You want to be a Storyteller? Become a Business-teller first

"We need to be better storytellers"

I hear this constantly in our industry. At conferences. In job descriptions. In LinkedIn posts about what separates great researchers from good ones. Etc...

And every time, I get a little uneasy.

Not because storytelling is bad. It's a powerful rhetorical device. But we've turned it into a blanket prescription, as if every research deliverable should read like Dostoevsky or Hans Christian Andersen.

Storytelling seems to be everywhere. Pick up almost any business book from the last few years and you'll see the pattern: a long personal anecdote. A hiking trip. A coffee-shop epiphany. By the time the "lesson" arrives, you've forgotten why you started reading.

𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝗻𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀𝗻'𝘁 𝗰𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗳𝘆, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗼𝗯𝗳𝘂𝘀𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀. 𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀, 𝗼𝗯𝘀𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝗰𝗼𝘀𝘁.

The storytelling arc is familiar:

1. Set the scene
2. Build tension
3. Climax
4. Resolution

It's how novels and movies work. And it's how we're often told presentations should work too.

There's an alternative I find far more effective in most business contexts: Barbara Minto's Pyramid Principle, developed at McKinsey in the 1970s. The logic is the opposite of storytelling:

1. Start with what you need to decide
2. Then the key arguments.
3. Then the evidence underneath.

Executives don't read your 60-page deck sequentially. They skip to the recommendation. Scan the support. Move on. A narrative arc often works 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 them, burying the point under layers of setup.

𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹. 𝗣𝘆𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗱𝘀 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗮𝗰𝘁

Stories work when you need to shift perspective. When leaders need to 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 what a customer feels. But when the question is: Which market should we enter? Should we kill this product? Where do we place the bet? Lead with what they need to make the call. Back it up. Get out of the way.

Best business storytelling is decision-first. A sharp customer anecdote that makes a recommendation land harder? That's great storytelling. The problem is that "be a better storyteller" rarely comes with that caveat, but becomes an identity and the narrative starts shaping the insight rather than serving it. We select data that fits the arc. We smooth out the contradictions. We optimize for engagement over accuracy.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗧𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲

Listen to what the people already at that table actually speak: 𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣𝙪𝙚, 𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙠, 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙙𝙚-𝙤𝙛𝙛𝙨, 𝙙𝙚𝙘𝙞𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨.

The skill that earns you that seat is translating research into the language the business already speaks. Stories can be part of that translation. They are not the translation.

𝗪𝗲'𝗿𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁𝘀. 𝗪𝗲'𝗿𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗲𝗻𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗿𝘀.

So if you want to be a storyteller, i would suggest to become a business-teller first...