“The most powerful person in the world is the story teller. The storyteller sets the vision, values and agenda of an entire generation that is to come.”

Communication

Whether it's telling inspiring stories to customers or delivering a presentation to executives and the board of directors, being a good storyteller helps us make the leap from Good to Great. Product managers and designers can benefit tremendously by great storytelling, and so can anyone who is working with product design.

Storytelling Is Everything

Instead of selling products, we need to focus on their purpose and what good it does for the end-user. Focus on the need of the customer and design the product around it.

Purpose

We empathize and admire the underdog, someone who struggles while facing difficult circumstances.
When we care for the end-user, getting to know their struggle, we can go the extra mile to help them.

Care

If customer success is our end goal, we need to focus on how this is achieved, even with tough likelihoods.&nbsp;You need to root for the 'hero' to succeed, developing a connection and cheering along.

Rooting For Success

We lose our audience when our stories lack credibility and believability, as we lose touch with the end-users objective and their journey. Keeping things believable and honest makes people care.

Credibility

The Tell-Show-Tell Structure:
<ul>
<li>Tell the audience what's about to unfold, and what the user needs.</li>
<li>Show them how it happens.</li>
<li>Tell them why they need to care and what's at stake.</li>
</ul>The story also needs to be innovative and fresh, though it may revolve around the tried and tested hero's journey narrative.

Tell-Show-Tell

Know well in advance what the ending would be like. 
The purpose and key result should be the final outcome. Make sure your focus does not deviate from the main objectives.

The End

Emma Coats tweeted a series of basic storytelling tips while she was at Pixar. They became known as "Pixar's 22 Rules of Storytelling." She shared the valuable lessons from arguably the greatest storytellers of our generation, Pixar. Emma's learnings from her days at Pixar inspired me to reflect on mine as a product person, and a storyteller.

Credibility

6 Rules of Great Storytelling (As Told by Pixar)

Pete Docter

Pixar’s Plotting Techniques For Structure And Purpose

Jon Westenberg

Social Media Storytelling Formulas: 11 Quick-Fire Ways to Create Your Stories

Three-Act storytelling structure

Five-Act storytelling structure

Before – After – Bridge storytelling formula

The 22 rules of storytelling, according to Pixar

Rules of storytelling, according to Pixar