Every story has a hero – or at the very least, a protagonist who drives it forward.
So when you are using storytelling to persuade, one of the most important questions you can ask is: who is the hero here?
Take a standard sales presentation, like a customer case study. There are three possible answers.
The first is you.
If you’re telling the story of how you helped someone overcome a challenge or achieve an extraordinary result, it’s natural to see yourself as the protagonist. You’re the one driving the action.
The second is the customer.
To avoid looking like you’re seeking the spotlight, you can shift the focus to them. After all, they took the leap of faith. They listened to your idea, convinced their colleagues, found the money, and had the courage to follow through. You may have done the work, but they made it happen.
Both perspectives work. Both can lead to strong stories.
But if your goal is persuasion, there’s a third option, and it’s the most powerful.
The hero is the audience.
Great persuasive storytelling helps your listener see themselves in the hero’s role. You want them thinking: “That could work for us. We could do that.” The ultimate aim is to have them carry your idea back to their workplace, where they can apply it, solve a pressing problem, or seize a new opportunity — and in doing so, elevate their own standing.
In other words, you want them to imagine themselves as the hero of the sequel to your story.
To make this work, you need to shape your story with the audience in mind:
- Relevance: Will they recognise the problem or challenge you’re describing?
- Practicality: Is your solution something they could realistically implement?
- Value: Does the benefit clearly outweigh the effort, risk, or cost?
These are simple idea, but too often they’re lost in the noise of a presentation.
Films such as Star Wars worked because kids could imagine themselves as Luke Skywalker, Han Solo or Princess Leia.
Your challenge is the same: can your audience imagine themselves as the hero of the story you’re telling?