Joel Taylor

I like to learn about new ways of working, co-create with others, and share my learnings. I’ve worked in many parts of the software industry from programmer & analyst to my current role in product management. I’m currently in the process of becoming a better speaker and leader through toastmasters.

8 minute read

I originally joined Toastmasters to be a better, more dynamic speaker. I found that, and a whole lot more. Today I believe my meetings run on time and are fast-paced. I’ve been asked to do lunch and learns, and I’ve had over 150 people listen to me for half an hour. The difference, I’m told, is that I learned to tell stories.

When I think about how great leaders communicate, I see them speaking simply and clearly. Driving their team, customers, the market to rally around a purpose. I’ve often found that they can tell a story in a few words that has impact and purpose.

Putting something into story form has several advantages. Well told stories are easy to follow along and understand. They scale your message naturally because others remember it and pass it along by retelling.

I don’t think these leaders were born with that skill. I think they have cultivated it over years.

When I work on a team I always encourage members to show their successes. Often through having demos, stories, and presentations at the ready to intentionally show their best stuff.

A story works because it is an ordering device. It puts events in a sequence the brain can follow without effort, which frees your listener to focus on the meaning. Donald Miller says it directly:

“Essentially, story formulas put everything in order so the brain doesn’t have to work to understand what’s going on.”

Donald Miller, Building a StoryBrand: Clarify Your Message So Customers Will Listen

Using stories intentionally

Maybe you cringe at the thought of networking or presenting. That’s OK. It doesn’t come naturally, especially to introverts. But it is often a very effective way to get the opportunities to shine that you deserve.

Using truthful stories to build your personal brand will make it easier for you to network. Cynthia Johnson puts it bluntly in Platform: The Art and Science of Personal Branding: “Having a personal brand is inescapable. If you don’t build and manage your brand, the world around you will do it for you…” You want these stories to show the things you are both good at and like to do. What I would call your superpower.

You’re not bragging, you are directly letting others know when it would be best for you and them to work together. Not doing this means that those around you make up their own narratives about you.

Luck favors the prepared

Training yourself to do this isn’t hard. Melody Wilding has a simple formula where you write about your big wins every week. Doing this regularly allows you to keep refining, noting when you used the stories, and either keeping or killing those that no longer apply.

“Keep a story bank. This doesn’t have to be fancy. Get started by setting aside fifteen minutes a week to reflect on your big and small wins in a simple, easy-to-access document.”

Melody Wilding, Managing Up: How to Get What You Need from the People in Charge

That’s it; she proposes 15 minutes of note-taking a week and a folder of easy-to-use stories.

Story types

There are a lot of ways to tell stories. These are the four I use most, learned over years of doing demos for work, Toastmasters training, and books I’ve read. I’ve included the sources so you can do a deeper dive on your own later at the library. A few more types are listed under further reading.

The introduction/elevator story

Who you help, what problems you solve, your approach, one proof point where you have had a recent success.

This is often useful when you bump into someone in the break room and can set the scene for follow ups. If folks know what you are good at, it will help them remember you when a similar problem arises you might be able to help them with.

Sources: Cynthia Johnson, Platform: The Art and Science of Personal Branding.

The origin story

For you AND your team (why it exists, what problem brought people together).

I find this useful for those non-profit groups I’m affiliated with. For example, when talking with folks about Toastmasters they want to know what it does. Who is involved and what is the reach. And most importantly can I trust this group with my time or resources?

Sources: Carmine Gallo, Talk Like TED: The 9 Public-Speaking Secrets of the World’s Top Minds.

The challenge-and-change story

Situation → tension → choice → result → lesson.

For interviews, reviews, positioning. This is when someone asks you for a time something happened. In interviews I often see this as a tell me about a time you experienced a disagreement about the path forward.

Sources: Melody Wilding, Managing Up: How to Get What You Need from the People in Charge; The Moth, “Storytelling Tips & Tricks”.

What? So what? Now What?

The first what is a story that sets the scene about a problem or challenge. Then talk why it was important to fix and how you fixed it. Then tell them how to do this themselves.

This is actually a well known reflection pattern. But what makes it powerful for self-reflection also makes it a good storytelling format. Rick from my Toastmasters group brought up this format as a pattern for keynotes. He suggested stringing together several of these in 3-7 minute formats to get a keynote length speech that is engaging.

Sources: Rolfe et al., “What? So what? Now what?” reflective framework (2001).

DIY: Capturing your own stories

Example, ~1 minute social media video

Title: Our Toastmasters club superpower is storytelling

Situation: Realizing I’m not that engaging and need to be a clear speaker with direct call to action. I want my message to resonate and be shared by others.

Approach: Learning storytelling from training with Toastmasters, getting feedback from professional speakers and doing storytelling competitions.

Outcome: Lunch & Learn, other exciting speaking opportunities at work.

When to use: When folks say they are having trouble presenting. When you find a dynamic speaker you want to learn with.

Single Line: Toastmasters offered a safe & constructive space to refine my speeches and ideas with highly passionate speakers and storytellers.

1-2 minute pitch: Hi, I’m Joel Taylor, a proud member of Toastmasters. I originally joined Toastmasters to be a better, more dynamic speaker, and while I found that, I got a whole lot more.

I learned to be a better leader and had opportunities to practice both my speaking and leadership skills at every one of our meetings. Using storytelling as a concise and simple way to communicate about change and priorities.

I can notice the change at work. Today, I’ve been getting feedback that I’m a dynamic and interesting speaker, probably because of those stories. I lead meetings that run on time and are fast-paced.

I’ve even been asked to do lunch and learns and had other exciting speaking opportunities, where over 150 people listened to me for half an hour. That’s a big honor and an investment by my company to have me speak to that many people for half an hour.

I’ve really seen a lot of growth, and I think you would too. Thanks.

Last Review: Aug. 16, 2026

Templates

Keep it as simple as possible. I use a note taking app so some of these components are actually metadata also called frontmatter in the note page. Title is the name of the file. The one-sentence and 1-2 minute pitch are the actual note body. It allows me to query it into a table and easily sort. That’s optional and only if you have a lot of stories.

Components What to Write
Story Title Name it so you can easily find it when needed. note: if you are using separate documents, this can be the name of the document also for easy finding
What was the situation? Give context as to what was causing the tension. Include enough details to give your listener a hook.
How did I (or my team) approach it Actions you took, insights you learned. What was your behavior and why.
What was the outcome? How did it resolve, could you measure it, what lesson did you learn.
Where and when to use Demo, Intro, pitch, review, interview
One-Sentence Compress it into one concise sentence, this is the hook
1-2 minute pitch A couple of paragraphs, that drive the point home
Last Review When did you last review this story, is it still relevant

Your first fifteen minutes

This all starts with fifteen minutes. This week, set the time aside and write down one win, big or small, using the template above. Name it so you can find it later. Compress it to one sentence. Note when you would use it. Then tell it. The leaders who look like natural storytellers are not natural at all. They are prepared. Luck favors the prepared.

Further reading

  • Melody Wilding, Managing Up: How to Get What You Need from the People in Charge The source of the story-bank practice: why your accomplishments are invisible until you train yourself to record them, and the fifteen-minute habit that fixes it. View at Penguin Random House

  • Cynthia Johnson, Platform: The Art and Science of Personal Branding The argument that your brand is inescapable, the only choice is whether you build it or the world builds it for you. View on Goodreads

  • Donald Miller, Building a StoryBrand: Clarify Your Message So Customers Will Listen The customer-as-hero framework, and the discipline of telling people plainly how you can change their lives. View the official book page

More story types worth exploring:

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