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March 5, 2025

How to get buy-in every time

> “Let me show you the numbers,” I said, clicking to the next slide.

Robert Ta

Robert Ta

CEO & Co-Founder, Clarity
Align

This Week’s ABC

Advice: The 3 keys to WHY storytelling.

Breakthrough: 1 book with a 7 step framework, and 1 AI prompt for telling great stories.

Challenge: One small thing you can do this week to start telling better stories.

📖 Advice: 3 Keys for WHY Storytelling in Leadership

Let’s face it: Your audience doesn’t care about your data.

Let’s go back to that moment in 2017.

The yawns. The blank stares. The relentless checking of phones.

I had missed the single most important tool for influence:

Storytelling.

Data might inform, but stories persuade.

They engage.

They stick.

And as a leader, your ability to tell stories can mean the difference between a disengaged audience and a movement that shifts mindsets and drives action.

But why does storytelling work so well?

Because our brains are wired for it.

1. Our Brains Love It

If you’ve ever cried during a movie or felt chills from a powerful speech, you’ve experienced the brain’s natural response to storytelling.

Science backs this up.

When we hear a story, our brains don’t just process the words—we experience them.

Neuroscientists at Princeton University discovered a phenomenon called neural coupling—where a storyteller’s brain and the listener’s brain “synchronize” during a well-told story.

The same regions of both brains light up, creating a shared experience.

In contrast, when data is presented in isolation, the brain processes it in a much more limited way, often forgetting it soon after.

This means that when leaders tell compelling stories, they’re making their audience feel the message.

And that feeling is what drives action.

Another powerful effect of storytelling is its impact on dopamine release.

Studies show that when we listen to emotionally engaging stories, our brains release dopamine, a neurotransmitter that enhances focus, motivation, and memory.

**That’s why you can remember **the story of the tortoise and the hare from decades ago.

And that’s why you can’t remember what you had for lunch last Tuesday.

In leadership, this has real implications.

Takeaway: If you want your message to stick, framing it as a story increases retention, engagement, and the likelihood of your team remembering and acting on what you say.

They care about what it means for them.

Build

2. It Drives Trust

Trust is the foundation of leadership.

And stories help build it.

A study from Paul Zak, a leading neuroscientist, found that stories that evoke empathy and emotional engagement increase the production of oxytocin—a neurochemical that fosters trust, cooperation, and connection:

Why the brain loves stories

“The first part of the answer is that as social creatures who regularly affiliate with strangers, stories are an effective way to transmit important information and values from one individual or community to the next. Stories that are personal and emotionally compelling engage more of the brain, and thus are better remembered, than simply stating a set of facts.

Think of this as the “car accident effect.” You don’t really want to see injured people, but you just have to sneak a peek as you drive by. Brain mechanisms engage saying there might be something valuable for you to learn, since car accidents are rarely seen by most of us but involve an activity we do daily. That is why you feel compelled to rubberneck.”

This means that when leaders share personal struggles, team victories, or mission-driven narratives, they are literally building biological trust (from my perspective) with their audience.

  1. A CEO presenting a list of corporate goals in a dry PowerPoint.
  2. A CEO telling the story of a struggling customer whose life was transformed by the company’s product.

The second CEO creates an emotional connection.

The audience relates. They see the purpose behind the goals. And they care.

I know my answer.

“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” —Maya Angelou“Stories are the single most powerful tool in a leader’s toolkit.” –Howard Gardner

“My lab pioneered the behavioral study of*oxytocin** and has proven that when the brain synthesizes oxytocin, people are more trustworthy, generous, charitable, and compassionate. I have dubbed oxytocin the**“moral molecule,”** and others call it the love hormone.”*## 3. The Most Effective Leaders are MASTERFUL Storytellers

Think about some influential leaders—Martin Luther King Jr., Steve Jobs, etc.

What made them unforgettable?

Not just their ideas.

He told stories about how they would change lives.

He shared a dream that people could see, feel, and believe in.

To really drive the point home, look at the results of this 1969 Stanford study.

Some students were tested on their memorization abilities:

  • They were given a list of 12 words.
  • They had 2 minutes.
  • Half the group, group A, were instructed to memorize the list
  • The other half, group B, were instructed to create a story that contained the words.

The results?

“Average median recall was 93 vs. 13% for the narrative and control” → Group B, the story group, outperformed Group A by MILES.

Takeaway: If you want to inspire, align, and lead—your job isn’t just to inform. It’s to captivate. And you do that with storytelling.

But wait…

If you’re thinking, “But I’m not a natural storyteller,” don’t worry.

You don’t need to be a novelist or a public speaker to use storytelling effectively.

You might be wondering… “Is there some sort of framework I can use?”

Yes… yes there is.

*🚀 Breakthrough: *StoryBrand Method

I’ve read many marketing books, and this is one of the most practical ones.

It has an easy and flexible framework grounded in storytelling for presentations, pitches, landing pages, products—really anything.

If you want to master storytelling, this book is a must-read.

Miller introduces a proven framework to clarify your message, engage your audience, and drive action.

The Storybrand brandscript worksheet

Miller’s framework is built around 7 key elements:

  1. **A Character: **Your audience is the hero of the story. Position them as the protagonist, not your product or idea.
  2. **A Problem: **Every hero faces a challenge. Clearly define the problem your audience is trying to solve.
  3. **A Guide: **That’s you. Position yourself as the mentor who can help the hero succeed.
  4. **A Plan: **Provide a clear, step-by-step plan to solve the problem.
  5. **A Call to Action: **Tell the hero exactly what to do next.
  6. **Avoid Failure: **Show what’s at stake if the problem isn’t solved.
  7. **Achieve Success: **Paint a picture of what success looks like.

Example:

Character: A busy tech leader trying to grow their influence.

Problem: They struggle to communicate their ideas effectively.

Guide: Me, with this newsletter and the StoryBrand framework.

Plan: Follow these 7 steps to clarify your message.

Call to Action: Start using the framework in your next presentation.

Avoid Failure: Without clear communication, your ideas will fall flat.

Achieve Success: Imagine your team fully aligned and inspired by your vision.

Not too shabby huh?

If you’re crafting a pitch deck, a new initiative plan, a landing page—I suggest you try it out.

Don’t have time?

Here’s an AI prompt I made for this purpose to make it easy.

Just define the ICP with a bit of detail at the top.

Try it out and let me know what you think.

“The customer is the hero, not your brand.”But how they communicated those ideas. Steve Jobs didn’t just announce new Apple products.

MLK didn’t present a 10-point policy plan.

Compare two leadership styles:

Who are you going to follow?

Takeaway: People don’t follow numbers. They follow narratives.

Culture

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