Information tells. Stories persuade. This course builds the practical skill of using narrative to make communication more engaging, memorable and influential — whether in presentations, pitches, written content or everyday professional conversation. You will learn to choose and define a theme, develop a narrative structure using classical and modern templates, and deliver stories with presence and confidence.
Choosing and defining story themes, narrative structure using classical and modern templates, essential story ingredients — characters, places, senses and suspense — and storytelling delivery skills.
Every session runs in a small, boardroom-format group — typically six to eight senior professionals. Your trainer tailors content to the specific industries, organisations and challenges each participant brings, so you work on real situations, not generic examples. The learning combines evidence-based best practice briefings with structured discussions, practical workshops and peer learning. This is training with a coaching and consulting flavour — focused on building skills and producing outputs you can apply in your work immediately.
- Define a theme for a story that serves a specific professional objective
- Apply the psychology of storytelling to amplify the impact of your communication
- Plan and structure stories using classical and modern narrative templates
- Develop stories with essential ingredients — characters, places, senses and suspense
- Deliver stories effectively in person with presence and engagement
- Adapt storytelling techniques to different professional formats — presentations, pitches, reports and conversations
- Evaluate and refine your own stories for clarity, pace and emotional resonance
- Build a personal repertoire of stories ready for use in your professional context
- Why stories work: the neuroscience and psychology of storytelling
- Connecting to your audience: the social and interpersonal meaning of stories
- Choosing and refining your story's central idea
- "Red Threads" and "Throughlines"
- Classical storytelling: the seven universal structures
- Modern storytelling: Hollywood rules for storytelling
- Practical storytelling: TED guidance for storytelling
- Essential ingredients: characters, places, senses, suspense
- "Priming" techniques to unlock your inner storyteller
- Voice and body language
- Audience connection and engagement
- Opening and closing
This course is for professionals in any role or industry who communicate with stakeholders and colleagues and want to use narrative to make their communication more engaging and persuasive. No prior storytelling experience is needed — the course builds the skill from foundations.
- Live Online21–22 October 2026· $950Book
- Dubai18 November 2026· $1,200 plus VATBook
- Live Online16–17 December 2026· $950Book
The following are some of the ISOC trainers who regularly lead this course, depending whether you join us in London, Dubai or live online.
Yes. We deliver this course for teams of any size, tailored to your organisation’s context and objectives. Contact us to discuss your requirements.
Partly. You will practise delivering stories, but the course covers the full storytelling process — choosing themes, building narrative structure, developing essential ingredients and delivery. The emphasis is on storytelling as a professional communication skill, not theatrical performance.
Yes — this is specifically why the course exists. Storytelling is most powerful when used to make complex, dry or abstract information engaging and memorable. The techniques apply to presentations, reports, pitches and everyday professional communication.
Nothing specific is required. If you have a current project, challenge or organisational context relevant to the course, bring it along — the practical exercises can incorporate real-world scenarios.