Once upon a time…
Boy, do I have a story for you …
Our world is full of stories, and there’s a good reason why. Stories help us make that vital connection between the ideas that frame our world and the emotions that motivate us to act.
In fact, the idea-to-emotion connection is so tied to storytelling—and so important to the way we communicate—that our brains trigger oxytocin and dopamine when we hear a good story.1
It’s not just that we like stories; it’s that we are dependent on them to communicate. Which is why, if you’re in business communications or are earning a communications degree, you should consider working on your storytelling ability. Here are the four ways stories can help in a business setting.
Stories Help Us Convey Important Information
Raw facts have their place, but they lack power without emotional context. If you are trying to convey the importance of new information to your team, your supervisors, or your clients, wrapping the facts in a story can help bridge the gap between data and emotion, translating dry details into human terms.1
Important information presented in a bulleted PowerPoint presentation might get your basic idea across, but people are much more likely to understand the stakes at hand and respond positively to what you have to say if you frame that information in a story with a beginning, middle, and end.
A story can help your listeners understand who the information will affect and how they will be affected. That’s a much more compelling way to present information than simply reciting the plain facts.
Key benefits of using stories to convey information:
- Translates dry data into human, relatable terms
- Helps listeners understand who will be affected and how
- Creates emotional context that basic facts lack
- Makes complex information more memorable and actionable
Storytelling Helps Drive Business Buy-In and Persuasion
There’s a reason so much of advertising is designed to tell a story while it sells a product. Stories ignite the emotional centers of our brains, allowing us to form connections between ourselves and the person telling us the story.
In business, strategic storytelling is essential for gaining buy-in on products, strategies, and initiatives.2 Your market research might reveal opportunities, and your vision may be compelling, but stakeholders need more than data to commit. They need to understand and feel invested in the outcome.
Because we are emotional creatures, analytical data and intellectual arguments can only be so persuasive. If you really want to motivate someone to act, you have to connect with their emotions. A good story can do just that.
Key benefits of using storytelling to drive persuasion:
- Connects market insights to real-world impact
- Builds emotional investment in business outcomes
- Translates abstract strategies into compelling visions
- Helps stakeholders understand and support new initiatives
Stories Help Us Envision the Future and Set Goals
Where do you see yourself in five years? To answer that question fully, you have to create a story. Our concept of the future can be tied to our ability to imagine ourselves as part of an ongoing narrative.
That’s why, when planning for a company’s future, listing a few goals is not enough. You need to be able to link the company’s current situation with its future plans, laying a clear path that will get you from here to there.
The same is true for your career goals. Without the framework of a story, how do you know what steps to take?
Key benefits of stories as a strategic planning tool:
- Links current situations with future goals
- Creates clear road maps from present to desired outcomes
- Makes abstract objectives tangible and achievable
- Provides direction for both organizational and personal development
Stories Keep Teams Motivated and Engaged
When it comes to business communication, employees are more motivated by their organization’s transcendent purpose than they are by its transactional purpose. Research shows that purposeful work—work that feels meaningful and contributes to something larger—significantly boosts employee engagement.3
This means that it’s more important for people to feel as if they are making a positive impact than it is for them to feel as if they are just making money. If you want to keep your employees motivated, you have to demonstrate how their work is improving lives. And a good way to do that is through storytelling.
With a well-framed story, you can demonstrate how a consumer was struggling before finding your company. You can also tell the story of the company itself, giving it a personality and a mission outside of simply earning a profit.
A company’s own story can be a powerful tool in helping to recruit and retain talent. The better you can tell a story, the more connected your employees will feel to the company’s transcendent purpose.
Key benefits of motivating employees through storytelling:
- Demonstrates how work creates positive impact on customers and communities
- Connects daily tasks to meaningful organizational outcomes
- Shows the human side of business results beyond profit
- Creates emotional investment in company mission and values
How Else Can You Improve Your Communication Skills?
One way to become a better business communicator is to enroll in an online communications degree program. With an online university, you can take advantage of online education’s flexible format while continuing to work.
If you’re looking to earn a BS in Communication, an online degree program can help you acquire the skills you need to prepare for business career advancement.
When you combine the power of storytelling with the skills learned in a communications degree program, you can become a more effective communicator in business.
In Walden’s BS in Communication program you can choose up to three concentrations, including topics such as Crisis Communication, Media Innovation and Storytelling, Health Communication, and Public Relations. Explore our BS in Communication program to learn more about how we can help you develop the storytelling skills that drive effective business communication.
Walden University is an HLC-accredited institution offering a BS in Communication degree program online. Earn your degree using a convenient, flexible learning platform that fits your busy life.
1Source: www.weforum.org/stories/2025/01/storytelling-key-to-success-in-the-disruption-era/
2Source: community.pdma.org/knowledgehub/bok/product-innovation-management/4-keys-to-strategic-storytelling-that-drive-product-buy-in
3Source: news.gallup.com/poll/697403/purposeful-work-boosts-engagement-few-experience.aspx
Walden University is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission (www.hlcommission.org), an institutional accreditation agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.