is always the stories that people remember rather than the generic advice that I mention from my learnings. I am still learning the art of storytelling – and so should you.

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Your Stories

We tell stories all the time – to our friends, to colleagues at work, to strangers we meet on flights or at events. From anecdotes shared over coffee to corporate presentations, the art of weaving a captivating tale is invaluable. By honing this skill, we can create deeper connections, leave lasting impressions, and truly make our messages resonate. Here are a few suggestions.

• Unearth life’s turning points: Reflect on the pivotal moments in your life. What are the crucible experiences that shaped you? Identifying these and understanding their impact can form the foundation of a compelling story. Articulate them in ways that evoke emotions and provoke thought.
• Maintain a story bank: Just as a writer keeps a journal, maintain a repository of stories tailored for various situations. Being vigilant about everyday observations can yield a treasure trove of gems. Because of my blog, I need a steady inflow of content and so I am extra alert for interesting observations and experiences. Some of them have found their way in my Life System writings.
• Transform experiences into narratives: Cherish life’s significant moments. Don’t forget them. They can come in useful when they can be connected to learnings. I was telling a colleague about a recent experience at a hotel where I was staying. Among the staff at the restaurant was this person who was so cheerful and greeted every guest individually. Just seeing her smile in a roomful of strangers gave a nice start to the day. When I was leaving on the third morning, she said she hoped I would be back the next morning. When I told her I would be leaving that night, she made a sign of tears – which converted into a smile when I said I would be back for a day the following week. I use this story on how each of us can become memorable – even in short meetings with people we don’t know and leave a mark.
• Reimagine presentations: I am very text-oriented when I make my slides. I use bullet points which I talk through. I have been thinking of how to change this and make it more story-oriented with imagery and a few words. Visuals, paired with concise text, can be powerful. Incorporate imagery, metaphors, or even short anecdotes to make your points memorable.
• Be an avid learner: Engage with diverse storytelling mediums – books, movies, or YouTube videos. Analyse what captivates you. Is it the pacing, the character development, or perhaps the plot twists? Gleaning insights from these sources can significantly elevate your storytelling prowess.
• Understand your audience: Tailor your story to your listeners. Consider their background, interests, and values. A story that resonates with one group might not resonate with another.
• Embrace vulnerability: Authentic stories often come from a place of vulnerability. Sharing personal challenges or lessons learned humanises you and builds trust with your audience.
• Conclude with a message: Every good story has a moral or message. Ensure your listeners walk away with a clear understanding of the core idea or lesson you intended to convey.
• Practice makes perfect: Seize every opportunity to share your stories. Through repetition, refine your narrative. Stories become better as we tell them. Pay attention to your audience’s reactions; tweak phrases or sequences based on what resonates best.

Storytelling is an intricate blend of art and science, imagination and structure, emotion and logic. By continually refining this craft, we can touch hearts, inspire action, and leave an indelible mark on our listeners.

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Storytelling in Business

Netcore operates in a crowded and competitive market. The question I have been thinking of is: how can we tell a better story to set ourselves apart from the competition? Can we go beyond comparing features and showing dashboards of data? Can we talk about a future which Netcore is uniquely positioned to bring to life? Can our storytelling give us a competitive advantage – creating a blue ocean in a red ocean? How can we stand out in a sea of sameness? Here are a few themes I have been working on.

• I start with a new and memorable phrase to describe the problem. In Netcore’s case, the word I have been using is “profipoly” (profits monopoly). I tell a story about how companies like Google, Apple and Microsoft have created a profits monopoly which delivers exponential forever profitable growth for them – and keeps competitors at bay. Every business needs to aspire to become a profipoly. And I plan to show them how to do it.
• I discuss how marketing has made a wrong turn by not focusing on profitable A focus on branding, acquisition, and retention has meant that growth comes at the cost of profits. I show the state of brand P&Ls (profit and loss statement), and how marketing is one of the biggest contributors to profitless (profitless or less profits) outcomes.
• I then bring in the agents of change – the breakthrough ideas and innovations. This is the exciting part of the story – where the troubled past can give way to a happy future.
• I finally show the outcomes – happier customers with memorable experiences, and better P&Ls. All this can lead to sustainable profitable growth.
• I end with a roadmap and a hero – the 90-day plan (call-to-action) which needs a “Chief Profipoly Officer” to implement it. This also shows CMOs a possible future to the corner office, something they can rarely aspire to in their current roles.

As I have been telling this story, I also feel an inner excitement – of talking about something new, of linking it to a brighter future, of showing the big picture of how becoming a profipoly is marketing’s fourth wave and final frontier. I used to do this a lot in the early days of IndiaWorld – evangelising the infinite potential of the Internet, and how the business could benefit by becoming an early adopter. For the past years, my writings have focused on a new world of marketing, and I now need to tell the story of how digital businesses can finally bring in the one thing that’s missing – profits.

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Stories are what we grow up with. When we as babies cannot read, we listen to stories told to us by our parents. They help us understand and interpret the world. Like the lost art of asking beautiful questions, somewhere down the line as we grow up, we forget about how important stories are to every form of communication and interaction. It is time for each of us to learn and practice storytelling – in our personal and business lives. As Steve Jobs said when he was CEO of Pixar: “The most powerful person in the world is the storyteller. The storyteller sets the vision, values, and agenda of an entire generation that is to come.”