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Thursday, October 23rd, 2025 • 12pm–1pm PT ·
Are you looking to elevate your storytelling skills as a product marketer? Join 150+ PMMs to learn from leaders who have mastered the art of narrative-driven marketing. Discover how to build stories that connect with audiences, influence stakeholders, and accelerate growth. You’ll leave with actionable examples, proven frameworks, and strategies to bring powerful storytelling into your everyday work.
Wiz Senior Director Product Marketing • 7mo
Everyone is selling the same outcomes, so your differentiation must come from the specific ways you deliver those outcomes. I've experienced this firsthand moving between companies in different industries. At Okta (identity and access management) and later at Braze (marketing technology), I was surprised to discover they used exactly the same value pillars - driving better productivity, reducing risk, increasing revenue. This is common because these are the outcomes boards and executives care ab ...Read More
Freshworks Vice President - Global Product Marketing | Formerly Klaviyo, Qualtrics, Microsoft, MckInsey • 7mo
In a world where AI is generating similar value-focused content, differentiation comes from being specific about how you deliver value, not just claiming the same outcomes as everyone else. AI is creating more content than ever, and most of it centers around the same value statements and outcomes because that's what we've been trained to do as product marketers. The challenge is that everyone is talking about being better, faster, stronger - promising efficiency, productivity, revenue growth, or ...Read More
Box Vice President Product Marketing | Formerly Splunk, New Relic, Microsoft, Unity, Oracle • 7mo
Be super specific about the problems you solve for specific customers in specific ways rather than using generic value statements. The key to differentiation is specificity. I'm a big fan of the "barbecue test" - if someone at a barbecue asks what you do and you respond with vague statements like "I transform things and turn them into insights," their eyes will glaze over immediately. Instead, explain your work in concrete terms that people outside your industry can understand. The most successf ...Read More
Box Vice President Product Marketing | Formerly Splunk, New Relic, Microsoft, Unity, Oracle • 7mo
Leverage personalization technology while maintaining a clear focus on your primary audience rather than trying to speak to everyone. This is a common challenge that technology is increasingly helping us solve. Modern personalization tools can now detect if visitors come from specific industries like financial services or healthcare, or even from particular regions, allowing you to serve different versions of your site with tailored language and use cases. However, the fundamental challenge rema ...Read More
Freshworks Vice President - Global Product Marketing | Formerly Klaviyo, Qualtrics, Microsoft, MckInsey • 7mo
First understand the primary purpose of your communication channel before determining how to balance multiple audience needs. A critical question often overlooked is: what is the primary purpose of your homepage or other communication channel? Is it a storytelling device, an education tool, or a conversion mechanism? Sometimes it serves multiple purposes, but you still need to prioritize. For a product-led growth (PLG) company, your homepage is primarily a lead magnet for your main product. In t ...Read More
Wiz Senior Director Product Marketing • 7mo
Prioritize your audiences and recognize that if your message is for everyone, it's truly for no one. While technology is helping us differentiate messaging for different audiences, a fundamental part of the PMM's job is prioritization. If your message claims to be for everyone, it's really for no one. You need to establish a clear hierarchy of who you're trying to reach and when. There may be cases where your value proposition specifically involves bringing together two different personas - in t ...Read More
Box Vice President Product Marketing | Formerly Splunk, New Relic, Microsoft, Unity, Oracle • 7mo
I learned the hard way about the importance of understanding your audience's perspective when we misjudged game developers' reaction to AI messaging. In early 2023 at Unity, when everyone was having their generative AI moment, we were announcing new AI capabilities in our platform. However, we failed to fully appreciate how our audience - game developers - would receive this messaging. Throughout that year, several factors changed the landscape: the Hollywood writers' strike, downward pressure o ...Read More
Wiz Senior Director Product Marketing • 7mo
Early in my PMM career, I focused too much on technical depth and value statements while losing sight of the human element. Coming from a background as a classroom teacher and then PR, when I first moved into product marketing, I felt I needed to prove my technical credibility. I overcompensated by focusing heavily on technical details and efficiency values, trying to meet what I thought was the bar for great PMM work. In this effort, I lost sight of what matters most - what the product means fo ...Read More
Freshworks Vice President - Global Product Marketing | Formerly Klaviyo, Qualtrics, Microsoft, MckInsey • 7mo
I recently fell into the trap of using generic industry jargon when presenting to analysts instead of maintaining authentic, human-centered language. We're currently refreshing messaging for one of our hero products, and before testing it with customers, we had the opportunity to present to industry analysts. During these presentations, I found myself using exactly the kind of language I advise against - terms like "purpose-built," "AI-native," "agentic," and "unified." We went quite far with th ...Read More
Wiz Senior Director Product Marketing • 7mo
Put yourself in your audience's shoes and focus on making your story accessible, structured, and genuinely interesting. The most important practice is consistently viewing your content from your audience's perspective. We've all visited websites where we couldn't figure out what was being offered or sat through presentations where we lost the plot. As product marketers, we get excited about sharing product details and insights, but we need to ask: Is this story structured in a way that's easy to ...Read More
Box Vice President Product Marketing | Formerly Splunk, New Relic, Microsoft, Unity, Oracle • 7mo
Read widely, especially outside of business literature, to develop your storytelling abilities. My straightforward advice is to read as much as possible, but try to avoid too much business content since that's how we all end up using the same tired language like "elevate" and "supercharge." Instead, explore cultural criticism as a way to learn how to get people excited about abstract concepts. For example, reading Quentin Tarantino's book on cinema or Jessica Hopper's music criticism can show yo ...Read More
Freshworks Vice President - Global Product Marketing | Formerly Klaviyo, Qualtrics, Microsoft, MckInsey • 7mo
Read widely to discover your unique storytelling style and practice explaining complex concepts simply. I strongly agree with John's advice about reading extensively. Everything I am professionally comes from the books I've read. I have a collection of books I admire for their storytelling approaches - some are cultural icons, others are business and leadership books with a storytelling bent. Reading diverse perspectives helps you identify your own style rather than copying someone else's. Beyon ...Read More
Box Vice President Product Marketing | Formerly Splunk, New Relic, Microsoft, Unity, Oracle • 7mo
I admire Brad Inglesby, writer and showrunner for shows like 'Tusk' and 'Mayor of Easttown,' for his masterful storytelling structure within familiar formats. What makes his storytelling effective is how he takes the familiar structure of procedural TV shows but elevates them with deeper themes. He artfully maps out these shows by playing with audience expectations regarding tension and release, character revelations, and plot development. While working within the framework of what's essentially ...Read More
Wiz Senior Director Product Marketing • 7mo
I admire Michael Crichton and a former colleague named Adam for their distinct but equally powerful storytelling abilities. Michael Crichton excels at balancing plot-driven narratives with remarkable depth, particularly scientific depth. In works like Jurassic Park, he builds an engaging world and story while incorporating detailed science that makes everything feel plausible and immersive. He does extensive research to bring authenticity to his stories, allowing readers to quickly understand co ...Read More
Freshworks Vice President - Global Product Marketing | Formerly Klaviyo, Qualtrics, Microsoft, MckInsey • 7mo
I deeply admire Brene Brown and Malcolm Gladwell for their distinct storytelling approaches. Brene Brown stands out for the simplicity with which she breaks down complex ideas like vulnerability and shame, making them relatable. Her first TED talk exemplifies the classic storytelling framework: presenting a problem, building tension around it, and offering a solution. Malcolm Gladwell, on the other hand, captivates through vivid details and longer sentences that draw you in. What I've learned fr ...Read More
Wiz Senior Director Product Marketing • 7mo
Testing your messaging in real-world formats and using creative storytelling techniques helps transform frameworks into compelling narratives. Seeing your messaging 'in the wild' is invaluable for getting feedback and understanding what resonates. Start by translating your framework into actual deliverables and road testing them. With use cases specifically, get creative about bringing stories to life. I sometimes do a Google search on a keyword to see what unexpected images appear, which can in ...Read More
Freshworks Vice President - Global Product Marketing | Formerly Klaviyo, Qualtrics, Microsoft, MckInsey • 7mo
The key to translating messaging frameworks into compelling stories is giving disproportionate weight to certain elements rather than treating all parts equally. Most PMMs struggle with this translation because they feel obligated to give equal attention to every aspect of the messaging framework (the what, why, how, problem statements, value pillars, proof points). I've learned that depending on your company's context - whether you're in category creation or competing in a crowded market - you ...Read More
Box Vice President Product Marketing | Formerly Splunk, New Relic, Microsoft, Unity, Oracle • 7mo
Don't present executives with messaging frameworks or briefing documents - instead, transform your messaging into tangible content formats they can easily evaluate. I've made the mistake multiple times in my career of showing up with a messaging house or briefing document for executive review, not realizing it's not the right format - it's boring and not what executives think of when they hear 'messaging.' What works better is taking that messaging brief and drafting actual deliverables like a b ...Read More
Wiz Senior Director Product Marketing • 7mo
We use AI for reviewing content, simplifying work, and ideation, but human connection remains essential for emotional storytelling. AI is particularly helpful for checking content against brand requirements or simplifying text to meet character limits - especially useful for analyst relations responses that need to be concise yet comprehensive. We've also used it for ideation when exploring new personas, asking questions about what we should know about this audience and requesting relevant links ...Read More
Box Vice President Product Marketing | Formerly Splunk, New Relic, Microsoft, Unity, Oracle • 7mo
AI is most valuable for accelerating research and content syndication, not for core message development which still requires human expertise. I primarily use AI to speed up the research phase of storytelling - gathering market insights, pulling in market sizing data, and collecting information that would traditionally take weeks of manual work. Gong has been particularly helpful at Box for understanding customer perspectives through its AI summary capabilities, giving me quick access to account- ...Read More
Freshworks Vice President - Global Product Marketing | Formerly Klaviyo, Qualtrics, Microsoft, MckInsey • 7mo
We've evolved from using AI for basic tasks to treating it as a trusted advisor and subject matter expert that enhances our storytelling capabilities. On the mechanical side, we've built a custom GPT for product marketing that's been fed our messaging documents, source code, web pages, and sales collateral. This tool drives not just productivity gains but quality improvements in our storytelling and communication across the entire marketing organization. It helps us maintain messaging consistenc ...Read More
Rippling Marketing Lead • 7mo
I've used AI to find powerful analogies that make complex concepts more relatable to customers. When leading a customer advisory board where we needed to deliver difficult news about delayed feature requests due to technical infrastructure work, I needed a compelling way to explain the concept of "slowing down to speed up." I turned to ChatGPT to help find a parallel that would resonate better than talking about technical debt. The AI suggested the Formula One racing analogy - how race cars need ...Read More
Freshworks Vice President - Global Product Marketing | Formerly Klaviyo, Qualtrics, Microsoft, MckInsey • 7mo
Most storytelling frameworks share similar components, but the key is how you weight those components and personalize the approach. The basic structure I follow starts with addressing the pain point to connect emotionally with the audience. You build tension around this pain, then explain how you're solving for that tension, and end with a payoff. While this linear framework is common, what makes it effective is how you emphasize different elements. For launches or keynotes, I like to begin with ...Read More
Box Vice President Product Marketing | Formerly Splunk, New Relic, Microsoft, Unity, Oracle • 7mo
I rely heavily on Andy Raskin's strategic narrative framework, which starts with identifying the problem in the world. This framework has been my base template for first call decks at companies like New Relic and Splunk, as well as for numerous keynotes at Unity. While the framework evolves over time and merges with other approaches (especially for larger initiatives where keynotes become collaborative experiences involving multiple stakeholders), it provides a solid foundation. Having worked at ...Read More
See Event Answers
Jon Rooney
Vice President Product Marketing · Box
Kelsey Nelson
Senior Director Product Marketing · Wiz
Sahil Sethi
Vice President - Global Product Marketing · Freshworks
Confidently hit your goals and advance your career with advice from product marketing leaders at top companies.
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