Most presenters aspire to get an audience to lean in right from the start. So, just imagine if you could turn every presentation into a compelling story your audience won’t forget. Whether you’re pitching a product or service, inspiring a team, or leading change, storytelling has the power to transform your message from forgettable to unforgettable. The right story, told the right way, can captivate, persuade, and drive action.
We are hard-wired to pay attention to stories. It’s in our cultural DNA. Stories evoke memories, build connections, and stimulate multiple areas of the brain, including language processing, emotion, empathy, and memory retention. Stories allow us to understand and break down complex ideas in a way charts, facts, and figures alone can never do, and they help us visualise what success looks like.
Storytelling is a key component of our coaching sessions, and we have covered it in detail before. If you want to know more about a wide range of techniques, including delivery, check out this blog.
In this blog, however, we will focus exclusively on structure because not all stories are told in the same way. We will explore established storytelling structures and how they can be applied to different business scenarios. You’ll learn how the way you tell your story can change impact, tone, and message effectiveness. But first things first…
Always start with the audience in mind
Make sure your story is audience-focused. Before you start, you need to understand who you are talking to, what they already know (or don’t know), what matters to them, and what questions or concerns they might have. You also want to think about what you want the audience to do as a result of this presentation story or how you want them to think or feel by the end of it. This is the Destination of your story.
Having thought about the Destination you want to reach with your audience, you can begin to think about an Attention Grab at the start – something to get your listeners leaning in within the first 5 seconds. Here are 10 simple but powerful ideas for hooking in an audience. Then, just like a story, you need to have clear chapters to chunk up the narrative, and each chapter should focus on delivering one key message.
So these are the basics. But what’s the right structure for your story?
Established story structures
There are eight, well-established storytelling structures that are most commonly used, but rather than simply go through a list, we thought it might be fun to take one famous brand story and think about how it might be retold using some of these techniques.
So, let’s look at the Nike story, how its collaboration with Michael Jordan changed company fortunes, and turned Michael Jordan into a cultural icon.
1. The Hero’s Journey: The basic ingredients include Ordinary world – Call to adventure – Challenges -Transformation – Return with elixir. The backbone of any good fairytale, saga or adventure. Think Star Wars, The Sword in the Stone, and Lion King.
Ordinary world: A young Michael Jordan is a talented but relatively unknown college basketball player.
Call to adventure: Nike, a then-struggling running shoe company, sees his potential and offers him a unique deal.
Refusal of the call: Jordan initially wanted to sign with Adidas and was sceptical of Nike’s pitch and reluctant to meet up.
Meeting the mentor: In this case the mentor was Jordan’s mother, Deloris, who convinced him to meet with Nike.
Accepting the challenge: Jordan signs with Nike and launches the first Air Jordan shoe.
Tests, allies and enemies: Jordan faces backlash from the NBA (who ban the shoes), and faces increased pressure to perform, and meet rising expectations.
Approach to the inmost cave: Jordan must prove his value not just as a player, but as a cultural icon.
Ordeal: Intense media pressure, early playoff losses, and the challenge of winning a championship.
Reward: Jordan wins his first NBA title in 1991; Air Jordan becomes a global phenomenon.
The road back: Continues building legacy with Nike; expands into apparel, marketing, and brand leadership.
Resurrection: Retires, returns, wins again – becomes a legend beyond basketball.
Return with the elixir: Jordan Brand becomes a billion-dollar business and symbol of greatness and perseverance.
2. The Petal Structure: One core message or central insight with multiple related stories to reinforce the idea. A good way to bring together multiple facets of a story. Films like Love Actually and The Social Network used this technique.
Central idea: When talent meets belief and an imaginative brand, legends are made.
Petal 1: Jordan’s personal drive, talent and competitive spirit.
Petal 2: Nike’s underdog mentality and hunger to innovate.
Petal 3: Cultural rebellion – NBA bans the shoe, and fans love it.
3. Before–After–Bridge (BAB) Here’s the problem, here’s the ideal future, and here’s how we get there (with our idea, product or service). Think Erin Brockovich and The Pursuit of Happyness.
Before: In the early 1980s, Nike was known mostly for running shoes and was struggling to gain traction in the basketball market. Michael Jordan, a promising college athlete, was leaning toward Adidas and wasn’t convinced by Nike’s offer. There was no strong cultural connection between sportswear and named athletes.
After: Air Jordan becomes a global phenomenon. Michael Jordan evolves into not just an athlete, but a cultural icon. Nike redefines sports marketing, turning athletes into lifestyle brands. The sneaker becomes more than footwear – it’s identity, aspiration, and legacy.
Bridge: Nike made a bold move: they gave Jordan his own signature line, told his story through rebellious marketing (like the banned shoe ads), and leaned into his personal brand. The storytelling connected emotionally, turning scepticism into mass adoption and sparking a cultural movement.
4. The Mountain (aka Dramatic Arc) Build-up – challenges/struggles – climax – resolution. You may have guessed we love films, so to continue with the analogy think Slumdog Millionaire, Billy Elliot, and the Rocky franchise.
Setup / Introduction: Nike is a second-tier athletic brand in the early 1980s, known for running shoes but failing in basketball. Michael Jordan is a rising college star – immensely talented, but not yet a pro or a household name. He prefers Adidas and dismisses Nike’s pitch.
First Ascent / The Challenge: Nike takes a major risk: they offer Jordan a signature shoe line, something unheard of for a rookie. He’s hesitant. The marketing team develops a bold, rebellious campaign, betting everything on Jordan’s potential. His mother encourages him to take the leap.
Rising Action /The Struggle: Jordan signs with Nike and the NBA bans the Air Jordan shoe for violating uniform rules. As it turns out this was a blessing in disguise. Nike turns this into a provocative ad: “Banned by the NBA”. Jordan faces immense pressure to prove he’s worth the hype. Nike invests millions in this, as yet, unproven athlete.
Climax / Breakthrough Moment: Jordan dominates the court, earns Rookie of the Year, and becomes the face of a generation. The Air Jordan shoe sells out and a cultural explosion begins that turns a shoe into a fashion statement.
Resolution: Jordan wins multiple championships. The Air Jordan line becomes a fashion, sports, and cultural must-have. Nike grows from a fringe player into a global powerhouse. The strategy becomes a blueprint for athlete branding. Nike transformed sports marketing, and Jordan became the ultimate athlete-brand story.
5. Pixar Storytelling Format: Once upon a time…Every day…Until one day…Because of that…Because of that…Until finally…And ever since then… Named after the animation studio, this popular narrative works because it follows the way our brains naturally think. Toy Story, Up and Finding Nemo are classic examples of the Pixar format.
Once upon a time, Nike was a struggling player in the basketball shoe market, known more for jogging than slam dunks.
Every day, Nike tried to break into the game but couldn’t attract top-tier athletes. Meanwhile, Michael Jordan was a rising college basketball star, with eyes on Adidas.
Until one day, Nike made a bold pitch to Jordan: not just to wear their shoes, but to become the face of a new brand built entirely around him.
Because of that, Jordan took a chance, signed with Nike, and the Air Jordan line was born.
Because of that, the NBA banned his shoes, and Nike spun the controversy into a rebellious marketing campaign. Jordan’s performance on the court matched the hype off the court.
Until finally, Air Jordans became a global sensation. Jordan became a brand, not just a player, and Nike reshaped the future of athlete marketing.
And ever since that day, Nike has been synonymous with sports innovation, and the Jordan Brand continues to inspire new generations of athletes and fans.
The other three formats are Nested Loops: Story A starts -Story B is told inside A – Story C inside B -Then wrap it all up, Problem-Agitate-Solve: Identify the core problem – make the pain feel real and urgent- present the solution, and finally, In Media Res (Latin for into the middle of things) opens with the drama or conflict already underway. The back story is revealed and leads to the resolution.
Become a storyteller!
Thinking about the best story structure for next presentation might seem overwhelming. So to help you get started here is a quick summary of the key methods and how you might employ them.
Stories Build Emotional Connection
OK, so we think you’ve probably got the picture by now. Whilst facts inform, stories build emotional connections. A personal story about overcoming a problem is far more powerful than a slide with a success graph, and audiences are more open to ideas they feel emotionally invested in. But don’t just think about words to tell your stories; remember that a picture is worth a thousand words. So, be sure to bring your story to life with thought-provoking images that add another dimension to your narrative.
Structure is strategy
Storytelling isn’t just a soft skill. It’s a strategic tool in the hands of a skilled presenter. With the right technique, even a simple story can become a compelling case for change, innovation, or investment.
In our view, there is no excuse for dry, boring business presentations. So next time you have to prepare a business presentation, why not try to emulate great presenters and turn your information, ideas and data into a compelling story?
If storytelling is something you or your team would like to master, please get in touch. We’ve been coaching people to harness the power of storytelling within their presentations for nearly 20 years. We’re known as the Business Presentation Skills Experts, training and coaching thousands of people in an A-Z of global and local organisations. Whether it’s a team meeting or a high-stakes presentation, we’ll help you and your people become the confident, compelling, and memorable presenters they want to be.
View our presentation skills training and coaching reviews to check out what they say about our programmes. We have a wide range of customised corporate training solutions, both in-person and online to choose from, each of which can be tailored to your specific business needs.
