In this concise monologue, David Price explains that business storytelling is not about fairy‑tale narratives but a practical skill for turning raw facts into meaningful, memorable context. He argues that people forget isolated data but retain the significance and application of that data when it is framed as a story. Stories serve to explain decisions, change, problems, successes, and failures, providing a clear "so‑what" that helps audiences understand, decide, and act. The objective of business storytelling is influence and comprehension, not entertainment. By focusing on real events, actions taken, and outcomes, a well‑crafted business story gives listeners a mental model they can use for future decision‑making.
Chapters
Hello, I'm David Price, the short guy who helps you walk tall. I've been doing a lot of work lately with very senior people in business. And a number of them have said, what's all this about business storytelling? I'm not into telling fairy tales. Business storytelling is certainly not about once upon a time. Storytelling is about making a point. Telling a story to make a point. You see, people don't remember facts. They remember what the facts mean and how the facts were applied. It's a way of giving meaning and context to information. It helps an audience understand what the facts look like in a real situation. Stories can explain decisions. They can explain change, problems, successes, and failures. And they're really useful when people need to understand why it really matters. The objective is not entertainment. It's about understanding and about influence. A good business story should help the audience think, decide, and act more effectively because they've got a basis, they've got a context. So business telling is not once upon a time. It's looking at things that really happened, what was done about it, what the result was, so that people understand and can make decisions based on things that they now really understand without remembering a pile of facts. The facts themselves aren't important. I know that sounds odd, but what I mean is this: it's what the facts mean. That's what's important. The so what, if you like. So business storytelling—it's a skill that is well worth developing.
