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Storytelling as a PM

John Davidson
Bootcamp
Published in
17 min readDec 19, 2023

There are sixteen stories you need to master as a PM. Let’s talk about them so you can master the art.

If you’re ever in Bangalore, go to Blossom’s bookshop on Church Street. It’s full of stories.

Introduction

Stories are everywhere, and we must learn how to tell them as PMs. However, if you’ve ever looked at training or guidance on storytelling, it’s pretty generic. It might help entertain your kids better but won’t help your career.

So, what stories do you need to learn to tell? I’ve polled my PM colleagues and friends, and here’s our collective wisdom on the stories you need to know and how to tell them. Every one of them you’ll use regularly, so build a library of tools and templates as you work through them.

This is a long read, so grab a drink and sit somewhere comfortable.

What do you need to consider when crafting a story?

Before you think about your story, first consider these questions and keep the answers in mind:

  1. Why are you telling the story? Stories without purpose at work are just noise. We are all busy enough without that additional random story being delivered in a meeting, by email, Slack or on the Intranet. Always start with why you are spending time telling the story. Yes, it might be because the process says so, but stop to consider why the process says so. It’s unlikely your…

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Bootcamp
Bootcamp

Published in Bootcamp

From idea to product, one lesson at a time. Bootcamp is a collection of resources and opinion pieces about UX, UI, and Product. To submit your story: https://tinyurl.com/bootspub1

John Davidson
John Davidson

Written by John Davidson

John leads a large global practice of program managers and agile coaches, and coaches every day. His coaching world is accessible at pivotcoaching.co.uk .

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