Storytelling in Presentations: How to Hook Your Audience (and Keep Them Awake)

Why Storytelling Works (Even in a Corporate Slide Deck)

Before we talk about storytelling in presentations, let me tell you one…

I was prepping for a live, in-person workshop with nearly 20 PhDs. Literal scientists. Researchers. Big brains. People who use the word “neurotransmitters” in casual conversation.

Naturally, I spiraled.

What could I, a presentation coach with a degree in not-molecular-biology, possibly teach them? (Yes, even trainers have these gremlin thoughts.)

The night before, I scraped my polished, professional opener and went rogue. I started the workshop with a personal story instead.

I told them about growing up surrounded by academically gifted friends. By middle school, they were taking pre-SATs, talking about PhDs, and casually building rockets in their garages (probably). I, on the other hand, could barely pass algebra. My SAT scores were average at best. While they shipped off to Ivy League universities, I stayed closer to home, quietly comparing my wobbly path to their straight-shot trajectories.

It took me years to realize that while they were solving equations, I was knee deep in school plays, taking independent art classes, and throwing myself into French. I wasn’t broken. I was just building a different skill set, one rooted in creativity, communication, and connection.

That story — shared honestly, without polish or pretense — completely changed the energy in the room.

The PhDs softened. I saw heads nodding. I felt the shift. In less than five minutes, we weren’t strangers anymore. I had built a bridge of trust and relatability, without a single graph or pie chart.

And that’s the power of storytelling in presentations.

Storytelling Structures You Can Actually Use

There are a lot of storytelling frameworks out there. But not all of them work in a business setting.

You don’t need to take your audience on a mythical twelve-step journey through Mordor when you’re just trying to explain why your Q2 launch flopped (and what you’re doing about it).

When I teach storytelling in presentations, I focus on what’s actually usable. In real life. With real stakeholders.

1. The Hero’s Journey (Great for Personal Transformation Stories)

You’ve probably come across “The Hero’s Journey.” It’s the backbone of every movie with a training montage and a final boss fight — Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, The Lion King. Frodo. Harry. Moana. You get it.

But in corporate presentations? It’s trickier.

Most people don’t naturally see themselves as the “hero” of a story, even when they absolutely are. It takes a lot of teasing out. And even then, it’s best used sparingly. In keynotes. TEDx talks. Maybe a founder’s origin story.

This isn’t your go-to structure for a budget proposal or a product roadmap.

But when it fits, it really fits.

Use it when:

You’re sharing a deeply personal experience that led to a professional shift. Or you want to position your customer as the hero you helped along the way.

2. Rags to Riches (Your Classic Success Story Arc)

This one’s simple. You start at the bottom, and you end up somewhere better. The classic American Dream narrative. Your product, team, or company started small, struggled, hustled, and then — boom — success.

Most people already have a Rags to Riches story. They just forget to spend time on the “rags” part.

My advice… spend more time in the messy middle. The struggle is what gives the payoff its power.

Phil Knight talks about this brilliantly in Shoe Dog — how Nike wasn’t built in some glossy, overnight success montage. It was years of floundering. Uncashed paychecks. Living on a dream (and not much else). But that is what makes the eventual win so satisfying. That’s what makes us root for you.

Use it when:

You’re showcasing growth, pitching a product that’s evolved, or telling a brand story that started in a garage (literal or metaphorical).

3. The Cinderella Story (Rise → Fall → Rise Again)

We love a comeback story. And this one delivers.

The Cinderella arc starts with a win. A big contract, a viral product, a dream hire. Then, something breaks. The plan goes sideways. The numbers tank. Cue panic. But then? The pivot. The lesson. The rebuild. And a return to the top, better and stronger than before.

This arc adds emotional contrast and nuance. Bonus points if you can reflect on the insights you gained in the messy middle.

Use it when:

You’re talking about bouncing back — from a rebrand, a product misfire, a moment where everything fell apart… and how you got your groove back.

4. Bookending (Start and End With the Same Story)

This is my ride-or-die framework.

Here’s the formula:

Open with a story. A real one. Then, build your case — insights, data, strategy. And at the end? Circle back to that original story, but changed. Something’s shifted. There’s a twist, a win, a reframe.

Our brains are wired to remember the beginning and end of experiences more than the middle. It’s called the primacy-recency effect. If your story lives in those key memory zones, it sticks 22x more than data alone.

Use it when:

You want your presentation to feel cohesive, human, and powerful. Bookending works beautifully in workshops, pitches, and executive meetings.

Using Storytelling in Business Presentations (Without the Buzzword Bingo)

Storytelling in business presentations often gets butchered by buzzwords.

You’ve probably heard something like,

“We should really leverage narrative frameworks to drive emotional resonance across stakeholder touch points.”

…Cool. But what does that even mean?

Start With a Real Person or Situation (not just a title slide)

If your first slide says “Agenda,” I’m already asleep.

Start with a moment. A memory. A problem. A person.

People connect with people, not job titles or vague ideas. Start with a real situation that your audience can visualize. Something they’ve felt before.

Don’t say:

“Today, we’re going to walk through our stormwater treatment platform.”

Do say:

“Let me tell you about the Paris Olympics, and why nobody could swim in the Seine.”

We remember stories that drop us into a scene, not summaries that read like a status update.

And if you’re still worried about where to start, I’ve got you. I’ve written a whole blog all about how to start a presentation (spoiler: it’s not with your resume).

Use Customer Stories or Testimonials Like a Plotline

If you’re sharing a client testimonial, it needs more than a glowing quote and a head shot. Use it like a mini story arc.

What was their challenge?

What wasn’t working?

What changed after working with you?

How did they feel at the end?

Turn that 2-sentence blurb into a 60-second story that builds tension, delivers a win, and gives your audience a reason to lean in.

Keep the Structure Simple: Beginning, Messy Middle, Strong End

You don’t need to master advanced story arcs or write the next HBO miniseries. What you do need is a clear story spine:

Beginning (Set the scene)

Middle (Make it messy. Show the challenge.)

End (Deliver the insight, win, or transformation)

Real Example: Stormwater, the Seine, and a Story That Stuck

One of my clients, Katie — a stormwater treatment engineer — had just 15 minutes to impress a high-level executive team.

For context: these folks oversaw an entire portfolio of companies, and stormwater? Was maybe 3% of their focus.

Most people would default to a slide deck, jargon, and a half-hearted “thank you for your time.”

Katie? She took them outside.

She started with a scene they knew: the Paris Olympics. Cyclists racing past the Eiffel Tower. Swimmers in the Seine — or, rather, not in the Seine.

Because no one’s been allowed to swim there since the 1920s.

To prep for the Games, Paris had to overhaul its entire water infrastructure. Giant underground basins. New treatment facilities. Years of work just to make the water clean enough to dive into.

And then Katie made it local.

She brought them through a live demo of how stormwater treatment works in their city. Dirty water, debris, treatment tech. The works.

The feedback?

“This was the best explanation of our stormwater business that I have ever heard.”

That’s what happens when you ditch the buzzwords and start with a story that means something.

Can You Use Storytelling in PowerPoint Presentations?

Short answer: yes.

Longer answer: yes, but only if you stop treating your slides like a crutch and start using them like a creative partner.

If your audience can read your deck and get everything they need without you there, we’ve got a problem. That’s not a presentation, that’s an email attachment.

Your slides are not the main character. You are.

Your visuals are the supporting cast — the ones that show up with snacks, a well-timed joke, and the emotional range of a single powerful image.

Here’s how to make sure your slides amplify your story, not water it down.

How to Use Visuals to Reinforce (Not Distract From) Your Story

Let’s get one thing straight: when your audience sees a wall of text on a slide, they will stop listening to you. They’ll read instead. And once they start reading, you become background noise.

Here’s what I tell my clients:

Use one image. Just one.

No bullets. No clutter. No 7-point font paragraphs.

A single, relevant visual keeps your audience focused on you, while helping them see the story you’re telling.

This is exactly what Pete and Kevin did during that Grand Canyon presentation I saw at Outdoor Retailer.

Twenty minutes of story before a single stat appeared.

One photo. One fact. And we were hooked.

Visual Metaphors That Actually Land (and aren’t stock-photo hell)

If your slide looks like it was pulled from Clipart circa Windows 98, it’s time for a glow-up.

Visual metaphors work. But only when they’re specific, unexpected, and not ripped from page two of “Business Stock Photos: Volume Sad.”

This is your permission slip to get weird.

Think:

• A crushed Capri Sun — when your team’s been squeezed dry but still expected to deliver

• A disco ball spinning in a corporate boardroom — for unexpected creative flair in a rigid system

• A stiletto on a hiking trail — the perfect image for a gorgeous strategy… in the completely wrong context

• A candle melting over a laptop keyboard — for burnout, slow-drip disasters, or the gentle chaos of launch week

• A mouse trap baited with a 20% off coupon — when talking about shady offers or short-term wins with long-term costs

• A brain with post-it notes stuck all over it — for mental overload, context switching, or way too many stakeholder opinions

And with the advances in AI, you don’t need to spend an hour hunting through sad stock sites anymore.

You can literally type, “a toddler barreling down a playground slide head-first with no helmet and pure chaos in their eyes” into ChatGPT and boom, you’ve got a slide that feels exactly like your last sprint cycle.

Tips for Storytelling in PowerPoint Presentations

• Design your slides last. Start with your story, then build visuals to support it.

• One clear purpose per slide. Support, don’t overload.

• Don’t read your slides out loud. If the audience is reading, they’re not listening.

• Match your tone. Telling a hopeful story with grayscale charts? Rethink that.

• Use speaker notes. Keep the meat in your delivery, not on the slide.
  
  Remember: your visuals are the scenic route, not the entire journey. They enhance the experience, but you’re still the one driving.

The 3 Deadliest Sins of Storytelling in Presentations

Even the best storytellers can tank their presentations if they commit one of these cardinal sins (and yes, I’ve done all three).

When the Slides Say One Thing and You Say Another

You know the one.

“So, I didn’t actually create this deck. Marketing did. But I’ll just walk you through it…”

Please don’t.

This is storytelling suicide.

You’re immediately out of alignment with your message. Your words are saying one thing. Your slides? Something else entirely. And your audience feels it. It’s awkward. Distracting. Forgettable. For all the wrong reasons.

A perfect (and painful) example of this?

Steph Curry.

Back in 2013, before he was Steph Curry: NBA megastar, he was meeting with Nike about a potential partnership.

And in that meeting?

→ They kept calling him Stephen, even after he corrected them.

→ And worse? The pitch deck had Kevin Durant’s name on them.

Wrong name. Wrong player. Wrong story.

Steph walked out of that meeting and eventually signed with Under Armour.

That’s what happens when your visuals don’t match your message — people stop listening. Or worse? They walk away.

So, if your deck doesn’t fit what you need to say? Rewrite it. Rework it. Realign it.

Death by Data

The data dump is the main offender in 92% of corporate presentations. (Okay, that’s not a real stat, but it feels right.)

Here’s what it sounds like:

“And on this slide, we have Q2 metrics broken down by region, channel, and audience segment…”

Cue internal screaming.

Data isn’t the problem. But raw, unseasoned, context-free data? That’s like handing someone a plain hot dog with no bun. No toppings. No nothing. Just…meat.

Storytelling is the bun. It’s what makes the data easy to hold, easy to digest, and — dare I say — enjoyable.

Your job isn’t just to show the numbers. Your job is to wrap those numbers in a story. To show us what changed, why it matters, and what it means for the people listening.

Data gives your story weight. Story gives your data warmth.

Serve both. Nobody likes a dry dog.

Delivery Mismatch

This one is so common and also the hardest to talk about.

Because truthfully?

Telling a story out loud, in front of people, is really hard. Especially if you haven’t had much practice. Especially if no one ever showed you how.

Sometimes, even when the story is strong, the delivery doesn’t quite match. Maybe it’s a flat tone. Maybe it’s reading directly from notes. Maybe it’s speaking so quickly (or quietly) that the meaning gets a little lost.

If you’ve ever finished a presentation and thought, “That didn’t sound how it sounded in my head,” — I promise you, you are not alone. I’ve worked with hundreds of people who have all felt like that.

It’s not a confidence issue or a personality flaw. It’s a learnable skill. And like any skill, it gets easier with support, structure, and safe practice.

So if presenting feels stiff or disconnected right now? That’s not a problem.

That’s just a starting point.

TL;DR: Data Is Forgettable. You Don’t Have to Be.

If you want to be remembered, don’t just throw stats at your audience.

Tell a story.

A real one. The kind that drops us into a moment. Makes us feel something. Makes us say, “wait, tell me more.”

Because your story?

✔ Builds trust

✔ Creates clarity

✔ Gets your message heard and acted on

Storytelling isn’t magic. It’s not a talent. It’s a skill. One I’ve taught to PhDs, engineers, consultants, and people who thought they were “just not good at presenting.”

After just one of my storytelling workshops:

• 100% of attendees felt equipped to create more engaging presentations

• 85% said storytelling was the key to making their message unforgettable

• 71% immediately started using stories to explain complex concepts more clearly

You want results like that? Let’s make it happen.

👉 Buy My Brain for a one-off presentation power-hour

👉 Or book a company training that transforms nervous talkers into confident communicators

Because your slides aren’t the story.

You are.

FAQs About Storytelling in Presentations

Why is storytelling important in business presentations?

Because people don’t remember facts, they remember feelings.

A well-placed story can help your audience understand complex ideas faster, care about your message more deeply, and actually remember what you said a week later.

Instead of opening with your agenda, open with a personal or customer story that sets the stage for what’s to come. It builds connection from the first 30 seconds.

What are some examples of storytelling in presentations?

A customer sharing how your product solved a problem

A team member explaining a project pivot and what they learned

A personal moment that connects emotionally to your topic

How do you use storytelling in PowerPoint?

Keep the story in your voice, not on the slide. Use your visuals to support the story, not repeat it. One strong image beats five bullet points every time.

Choose a story you plan to tell. Then find one image that captures the feeling or situation in that story. Put that image on a blank slide. Let you do the talking.

What is the best storytelling technique for professional presentations?

There’s no perfect fit for every situation, but here are three go-to structures that work in business:

• Rags to Riches: From problem to win

• Cinderella: From win → setback → stronger win

• Bookending: Start with a story, end with the same story — but with a twist

Choose one of these arcs and plug in a real-life story from your work. Where were you at the start? What changed? What’s the result now?

If you’re short on time, start with bookending. It’s easy to use and incredibly effective.