What are some practical frameworks that you use to consistently tell better stories?

To help you consistently tell better stories internally and externally at work, here are the top three storytelling frameworks I’d recommend:

• SCQA: Great for logical, clear problem-solution stories, ideal for both internal strategy presentations and external product messaging. I learned this one in my earlier consulting days & still use it all the time!

• Pixar Storytelling: Evokes emotional engagement through transformation, making it relatable and memorable in product narratives. Great for customer stories!

• AIDA: Drives action through a structured attention-grabbing process, perfect for campaigns, product launches, and customer conversion.

SCQA (Situation, Complication, Question, Answer)

Framework:

• Situation: Describe the current scenario.

• Complication: Highlight the problem or challenge that arises.

• Question: Pose a question or introduce uncertainty.

• Answer: Provide the solution.

Application for product positioning:

• Situation: “Today’s HR professionals are tasked with managing employee engagement and well-being.”

• Complication: “But they lack the real-time data needed to address these issues effectively.”

• Question: “How can HR leaders track and improve employee sentiment in a way that’s both scalable and insightful, without a research or analytics background?”

• Answer: “With our powerful yet intuitive feedback platform, you can send out pulse surveys and instantly gain actionable insights from your employees.”

This method is highly effective for framing the customer's problem and positioning your product as the clear solution.

Pixar Storytelling Framework (Once Upon a Time)

Framework:

• Once upon a time…

• Every day…

• One day…

• Because of that…

• Because of that…

• Until finally…

Application in customer stories: Use this structure to craft a narrative about the customer’s experience before and after using your product:

• Once upon a time… customers struggled with a common pain point.

• Every day… they tried various solutions but found no success.

• One day… they discovered your product.

• Because of that… they began seeing improvements.

• Until finally… the problem was solved, and their experience was transformed.

For example, if marketing a project management tool, you could tell a story about how teams used to struggle with communication and deadlines, until they found your tool, which led to smoother collaboration and even beating deadlines, leaving room for more creativity.

The AIDA Model (Attention, Interest, Desire, Action)

Framework:

• Attention: Capture the audience's attention.

• Interest: Spark interest with compelling information.

• Desire: Build desire by showing benefits.

• Action: Encourage the audience to take the next step.

Application in product campaign messaging:

• Attention: "What if you could understand employee sentiment in real-time?"

• Interest: "Our platform allows you to collect feedback instantly from across your organization."

• Desire: "With advanced analytics and reports sliced by department, you can take actionable steps to improve employee well-being."

• Action: "Sign up for a free demo today!"

The AIDA model helps guide potential customers through a linear process that begins with awareness and ends with conversion.

Great question! Most of the storytelling frameworks I go back to repeatedly are focused on:

• Identifying audience challenges and needs

• Structuring your ideas clearly - the before → after, from → to states

• Laying out your audience’s problem, your solution, and the benefit in a clear and easy to follow way

• Pressure testing the story to see if you can add more excitement, interest, or suspense to keep the audience engaged

To that end, here are some frameworks I use:

• Duarte’s storytelling resources - look for their Story Map and sparkline pattern. This blog has a few good references.

• A storytelling canvas to map out the message for a big launch, keynote, or presentation

• Andy Raskin’s framework for developing a strategic narrative (shoutout to Tom McMahon on my team for recommending this one!)

Here are a few of my favorite storytelling frameworks. I like these because they've stood the test of time and have been flexible enough to extend to multiple different companies and circumstances. It's important to note that storytelling frameworks are different than positioning frameworks and you'll need both. Positioning is more lasting and fundamental. Storytelling is a way to bring that positioning to life in a way that reflects a moment in time. Here are the frameworks:

The transformational imperative

This story framework is great for when something outside of your control has shifted the culture or industry. E.g. how the pandemic forced people to change the way they approach work. Or how AI is changing how we create. To be the transformational imperative you really need an external societal shift that has happened regardless of your company.

• The shift: Something major has changed about the world that necessitates a new approach. Describe it.

• The consequence of business as usual: Those companies or people that don't adapt to this change will be left behind. Describe the consequence of sticking with the status quo.

• The competitive advantage earned by adapting fast: Those companies or people that lean into the change and adapt will come out ahead.

• How [company] can help you cross that chasm: Explain the role your company can play in helping your buyers navigate this transformation.
  

Old Way / New Way

This is a nice, simple story construct that we used a lot at HubSpot when I was there. It's similar to the transformational imperative narrative in that it centers on a new way of doing things, but unlike the transformational imperative, you can use it at any point. You don't need a crisis or a major global shift. Old way/new way simply calls into question the way that things have always been done in your field a fresh approach. In the early days of HubSpot, in the face of adblockers and general exhaustion with being interrupted by marketing we were proposing creating marketing that pulled people in. A focus on providing valuable content vs annoying ads.

Challenger brand story

This one works best when you've got a dominant player in the field that you're trying to unseat. It helps if that brand has been tolerated for years but not beloved. Challenger brand stories are all about calling attention to why customers deserve a better option than settling for that dominant player. It's about using that dominant player (even if you never mention them by name) as the enemy you're fighting against.

Segment's choice

In this narrative, you really focus on the people you're selling to. You make the story about what makes them unique. Picture a project management software solution focusing all its marketing on creative directors or designers. Picture a clothing brand focusing on empowering women in their 50s. Think about AMEX's focus on small businesses in the "shop small" campaign and holiday. This narrative approach is about making your specific segment of customers the hero. Holding them up to be celebrated and honored.

There are many other narrative structures. My friend and former colleague Marcus Andrews has done some good writing on this: https://www.productmarketingalliance.com/an-intro-to-narrative-design-ebook/ I also really like some of the approaches that Ashley Faus of Atlassian has put forward in her writing. https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashleyfaus/

There are many tried and true frameworks or this. Here are some I use:

STAR Method

There’s one you’ve likely been told to use in interviews: The STAR method, which stands for Situation, Task, Action, Result. You can apply this same framework to product storytelling. For example, what Situation is your prospect in? What are they Tasked with doing (and what are the obstacles)? What Action were they able to accomplish with the help of your product? And what was the positive Result?

Duarte Method

Nancy Duarte, CEO and author of six best-selling books, created a framework for storytelling that unfolds in 3 acts: 1. “what is”: describe the current (less than ideal) state of things. 2. “what could be”: describe what is possible if only we had a better solution, system, etc. 3. “the new bliss”: describe the world as it will be when everyone adopts your product, idea, etc. 

Pixar Story Framework

This legendary framework that describes the way all Pixar movies unfold can also help you tell the story of your target customer:

Once upon a time there was ____________

Every day ____________

Then one day ____________

Because of that, ____________

And because of that, ____________

Until finally, ____________

Here are a few frameworks I've either used or seen to help tell a compelling company and product story:

1. The HERO's Journey: this framework positions the customer as the hero and your product as the guide or tool that helps them overcome obstacles. It works well because it keeps the focus on the customer’s challenges and how your product can lead them to success.

2. FAB (Features, Advantages, Benefits): this framework ensures that your storytelling focuses on what your product does (Features), why that’s better than alternatives (Advantages), and how it benefits the customer. I've seen this work especially well for large product launches (it translates nicely to 1-2 slides) and to help ensure the whole company is telling the same story about the product.

3. Jobs To Be Done (JTBD): this framework focuses on the "job(s)" your customer is trying to accomplish. It helps you tell a story that aligns with customer motivations and why they’re using your product, centering the story on the powerful outcomes your product allows your customer to have, rather than the features.

Regardless of the framework, it's important to tee up each of these narratives with a sense of urgency - fomo marketing is hugely compelling!

There was a book (probably 15+ years old now) by Nancy Duarte about storytelling. In it she uses the example of Steve Jobs’ iPhone release presentation. The framework she highlights in that is the Before/After framework, where you keep shifting the story between “what is” and “what could be”...this rectangle in my hand is a phone…but it can also play music. This rectangle in my hand is a way to send SMS…but it can also browse the internet in (at the time) blazing fast 3G speeds, etc etc. At the end of the story, you leave the audience with the vision of the utopia where they can have it all…if only they choose your product. For B2B product marketing, I find that Problem/Solution/Benefit or Challenge/Solution/Benefit storytelling works very well for customer case studies. Typically, prospects can see themselves in this framing especially if the customer you’re highlighting is an organization they respect or might even be a direct competitor.

[Insert shameless plug for the my template that is being shared for this AMA]. :-)

Kidding aside - the template does reflect my thinking on the framework for good storytelling:

1. Intentional focus on crystalizing core "story inputs" --> e.g., personas, function and emotional pain points, market / industry / competitive context, etc.

2. Using this to fill out core story components such as:

   • Every story needs a protagonist and antagonist, so mapping the persona and pain points to these elements helps

   • Outlining the core impact of the conflict in the story on the protagonist is important to highlight the stakes at play

   • Defining how the conflict is resolved and how the hero "wins" helps showcase the solution and promote the power of offering

I'm a huge fan of Donald Miller's Storybrand framework. I typically like to use a simplified version of it, as I find that the full framework can be onerous and heavier than we need it to be in our fast-moving company:

• Define your hero (your customer) and what they are trying to accomplish. For example, at Seismic our hero is an enablement leader, and she wants to improve her ability to impact business outcomes--and demonstrate that her team directly contributed to those outcomes.

• Articulate the problem, or what's getting in the way of them achieving their goal. Historically, enablement leaders have had to wade through multiple systems and disconnected data to understand what is going on with their initiatives, like a new product launch. This is manual and time-consuming--making it nearly impossible to quantify impact, or course correct along the way.

• Highlight the guide (your company or product) and how the guide can help. With Seismic's new Programs product, for the first time ever, enablement teams have a centralized command center to launch, run and optimize their initiatives--and connect their work to business outcomes like revenue. This is where you can pull in additional information about your product or company, such as key capabilities.

• Demonstrate how the hero achieves success. This is where you articulate the business outcomes your product provides. Seismic Programs allows enablement to operate more strategically, drive GTM team behavior change, prove impact, and increase company agility. I like to bring in customer evidence -- case studies, data points, etc.

The best frameworks are the simpler ones that have proven effective in our everyday lives. One of my favorites is to use the Disney/Pixar storytelling approach laid out in the book “Storybrand” by Donald Miller. It takes the following format: 

1. A character (the customer) has a problem.

2. They meet a guide (your company) who has a plan.

3. The guide calls them to action.

4. The action helps them avoid failure.

5. The story ends in success.

“The Hero’s Journey” is another effective framework for stories. You could use simpler frameworks depending on the use case and your experience level, such as STAR (Situation, Task, Action, Result) — you can look these up for more details. 

Any of these frameworks are starting points. What’s most important is that you pick one or two and start crafting stories with it, refine it, customize it, and add your own spin to make it work for your style and your brand. The biggest mistake people make on this topic is to overthink storytelling and feel a lack of conviction. There’s not one best way to tell stories. Just do it, and keep getting better every time. This is how I enjoy the process and feel excited whenever I get an opportunity to craft a new story. 

I have used April Dunford's Obviously Awesome framework to develop messaging and create a product narrative. It is simple and can be applied to any setting. I have not yet read her other book, "Sales Pitch," which is all about crafting a sales narrative that will help you stand out and win.

https://www.amazon.com/Obviously-Awesome-Product-Positioning-Customers/dp/1999023005

I often use frameworks like the “Hero’s Journey,” where the customer is the hero, and the product is the guide helping them achieve their goal. Another approach is Jobs-to-be-Done (JTBD), focusing on what the customer is trying to accomplish, and then positioning the product as the best solution. Consistently bringing the focus back to the customer’s needs ensures that the story remains relevant and impactful.

• One of the most critical times to tell a great story is your sales pitch. And for that, the classic is the old world / new world framework that Andy Raskin popularized: https://medium.com/the-mission/the-greatest-sales-deck-ive-ever-seen-4f4ef3391ba0

• Another valuable framework for strategic narratives is the ABT method (and, but, therefore). It distills a story down to its core elements, which you can then elaborate on:

  • We believe that [statement]

  • and [statement].

  • But, [tension/problem].

  • Therefore, [resolution].

  • Here's an example of how that would look for Dropbox: We believe that creativity and productivity are two of the most powerful forces in the world, and that the only thing more powerful than harnessing them solo is amplifying them with others. But way too much time and energy is wasted on the inefficient parts of working, especially collaboratively. Therefore, we built a platform that lets you get to work with a lot less work — with tools that help you move your work forward faster, keep it safe, and let you collaborate with ease.

• There are plenty of other great frameworks — the hero's journey, the Pixar Pitch, etc. (Side note: Creativity Inc. is a wonderful book on this topic!) — but in general you need to set the stakes, introduce tension / pain / problems, and resolve the tension. The ideal is not actually making your product the hero of the story; the hero is your customer after using your product.

For me, the storytelling framework I use is actually a sales framework, Force Management’s Value Framework. I think it’s beneficial to build the story using a sales framework because it makes it easier for your internal teams to understand, get behind it, and apply it to their role, and how the communicate it to prospects and customers.