A Town Hall Meeting at Echo & Axis
The conference room at Echo & Axis buzzed with conversation until Richard stepped in and the room went quiet.
He started the meeting as usual. With data and corporate speak. He scanned the room filled with blank faces. His voice echoed, but not one of his employees seemed to understand what he was saying.
‘Any other business?’ Richard announced. ‘What’s not working, and how do we improve it?’
Pin drop silence. No one spoke. They knew Richard was reluctant to change, even though he often pressed them to innovate.
Alex eventually spoke up. ‘I think the meetings are always full of corporate buzzwords that don’t directly translate to our day-to-day tasks. How about we change the way we communicate across the board? Let’s tell more stories of why we do what we do and how we serve our customers.’
He received muffled approvals from his colleagues.
Richard allowed what he’d heard to sink in. ‘What’s your suggestion?’
‘Storytelling. I think we should embed stories into our meetings, messages, and workflows. I’ve benefited from using stories in my presentations. It works.’
‘Okay, so how do we go about it?’
‘We’d book a consultation with a storytelling strategist who would overhaul and transform our communication. We’d get an audit of our current communication practices and a framework for how we’ll start embedding stories.’
The Transformation
Richard agreed to a one-to-one coaching session where he mastered how to use stories in meetings and presentations. In one meeting, he started with the story of his father, who built the company and taught him the tricks of the trade.
His team attended storytelling workshops where they learned how to find, craft, and use stories in their presentations. They have interactive storytelling sessions where they swap stories and build a collective story bank they can use internally and externally. Their corporate communications have now been transformed into corporate storytelling.
Richard wanted storytelling to become a part of Echo & Axis’s culture, so HR rewrote their policy documents as stories. They storified training materials and adopted a story-first onboarding that showcased the company’s values and culture.
Blog posts, newsletters, thought leadership, and customer testimonials were now a collection of relatable stories that resonated with their audience.
Where They Are Now
Echo & Axis now leads with clarity and inspires its audience with stories. Their proposals win more contracts. Their team morale is high. Their clients stay loyal. And every manager starts their meeting with a story, no slides required.
Ready to Lead with Story?
Whether you’re a business leader, team manager, or founder, embedding storytelling into your organisation can unlock clarity, engagement, and lasting impact.
Let’s help you:
- Audit your communication
- Train your team
- Storify your culture