I spent 2 years on an EV fast-charging project.
Published 2 papers and filed 2 patents.
A success, right?
BUT… when I presented to sponsors...
There was pin-drop silence in Zoom room.
I lost them to their smartphones.
Another opportunity wasted.
MISSING PIECE?
I was presenting data, not stories.
Steal this 5-step process to turn boring data into stories:
(Note: If you like listening more than reading, CLICK HERE to listen to a deep dive into today's newsletter issue)
1. SETTING (Time & Context)
↳ When and where your story unfolds
↳ Creates immediate relevance
BUSINESS EXAMPLE:
❌ "We had system downtime"
✅ "At 2 PM on Black Friday, our checkout system crashed while 50,000 customers were trying to buy"
DAILY USE:
→ Status meetings: "During yesterday's client call..."
→ Problem reports: "Right before the quarterly review..."
→ Strategy presentations: "In the current economic climate..."
TAKEAWAY: Context turns facts into urgency.
2. CHARACTERS (Your Stakeholders)
↳ WHO gets impacted by your message
↳ Makes abstract problems personal
BUSINESS EXAMPLE:
❌ "Customer satisfaction declined 15%"
✅ "Jennifer, our top enterprise client who renewed for 4 years straight, called to cancel her contract"
DAILY USE:
→ Executive updates: Name the affected teams/customers
→ Budget requests: Show WHO benefits from approval
→ Change proposals: Identify WHO struggles with current state
TAKEAWAY: People fund people, not percentages.
3. NORMAL STATE (Baseline)
↳ How things operated before the problem
↳ Establishes what "good" looks like
BUSINESS EXAMPLE:
"For 18 months, our support team handled 200 tickets daily with 4-hour response time"
4. DISRUPTION (The Change)
↳ What broke the normal pattern
↳ Creates tension that demands action
BUSINESS EXAMPLE:
"Then the product launch tripled our user base overnight, and response time hit 48 hours"
TAKEAWAY: Story is about contrast: “before” vs. “what went wrong.”
5. RESOLUTION (New Normal)
↳ What happened AFTER addressing the disruption
↳ Shows outcome and path forward
BUSINESS EXAMPLE:
"We hired 3 specialists, automated tier-1 responses, and cut response time to 90 minutes while handling 600 daily tickets"
DAILY USE:
→ Project wrap-ups: Show the measurable improvement
→ Lessons learned: Share what changed permanently
→ Success stories: Provide the roadmap others can follow
TAKEAWAY: Your resolution becomes their next action plan.
IMPLEMENTATION FRAMEWORK:
Before your next presentation, answer these:
WHEN/WHERE does this matter most?
WHO gets affected if nothing changes?
HOW were things working before?
WHAT specifically broke or changed?
WHERE does this lead us next?
5 questions.
5 elements.
Every presentation.
Question for you Reader: How often you see presenters losing audiences to smartphones?
If you need a PDF to keep it handy, reply "PDF" and I'll send it your way.
-Waqas
LinkedIn | Past Newsletter Issues
P.S.--If you like listening more than reading, CLICK HERE to listen to a deep dive into today's newsletter issue.
