The mark of a great story is that the experience being shared has changed the person in some way. It doesn’t have to be a drastic change,. It could simply be a perspective shift or a reinforcement of a belief or an idea.

When communicating in business, ask yourself what change you want to see in your audience. If you’re pitching a new idea to people, start in a place where you can relate to and understand any reason why they would have skepticism or questions or feel discomfort. Identify that and then use the story as the map to where you want to land them. You’ve given them a relatable way to come to a place where you have a common understanding.

“What gets you excited about what you’re talking about? Why do you care?
If the audience knows why you care, they’ll have a reason to care.” In other words, the story needs to have stakes. And they don’t necessarily need to be significant. You can conceivably ...