The art of storytelling and persuasion: A tactical designer’s guide

How designers can use storytelling to gain buy-in, inspire action, and grow influence.

When you think about times when storytelling matters, your mind might jump to polished speeches. But the truth is, opportunities for storytelling pop up all the time in informal and unplanned settings. These casual interactions can be key opportunities to build influence and drive action.

Nancy Duarte, a leading expert in communication, once said, “Potential moments of influence happen all the time.” Her insight highlights the everyday power of storytelling, which is grounded in science. Stories engage multiple regions of the brain (beyond just language processing) and boost memory. In fact, information shared through a story is up to 20 times more likely to be remembered. Moreover, my personal belief is that storytelling has the unique ability to lower defenses, making audiences more receptive to new ideas.

The Ingredients of a Compelling Story

Great storytellers empathize with their audience. They present a tension-filled narrative that moves from the current state (“what is”) to a vision of the future that inspires (“what could be”). Designers are uniquely equipped to craft such stories because of their ability to empathize and paint pictures of possibilities.

In this guide, we’ll explore how designers can use storytelling to gain buy-in, inspire action, and grow their influence.

I’ve included examples throughout (which are styled like this) to help connect how this guide can be used in practice. They’re all from a recent project my team completed to redesign Yahoo Mail’s web surface.

1. Structure Your Narrative

Waiting to craft your story until you need to formally present often means missing an opportunity to shape larger product decisions. Influence is most effective in the early stages when ideas are still forming, and decisions remain flexible. Yet, early project discussions are often impromptu and unstructured, leading to scattered, stream-of-consciousness communication that’s hard for listeners to follow.

To avoid this, form your opinion and outline your narrative as soon as possible. A simple structure makes it easier to articulate your ideas in spur-of-the-moment conversations. Here are two narrative structures to pick from:

What Is → What Could Be

1. What Is: Provide context or background to set the stage for the user problem.
2. What Could Be: Share your vision, even if it’s directional or hand-wavy. It’s about the approach, not polished designs especially early on.

What → So What → Now What

1. What: Set up the context and problem.
2. So What: Explain why the problem matters — to users and/or the business.
3. Now What: Suggest the next steps for the team.

Both structures work for quick discussions and can scale up for formal presentations. Pick based on what works best for you.

Start with the Core Problem

Now that you have a structure, make sure you have a strong handle on the core user problem. Early conversations often focus on surface symptoms. These are a great starting point, but they’re not the root issue. Designers will be familiar with the Five Whys. Use this and similar techniques to dig deeper, asking “Why?” repeatedly until you identify the true root problem. It’s good to be exhaustive here; sometimes it will feel like you’ve hit the root problem, but you’re actually a layer or two away, so I like to let it simmer in my head for a few days. Dedicating time to pinpoint this is critical; understanding the crux of the issue will make it easier to communicate and increase the project’s chances of success.

Example: When the Yahoo Mail team kicked off the redesign work, we initially identified issues like a noisy, outdated interface and difficulty finding important information. While these were valid starting points, they weren’t the central problem. After diving into research and using the Five Whys, I uncovered the deeper issue: peace of mind felt out of reach for users.

Define the Significance

Once you’ve identified the problem, clarify its importance. This might require consulting team resources like research, data science, or customer relations. Your product manager can also help tie the problem to broader business goals. Keep in mind that there will usually be multiple reasons for importance, so keep them in your pocket. You can pick and choose from that list based on who you’re trying to sway (more on that below).

Make sure to be authentic about the significance. Not every problem needs to be monumental and overstating it will erode trust with your audience. A minor issue can still drive a compelling story if framed honestly.

Propose a Solution

For designers, presenting a solution often feels more natural. Early on, solutions don’t need to be detailed or high-fidelity; a directional approach is enough to outline the path forward.

Pressure Test your Narrative

Strong narratives rely on connective tissue between the problem, its significance, and the solution. Think of this as adhering to the laws of logic — each piece must build naturally on the one before it. Use as few points as possible without breaking the thread. I like to practice by talking about it with my partner. If an outsider can understand, you’re on to something.

In the end, you should have versatile narrative. A clear, concise outline can guide quick discussions or expand into a full presentation. By structuring your story early, you’ll be prepared to influence decisions at every stage of the project.

2. Know Your Audience

Most research says the optimal amount of time a brain can engage in focused work each day is between 4–5 hours. Yet many of us work at least 8 while juggling other distractions. Because of this, you must compete for your audience’s attention. Decks often exacerbate this problem — they’re designed to be read rather than listened to, ignoring what truly matters to the people who need to hear the message. That’s why it’s not enough to simply have an understandable narrative, you also want to leverage empathy. Empathizing with your listeners increases the likelihood they’ll connect with your message, stay engaged, and be open to new ideas.

Empathy doesn’t just benefit your audience — it can also ease your own nerves as a presenter. Shifting the focus from delivering a “perfect” presentation to creating a meaningful connection helps you feel less self-conscious and more collaborative.

Define Your Goal to Identify Key Listeners

The first step in building that connection is understanding what your project needs. What are you asking of your audience? This is especially helpful if you’re talking to group with diverse roles, because it can help you narrow in on members who have more impact on the outcome of the meeting. The more specific you are here, the easier it’ll be to empathize and frame a message in a way that resonates. There are two major goals to pick from:

1. Approval: It tends to be obvious when this is the goal and who the ultimate decider in the room is. If it’s not, there may be work beforehand to clear that up. Beyond the decision-maker, think about their trusted advisors. Gaining support from these key individuals can make your case much more persuasive.

2. Resources: If you need help or information, focus on increasing understanding and motivation rather than seeking approval. While agreement is ideal, it’s rare — hence tools like RACI. Prioritize what your audience needs to know, ask guiding questions, and emphasize the potential impact of your idea to inspire action. Address criticism thoughtfully, but don’t let it derail the conversation. Remember, product development is about testing hypotheses, and admitting “we don’t know” can refocus the discussion on learning and discovery.

Once you have specific people in mind and know what’s needed to move the initiative forward, go back to your list of reasons why the user problem is important and think about which ones might be most compelling to them.

Here’s an example of how tailoring a story to different audiences and project goals can make an impact. During our Yahoo Mail redesign, we wanted to promote importing Gmail inboxes to ease the pain of switching email providers instead of creating a new Yahoo email. One PM, seeking leadership approval to display the Gmail logo on our marketing page, emphasized the user pain points: switching a primary email involves years of effort, including manually updating account settings. Once approval was secured, another PM focused on gaining engineering resources by highlighting the positive metrics tied to the initiative, appealing to the team’s goals of driving impact and career growth.

Three practical tips

1. Reach out beforehand. If you don’t know what concerns your audience might have, you can ask! A quick message — “Hey, we’re working on X, and I’d love to hear your thoughts about it.” — can work wonders. This not only shows that you value their input but also helps you address their concerns or questions upfront, building rapport before the meeting even starts.
2. Design the meeting experience. Think of meeting logistics as part of the design process. Who should be in the room? When is the best time? Smaller groups often lead to more open and productive conversations, especially when high-stakes decisions are involved.
3. Finally, remember this advice from communication expert Matt Abrahams: “Dare to be dull.” It means prioritizing connection over perfection. Forget about flawless phrasing or polished delivery. Instead, focus on being present, collaborative, and authentic. Talk to your audience as if they’re a friend, and you’ll create a dialogue that resonates far more than any meticulously rehearsed speech.

When you approach storytelling with empathy and a clear focus, you’ll not only capture attention — you’ll leave a lasting impression.

3. Create Emotional Impact

So you have the story’s plot and you know and have built empathy for your audience. The last step is building emotional tension. To inspire action, your story needs to be visceral and relatable. This is where the art of storytelling truly shines.

The tension should build gradually, be genuine, and help the listener feel the problem. Here are some ways to build tension. Be creative!

1. Visuals that highlight problems or solutions.
2. Dramatic data points to underscore significance.
3. User anecdotes that encapsulate broader sentiments.
4. Personal stories that show vulnerability and build trust.
5. Metaphors to simplify complex ideas.
6. Competitor comparisons or industry trends to provide context.
7. Articles by experts in the field that back up the problem or solution.
8. Your body language and vocal pitch can signal when something is important to pay attention (newscasters are a good models for this).

Example: When I was pitching the direction for the Yahoo Mail redesign, I faced a challenge: explaining why the “look and feel” mattered to stakeholders outside design or marketing. To make it relatable, I used a car metaphor. Cars aren’t just about getting from point A to B; their appearance has a major impact on buying decisions because they reflect our identities and lifestyles. And people will pay a lot of money to make the right status statements. Similarly, users don’t choose digital products solely for utility — how it looks plays a key role. This metaphor helped my non-designer audience put themselves in the users’ shoes.

Emotional tension turns a good presentation into a memorable one. By making your story relatable, you draw the audience into the problem, highlight its significance, and guide them to the solution. Great storytelling isn’t just what you say — it’s how you make people feel.

I’m by no means an expert in storytelling. For me, presenting and communication have long been areas of growth. Because of this, I’ve put a lot of effort into building my storytelling skills and I hope some of the tricks I’ve learned are helpful to you. Please share any that you might have in the comments.

Over time, I’ve learned how powerful a good story can be. By knowing your audience, structuring your narrative, building emotional impact, and practicing empathetic delivery, you can turn everyday moments into opportunities for influence. As you refine your skills, you’ll find that storytelling not only helps you connect with others but also propels your career forward.