The Power of Storytelling in Leadership

Insights shared in conversation with Simon Hall, teacher of storytelling and compelling communication at the University of Cambridge and consultant for leaders and organisations worldwide. He is also the author of Secrets of Storytelling, and a former BBC broadcaster. 

There is a moment in almost every leadership career when facts stop being enough. You have the data, the slides, the well-rehearsed bullet points and, still, the room doesn't move. The board doesn't lean in. Your team nods politely and walks away unchanged. 

According to Simon, the answer to that gap is older than PowerPoint, older than boardrooms, older than business itself. The answer is storytelling.

We Are All Already Storytellers

Storytelling isn't a gift reserved for a charismatic few. It’s a fundamentally human skill that we exercise constantly, often without even being aware that we are.

"Tell me about how you met your partner," Simon says to the leaders who insist they aren't storytellers. "Tell me about the first time you made a breakthrough at work." Invariably, they do. And then comes the realisation: I just told a story, didn't I?

This matters enormously for leaders who feel intimidated by the idea of narrative. You don't need to reinvent yourself. You just need to recognise what you already do naturally and apply it with intention. Storytelling around the campfire is how human communities have always transmitted knowledge, built trust and shaped behaviour. The boardroom is just a newer setting for an ancient practice.

Why Stories Work When Facts Don't

Facts fade, but stories stick.

You could tell someone that hard work is essential to success - they would agree, forget, and move on. 

Or you could tell them about arriving at an empty room in Cambridge, having prepared for weeks, and finding only three students seated among 75 empty chairs. You could describe the walk home, the difficult feeling in the gut, the choice between folding and doubling down. And then, years later, returning to that same room - this time with a waiting list.

Which version of this event stays with you?

The science behind this is rooted in what the ancient Greeks identified as the three pillars of persuasion: ethos (credibility), logos (logic), and pathos (emotion). Most professional presentations are heavy on logos — data, analysis, projections — and light on pathos.

But humans, however rational we try to be, make decisions emotionally and justify them logically. A leader who only speaks to the logical mind is only speaking to half the room.

The Techniques That Make Stories Land

There are several practical techniques that elevate a story from a simple anecdote to a compelling leadership tool.

Hook first. Modern attention spans are short, and competition for focus is fierce. Don't ease gradually into your story - create immediate pull. A simple question works: "Would anyone like to know how to beat imposter syndrome?" Once the audience says yes internally, you have their permission to tell the story. Only then do you begin.

Go chronological - at first. For leaders new to storytelling, a straightforward chronological structure is the safest and most natural approach. Start at the beginning, move through the middle, arrive at the end. As your confidence grows, you can experiment with more sophisticated structures - opening at the climax, or revealing the ending first - but chronology is the reliable foundation.

Use "and so" as a bridge. Linking moments with "and so" maintains momentum and makes each step feel like a consequence of the last. It keeps the listener moving forward rather than waiting to understand why they should care.

Add colour and detail. The most common mistake leaders make is summarising rather than inhabiting a story. Glossing over the scene, the feeling, the specific moment, robs the story of its power. Put the audience in the room. Describe the autumn light, the 75 empty chairs, the walk home. It is precisely this texture that converts information into experience.

Pair facts with feelings. For every data point, there is a human being behind it - a patient, a client, a colleague. Simon's advice to the leaders he works with is straightforward: after every fact, give me a feeling. Show the slide with the numbers, then show a photo of Jack, who went from being chair-bound to playing with his grandchildren in the garden. The facts provide legitimacy; the feelings provide meaning.

Preparation Is the Hidden Ingredient

There is a paradox at the heart of compelling storytelling: the more effortless it appears, the more effort has gone into it.

When Simon was asked to address 2,500 delegates at a medical conference in Copenhagen - a number he only discovered two weeks before the event - he rehearsed twice a day, every day, until the morning of the talk. Afterwards, a pharmacist asked him how he made it look so effortless. That question, Simon suggests, is the best compliment a speaker can receive.

For leaders, the implication is clear. If a presentation, a pitch, or a difficult conversation matters - if there is something you genuinely want your audience to feel, believe, or do - the story deserves preparation. Not so that it sounds rehearsed, but so that it sounds natural.

The Permission to Begin

If there is a final message for leaders hesitant to introduce storytelling into their professional repertoire, it is this: start small. Tell one story, to one person, in a low-stakes moment. Notice what happens. Build from there.

The room will always lean in when someone says let me tell you a story. It’s not a trick. It’s a deeply human response to one of the oldest forms of communication we have.

Leaders who master it don't just inform their organisations. They move them.

Try this…

Build Your Story Bank

The single most practical tool Simon offers is the concept of a story bank — a curated mental library of stories you can draw on across any professional context.

He recommends organising them into four loose categories: 

• Entertaining stories (often the unexpected, absurd moments)

• Insightful stories (lessons learned the hard way)

• Inspiring stories (examples of growth, resilience, or achievement)

• Human stories (moments of connection, vulnerability, or impact on real people).

Eight to 12 stories across these categories is enough to enter almost any room - a board meeting, a conference, a one-to-one - with something relevant and ready.

And here is the good news: you have more material than you think. Simon suggests a simple exercise. Ask your family or close friends: "Do you remember me coming home one night and saying, guess what happened today?" They will. Those moments - the ones that made you want to tell someone immediately - are already stories. They just haven't been shaped and deployed professionally yet.

At Exigence, we blend strategic sharpness with unmatched coaching depth. We help ambitious organisations turn people capability into strategic advantage. Through practical coaching, real-world diagnostics, and scalable leadership solutions, we move your business forward.

Want to explore how? Let’s talk.