Data alone won’t get you approved.

(Let’s fix it with 5 secret Storytelling ingredients)

I spent 2 years on an EV fast-charging project.

Published 2 papers & 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:

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:

1️⃣ WHEN/WHERE does this matter most?

2️⃣ WHO gets affected if nothing changes?

3️⃣ HOW were things working before?

4️⃣ WHAT specifically broke or changed?

5️⃣ WHERE does this lead us next?

5 questions.

5 elements.

Every presentation.