Narrative Strategy and Storytelling for Organisations
Helping organisations solve communication, engagement and change challenges through story
Scratch the surface of any human, and you will find a story that matters. The nurse who became a marathon runner after a breakdown. The accountant who grew up on a cattle station. The team leader whose decision to stay home one afternoon changed the trajectory of her family. These aren't dramatic. They don't need to be. They're real, and real is what connects us.
People working in communications, content, and marketing are thinking about their value. AI can produce copy quickly. Suggest your next strategic move or find holes in your comms plans. It is fast, reliable and never misses a deadline. Where does storytelling training fit into a world where everything that is known about the tricks of the trade of communication is still in an LLM? Why learn about or upskill in storytelling when it is all there for us to explore?
I have facilitated numerous workshops, strategy days, narrative sessions, and conference experiences. Regardless of the setting or participants, a consistent pattern emerges. Typically, the most senior, outspoken, or confident individuals are the first to contribute, filling the room with their perspectives. However, as the session transitions to deeper reflection, it is often a quieter participant who introduces a profound idea, causing everyone to pause and absorb the insight.
At the end of a period of strategic thinking and planning, I normally hear from leaders who want a narrative strategy. When they start managing the process of rolling out the strategy. They ask to tack stories onto the strategy. But this is not ideal. The stories should be embedded in every step of the process. From listening, collecting, collating, and activating your narrative. Especially now, in this time of convergence of changes. AI is reshaping how work gets done. Instability is rewriting assumptions about markets, supply chains, and workforce planning. People are carrying personal disruption into professional spaces in ways that are hard to ignore. Change is not arriving from one direction. It is arriving from everywhere at once.
What truly separates those who reach mastery from everyone else is not talent, but the ability to keep going when the work feels unremarkable. The consistent effort during ordinary moments is what drives mastery.
In this blog, we'll explore methods for building empathy with your customers, delving beyond standard approaches to persona creation, and uncovering the emotional depth that drives more meaningful user insights.
When was the last time you heard a story that truly resonated with you? One that pulled you in, made you feel, and left a lasting impression? Crafting a powerful story is no accident—it's a skill that can be learned and refined. I focus on that in my 'Influential Storytelling' course, an online live training program I'm excited to be running in collaboration with the team at the Future Skills Academy.
We've all been there. Someone says, "Let me tell you a story," you settle in, expecting something engaging. Then what you get is... well, a list of things that happened. While hearing about someone's day is excellent, let me clarify: a list of things that happened is not a story.
I was sitting in a row of red theatre chairs at the Producers Club in Times Square. I had just finished two weeks of acting training in NYC, and we were reflecting on all we had been through as a class. The Miesner trainer leaned forward from his seat on the stage and asked, "Do…
In the world of storytelling, we glorify narratives of the extraordinary - epic adventures, heroic feats, and life-altering events that seem to lie outside our everyday existence. However, the true power of storytelling resides in the simplicity of the every day, in the stories of the relatable and familiar. These stories shape our perspectives, influence…
Narrative Strategy and Storytelling for Organisations 