You’ve been working for days, maybe weeks, on your next big idea or business communication. You’ve got ONE shot to influence, be credible, and come across authentically…yikes. Is it really all possible?

Surprisingly, it is.

Presentations (among all types of business communication) are daunting. To get through it quickly, talented business professionals will default to what they know best—LOTS of data, bullet points galore, and random slides borrowed from colleagues. When they are greeted with a sea of stony faces (or worse, the tops of texting heads) they realize (too late) their message wasn’t clear, meaningful, or easy to digest.

The Conflict

So what exactly does a muddled message amount to? Huge missed opportunities. A missed opportunity to show value in your ideas. A missed opportunity to influence decisions. And ultimately, it leads to the biggest missed opportunity of all—the chance to move your career forward.

How Business Storytelling Comes into Play

How does storytelling—a skill generally reserved for movies, books, and advertising—make sense for business? Simple. Storytelling is a universal method for humans to share ideas and make them memorable. Whether we’re at work, a barbeque, or a ball game, we are constantly telling each other stories. 

Amazingly, business storytelling follows the same basic structure as anything we see outside the office. Even when presenting complex, technical information like a quarterly business review, new product rollout, or an onboarding program (read: dry, boring, unsexy stuff), we can still structure our data, facts, and recommendations around a story. 

And when done right, it truly motivates people to listen, act, and make decisions.

So how can talented people quickly gain this indispensable skill? To be able to develop memorable, easy-to-digest narratives in a reasonable amount of time? It starts by applying the right tools and a story framework. It starts by making storytelling a common language within your organization.

But before you invest another moment in this book, here’s our promise…

• This is not a book about theory. We’ll arm you with practical, applicable, and relevant steps you can immediately apply to your next business communication.
• This is not just for presentations. These concepts can apply to emails, marketing collateral, voicemails, etc.
• We get your reality…we’ve walked in your shoes. We’ll address common business scenarios such as presenting to varied audiences, coordinating team presentations, and adhering to the ins and outs of different corporate cultures.

In a concise, skimmable, and visual read, we’ll set you up to successfully:

• Develop authentic, audience-centric, narratives that are relevant to your world 
• Improve your executive presence
• Catapult you career with visual storytelling

This book is intended for anyone from entry-level to top executives, entrepreneurs to corporate team members. It is relevant to businesspeople working and communicating in any industry.

For over two decades, Silicon Valley-bred sisters JANINE KURNOFF and LEE LAZARUS have helped teams at the world's top brands—including Facebook, Nestlé, Marriott, T-Mobile, and Medtronic—become strategic visual communicators. As co-founders of The Presentation Company, they are dedicated to helping talented businesspeople in all functions, at all levels, bring clarity and meaning to their ideas and influence decisions through storytelling.

Introduction

Storytelling Is How We Move Business Forward 1
What two Silicon Valley–bred sisters know about business storytelling (hint: it’s pure, irrefutable career gold)

Part 1

Once and for all—Let’s Unfluff the Reputation of Business Storytelling 6

Chapter 1: Meet the Brain Scientists 8

Chapter 2: Data (Yes, Sometimes Overused) Is Not the Villain 16

Part 2

Ok, I’m in—How Do I Get Started with Business Storytelling? 24

Chapter 3: The Four Signposts 30

Chapter 4: The WHY, WHAT and HOW of Business Storytelling 48

Chapter 5: Your BIG Idea 52

Chapter 6: Putting It All Together: Sample Story 56

Part 3

Thanks, got the basics What Else Can Help Me? 60

Chapter 7: Push Your Story Forward with Active Headlines 62

Chapter 8: A Simple Path to Building Your BIG Idea 72

Chapter 9: Five Well-Tested Ways to Visualize Your Story 80

Part 4

Let’s see the magic! How Does Storytelling Show Up in Everyday Business? 106

Chapter 10: Making a Recommendation 108

Chapter 11: Providing an Update 144

Chapter 12: Crafting an Email 162

Chapter 13: Creating a One-Pager 176

Part 5

But wait! How Do I Flex My Story? 192

Chapter 14: Audience Is Everything: A Manifesto 194

Chapter 15: You’ve Got Five Minutes with an Executive… Go! 202

Chapter 16: Your Audience Is Diverse.. How Can You Please Everyone? 210

Chapter 17: You’re Told “Only Three to Five Slides” 216

Chapter 18: Team Presentations: Who Does What? 220

Chapter 19: When Your Audience Is Virtual 238

Part 6

All together now: Building a Common Language of Storytelling 252

Chapter 20: Fostering a Culture of Story Coaches 254

Chapter 21: Five Ways Managers Can Reinforce Storytelling 260

Chapter 22: Ready, Set, Coach! Five Tips for Peer-to-Peer Story Coaching 264

Conclusion

A Final Word From the Sisters 272
Your everyday business storytelling journey starts right now… #nomorefrankendecks

Gratitude 275

About the Authors 276

Notes & Photo Credits 277

Index 278