The ABC of Business Storytelling
It’s the trend of the time. And there’s good reason for it.
Storytelling is everywhere. Marketers do it. Influencers and thought leaders do it. Big brands have always done it.

So everybody is talking about the art of storytelling and how “you are not buying a product but a story” and how the most successful people are the ones who tell tales of transformation with conviction and charisma.
We live in the age of Personal Branding where there are more coaches, speakers, authors, consultants and experts around than the internet can handle. So getting your story right -and straight- goes a long way in differentiating you from the masses.
The ABC of Business storytelling
Stories serve a specific purpose. They take you through a journey of transformation that goes more or less like this:
A. Things were not so great.
B. Something happened.
C. Things ended up great!
PART A
The aim of a story is to seduce the audience to identify with part A. The “things were not so great” part.
Why? Because if things were great for the audience, they wouldn’t be interested in listening to you in the first place. They came for your services because they have a problem or challenge (If they don’t have one, they came for entertainment). In crafting part A you look for connections, what do “I” and “these people in the NOT so great situation” have in common. Focus on that and explain it, showing as much empathy as you can in the process. Empathy means sharing, understanding and recognising the feelings of others.
The London Real example
Here’s a great example from the highly successful Brian Rose, founder of London Real, who sells online courses for starting your own Business and escaping 9–5. Brian sends a weekly newsletter to his website subscribers and shares his personal story with the purpose of resonating with (and “seducing”) his target audience that feels disillusioned and dissatisfied from their current job.
As he says, he experienced the same sort of feelings in the past himself and through his intimate storytelling takes his viewers through the emotional turmoil he went through. But most importantly, Brian gives a hint that there is light at the end of the channel. If only you follow the next step. Read on for part B of the story.
PART B
Part B is Brian’s Unique Selling Point, his product and the solution to the challenge presented in part A. In this case Brian sells a Business Accelerator program that involves the mindset he adopted, the skills he developed and the strategies he used to start his profitable online business. In doing so, he makes sure he communicates what sets his course apart from others and lays out the “transformation” plan week by week.
Week 1: Bulletproof your business idea
Week 2: Find your Micro-Niche
Week 3: Build a high performance website
and so on and so on.
He even gives out some free masterclasses and webinars in order to warm you up by giving you some value before you’ve even paid a cent. So having a great product is not enough. You need to set the stage for it to thrive and Brian does exactly that!
PART C
So, if you are doing business of any sort, be it as a “Personal Brand” or a “Corporate Brand” what you are selling is the “something happened” part. You want your audience to sign-up to your courses, buy your shoes, listen to your talk because in doing so things CAN and WILL end up great. According to you at least.
Drink a Coke and you’ll be happy.
Wear Nike and you’ll be cool.
Sign-up for this course and you’ll be transformed.
and so on…
CAREFUL…before you move on to tell another great story, keep in mind that there is NO clear line separating a real from a fictional one.
Besides, what is cool anyway? what does being happy really mean? How can you really define personal transformation? This is always up to the judgement of the audience. That is why empathy is vital. Step into their shoes and understand what the “things are great!” part means for them.
For Brian it’s “Do what you LOVE. Be your own BOSS. Become financially FREE”. That’s what his audience really wants and that is what he promises.
So if you are listening to all the hype on storytelling and don’t quite know how to start. Get the ABC right and maybe, just maybe…with a little bit of time… and a little bit of effort…a little bit of magic happens.
