5 techniques for building a business narrative

This month’s edition of the March Foreword focuses on five techniques for constructing a business narrative.

You can use these in almost any business context: breathe life into business plan, help customers understand your impact, bring your team with you on the journey, highlight the factors which make the difference.

The right story can transform how your customers perceive your brand, products, or services, not to mention how your employees feel about working for you.

For each of the following constructs, I’ll provide a real-life example and tips on when to use them.

1. Dragon - Knight - Happily Ever After

This is a Positive Momentum favourite: all it takes is three short paragraphs. in fact the most streamlined versions can be done in three lines.The Dragon-Knight-Happily Ever After structure revolves around a clear challenge (the dragon), a solution (the knight), and a positive outcome (the happily ever after).

Here’s an example:

Dragon: A B2B tech provider’s sales team is struggling to close deals because their software solutions are seen as complex and difficult to implement. Competitors are winning contracts with simpler, more user-friendly alternatives.

Knight: In response, the sales team works closely with the product development team to create tailored, easy-to-understand demo versions of the software. They also refine their sales pitch, focusing on the long-term benefits and cost savings of their solution. The team introduces a new onboarding program that simplifies implementation for new clients, reducing friction during the decision-making process.

Happily Ever After: With these changes, the sales team starts closing more deals and sees a marked improvement in client retention. The company becomes known not just for its powerful software but also for its easy, client-friendly approach, giving them an edge in the competitive B2B tech market.

When to Use:

Use this construct when your business has successfully tackled a significant challenge. It’s perfect for case studies or success stories where you want to showcase the steps you took to solve a big problem.

2. Crash Zoom

Crash Zoom focuses on the individual, zoomed in to show the experience of one person and then zooming out to reveal a broader, widespread impact. the beauty of this technique is it anchors your narrative in an example that everyone can relate to.

It's a technique we used all the time of the TV News, illustrating a phenomenon through the eyes of one case study.

Let’s build a Crash Zoom example around a sustainability business, providing an innovative floor covering for homes in Africa, made from recycled plastic:

Focus: Meet Amina, a mother of three in a small village. She recently installed a durable, eco-friendly floor covering made from recycled plastic in her home. It’s not only affordable but also keeps the house cooler and cleaner, which is important for her family’s health and comfort.

Zoom Out: Amina’s not alone. Over the past year, hundreds of families in her region have chosen this sustainable floor covering, finding it to be a practical and cost-effective solution to their needs. Each family benefits from a more comfortable and cleaner home environment.

Zoom Out Again: Across Africa, thousands of homes are now equipped with this innovative product, reducing plastic waste and improving living conditions. This floor covering is part of a larger movement to promote sustainability while addressing local housing challenges. The company is making a tangible difference by transforming waste into opportunity, scaling their impact across communities and regions.

When to Use:

This technique works well when you want to showcase both the personal and collective impact of your business. It’s particularly useful when you are trying to show that your business is building a movement, particularly suited to highlighting the good you’re doing.

3. The Quest

In the Quest model, you depict your business journey as an ongoing adventure, with obstacles to overcome in pursuit of a worthy goal. This construct is great for illustrating long-term vision.

Here’s an example of the Quest construct with a founder CEO addressing her team:

“When we started this company, our goal was simple: to disrupt the logistics industry by creating the most efficient, eco-friendly delivery system on the market. We knew it wasn’t going to be easy, and we’ve faced our fair share of challenges along the way.

“Over the past year, we’ve hit roadblocks—rising costs, unexpected setbacks in our supply chain, and doubts from industry insiders who didn’t believe our vision could scale. But every time, we’ve adapted, innovated, and pushed through.

“We’ve refined our technology, expanded our partnerships, and developed new solutions to streamline operations. And now, because of your hard work, we’re closer than ever to reaching our goal. We’ve reduced our carbon footprint, cut delivery times, and earned the trust of key clients.

“But this isn’t just about us. It’s about proving to the world that sustainability and efficiency can go hand in hand, and that small changes in logistics can have a huge impact.

When to Use:

The Quest narrative is perfect for businesses that are working toward ambitious, long-term goals. It’s ideal for explaining your mission and values, particularly in industries where innovation, change, or sustainability are key themes.

4. The Lever

The Lever structure focuses on a single change or action that has a disproportionate impact over time. It’s great for illustrating how a small adjustment can drive significant results.

Example:

An e-commerce company identifies that simplifying their checkout process by removing just one step could lead to more completed purchases and reduce cart abandonment.

The Change: By eliminating the need for customers to create an account before purchasing, the company allows guest checkouts, reducing friction and making the process quicker and easier.

The Impact: This seemingly small change results in a significant reduction in cart abandonment rates and a 15% increase in completed transactions. Over the year, this leads to a substantial boost in revenue, with more customers completing their purchases and returning for future orders due to more streamlined experience.

When to Use:

Use this construct when you’ve identified a single change or factor that’s created a significant impact. It’s great for demonstrating the value of small but powerful improvements and is often effective in operations, process optimisation, or sales growth narratives.

5. Situation-Complication-Resolution

This structure, like the Dragon-Knight model, presents a problem and its resolution but places more focus on the complication. The resolution often comes quickly, highlighting the tension more than the solution.

Situation: A client comes to the agency because their online presence is weak, and they’re struggling to generate leads.

Complication: Despite investing in ads and content, they’re seeing minimal engagement. Their website’s traffic is stagnant, and their competitors are outpacing them with newer digital strategies. They’re frustrated, feeling like they’re pouring money into marketing without any return.

Resolution: The agency steps in and diagnoses the issue—an outdated SEO strategy and poor targeting in their ads. They overhaul the SEO, restructure the ad campaigns with better data insights, and within a few months, the client sees a dramatic increase in site traffic, engagement, and ultimately conversions.

When to Use:

This construct works well when the problem and tension are more dramatic than the solution itself. It’s great for high-stakes scenarios where the audience will feel the urgency of the complication before the swift relief of the resolution.

You've probably noticed by now that you can lay these constructs together to create an even more powerful narrative.

The Crash Zoom technique works brilliantly when you zoom out twice; the Lever construct can be part of a Dragon Knight Happily ever after narrative; the Complication in Situation Complication Resolution could actually be told using a Quest.

With these five tools you can build a syntax of business storytelling which you can deploy in different combinations according to the particular narrative you're looking to address.

And if I can pull out another analogy from my academic background as a linguist, the best way to become more fluent, is to practice these techniques as much as you can.

Good luck with it all, and don't hesitate to share any other tips and tricks you might have with other readers of the March Foreword in the comments below.