How to structure a persuasive story.
Storytelling for business carries very different expectations compared to a novel, movie or chat with a BFF over coffee.
A lot of storytelling advice focuses on structure. Some guides suggest the traditional “beginning, middle, and end.” Some turn to movies and novels to address the “arc of the story,” with suspense, emotion, and beats. Or they try the improv “and then one day” style.
Great ideas…they’re just not strategic.
Business owners tell me they have trouble following this advice. Their audiences don’t read a business story the way they read a novel or watch a movie.
If you think about it, you bring different expectations as you read different kinds of books. I’m a dedicated fan of murder mysteries. I expect to encounter a dead body, a detective, and a motivation to wonder whodunit. I don’t expect to discover the murderer till the very end.
You bring different expectations to a memoir, adventure story, or romance novel. Each story uses different ingredients to meet the reader’s expectations.
So why wouldn’t you bring different expectations to a business story compared to a novel, a story you’d tell a good friend over coffee, or a star-studded movie?
