9 Elements That Will Improve Your Storytelling

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You know that feeling when you look back at something you were once really proud of and it just makes you cringe?

That’s how I feel when I look back at old stuff I’ve written.

Thanks to a box of stuff my parents dropped off at my house (“here, this is yours, it was in the basement”) things recently got real cringy.

In the box were stories I’d written way back when I was in school. I give myself grace for being a child, but if I’m honest, they’re not really stories at all.

What makes a story a story

In school, you might have been taught that a story has a character, a setting, and a plot.

If you’re actually trying to tell a story, though — particularly if you’re trying to incorporate storytelling into your brand — that’s super unhelpful.

My old stories had characters and settings. And technically they had a plot, but only in a loose sense of the word. They were heavy on description, light on action, and low in emotional resonance (even when I thought I was being super deep).

Here’s a more specific — and I hope more useful — list of the elements a good business or brand story needs.

🧑🦱A character — This is your audience’s entry point to the story.

❗A problem or conflict — There must be something standing in the way of the character getting what they want. Problems can be big or small, doesn’t matter.

A key note on character and problem: the audience you’re trying to reach must relate to at least one of them. Either they see themselves in the character, they see their problems in the character’s problem, or both. If they can’t relate, they won’t care.

⏰A triggering event — Why solve this problem now? Did it just arise? Did something happen to make it urgent?

🎲Stakes — What happens if the character doesn’t solve the problem? What happens if they do?

🗺️A journey — The journey can be literal or metaphorical. The point is, “I had a problem, I solved it” is less compelling than, “I had a problem, I had to find a way to solve it.”

🪄A guide or tool — This is what helps the character solve the problem. It could be a person (like Yoda in Star Wars), a tool (like Green Lantern’s ring), or a method (like sabermetrics in Moneyball).

‼️A climax — This doesn’t have to be super dramatic; it’s the point where things could go either way. If you want to leave your audience on a cliffhanger, this is where you do it.

🌞A resolution — The problem is resolved.

Bonus specific to business storytelling

One element that’s not included in most traditional story models but is really powerful in business storytelling is the before-and-after conclusion.

When your story is selling something, or building your authority in the eyes of your audience, it’s compelling to wrap up with a comparison to show how far the character or problem has come.

Let’s put it in action

OK, so it looks like a lot. But that doesn’t mean you have to write a book every time you want to tell a story. Here’s a quick story following the basic framework:

I loved my work as a journalist. It was fulfilling, it felt important, and I thought I’d do it for the rest of my life. 🧑🦱

But the unpredictable hours were hard on my family. ❗One Saturday night, as I worked from the couch after dinner — again — my 2-year-old shut my laptop on me and declared, “Mommy all done work!” His little eyebrows were low in a scowl that showed he meant business.⏰

In that moment, I knew for my family’s sake I had to get my priorities in order. 🎲I spent weeks looking at a wild assortment of jobs. Customer service? Sales? Nothing felt like it could match the fulfillment I got from telling stories.🗺️

Then a friend 🪄got me in for an interview with his boss, who was hiring a magazine editor to join the marketing team.

The interview lasted all of 15 minutes, and he did most of the talking. Was that good? Was it bad? Did it mean he liked me or hated me?‼️Turns out, he liked me. That job led to more roles in marketing. 🌞Now, I have a job I love that lets me flex my schedule around my family instead of the other way around.

Improving my old stories

I don’t have much interest in rewriting stories from my school days, but looking at them through the lens of what I know now, I can tell you they tend to miss triggering events, stakes, a journey, and a guide. I went straight from “character with a problem” to “climax before the problem is solved.”

What’s funny is I kind of remember writing some of these stories, and I knew I was missing something. Climaxes were really hard to write, and never read right. I just didn’t know why.

Can you find these elements in your favorite stories? Can you find a good story that doesn’t have them? Let’s talk about it in the comments.

P.S. I have a limited number of brand coaching and done-for-you content spots open for executives who want to build a story-driven personal brand in 2025. DM me if you’re a leader looking to build your brand this year.