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Here’s something I’ve learned after hundreds of strategy calls, leadership conversations, and coaching sessions:
If the person across from you can’t repeat your point after the conversation…
you didn’t actually influence anything.
Experts often rely on precision, depth, and detail.
But people don’t repeat precision.
They repeat patterns.
They repeat stories.
A well-crafted story does three things at once:
It clarifies your thinking.
It anchors the key takeaway.
It travels into rooms you are not in.
And in one-on-one conversations, this matters even more.
Because the right story turns your idea into something another person wants to share — not because you prompted them to, but because it’s memorable, simple, and emotionally coherent.
If you want to know what someone values, listen to their stories.
And here’s the part most experts don’t like admitting:
Most experts know this…
but too often forget or fail to use story structure in the moment — especially when the stakes are real, the conversation is compressed, or their mind is focused on accuracy instead of influence.
That’s why you need a structure that works every time, even when the pressure is high.
Let me show you my technique.
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The Story → Point → Bridge Technique
This is the three-move structure I use and share with executives, founders, and senior experts when they need people to understand and carry their insights forward into new rooms, new conversations, and new decisions.
Funny thing is, until I had to share it, I didn’t really have a name for it.
I just called it one, two, three, but I thought I'd better give it a better name if other people are actually supposed to memorize and use it.
Anyway, I think you’ll find it’s a simple, repeatable way to make your key point memorable, portable, and influential.
You won’t need dramatic stories.
You don’t need to be “a storyteller.”
You just need tight structure.
Gif by johnlegend on Giphy
Let’s get it…
1. STORY — A 30-Second Moment That Creates Context
Pick a real, concise, concrete moment.
Not a life story.
Not a saga.
Just a slice of reality people can picture.
Examples:
• “Last month, a client asked me why their team kept missing deadlines…”
• “Earlier in my career, I made the mistake of…”
• “A leader I once worked with taught me something I never forgot…”
A story does the heavy lifting:
It creates context → which creates openness → which creates receptivity.
Without context, people argue.
With context, people understand.
2. POINT — Name the Insight in One Crisp Sentence
After the story, extract the principle.
This is the sticky note moment — the part their brain will keep.
“Here’s what that taught me…”
“Here’s the shift that finally clicked…”
“Here’s the part that matters…”
Your job is to give them a line they can repeat exactly:
Short. Sharp. Memorable.
This is the line that travels without you.
3. BRIDGE — Tie It Directly to Their Situation
A story without a bridge is entertainment.
A story with a bridge becomes influence.
This is where you connect the meaning to their moment:
“And that’s why I’m suggesting we…”
“This matters here because…”
“In your situation, what this means is…”
The bridge is what makes your idea usable — not just interesting.
A Real Example (Use This as a Template)
Let’s say you want to help a colleague refocus during a chaotic project.
Story:
“Early in my career, I worked on a project where everything felt urgent. Everyone was busy, but no one was aligned. One afternoon a senior leader said, ‘We’re not overwhelmed — we’re unprioritized,’ and she paused the meeting until we identified the one thing that actually mattered.”
Point:
“That moment taught me something important: clarity isn’t a luxury — it’s oxygen.”
Bridge:
“I’m sharing this because in your project, I’m seeing the same early signs. If you step back and name the one priority the team must protect, everything else will stop feeling so chaotic.”
Now your idea is:
• clear
• memorable
• repeatable
• transferable
They will repeat the line — clarity isn’t a luxury; it’s oxygen — because it’s anchored in a story.
Your influence continues after you leave the room.
Why This Technique Works (Backed by Cognitive Science)
Stories activate more regions of the brain than facts alone, including emotion, memory, and pattern-recognition centers.
This lowers cognitive load, increases retention, and makes the idea easier to repeat later.
In other words:
Stories don’t just explain your idea. They wire it into the listener’s mind.
Try This Before Your Next One-on-One
Ask yourself three questions:
What’s the one point I need them to walk away with?
What quick story reveals that point without lecturing?
How do I bridge it to this exact moment?
Then run the structure:
Story → Point → Bridge
Do it once, and you’ll feel the difference.
Do it consistently, and people will start quoting you.
If you can attach your insight to a story, your idea will outlive the conversation.
LEVEL UP
AI Prompt: Your Narrative Anchor Coach
Copy, paste, and complete this in your favorite LLM:
Act as my strategic communication partner. I’ll share the key point I need to make in an upcoming one-on-one conversation.
Help me:
- Identify a concise story that makes the point emotionally resonant.
- Distill the story into a single memorable insight.
- Craft a bridge sentence that ties the insight directly to the situation at hand.
- Produce a final version that feels authoritative, concise, and easy to repeat. Format as: Story → Point → Bridge → Repeatable Line.POLL
What’s Hardest About Using Stories to Make Your Ideas Stick?
CURATED ROUNDUP
What to Review This Week
Read: How a speaker herds the audience by Chang et al.
Watch: Narrative Transportation Theory & The Magic of Disney by Bryce McNabb
Read: Narrative transportation: A systematic literature review and future research agenda by Veronica Thomas and Jamie Grigsby
Get instant access to the Difficult Conversations Navigator.
In Case You Missed It!
The Bottom Line
A story doesn’t just communicate your point; it carries it.
And carried ideas create more influence, more alignment, and more opportunity than any perfectly worded explanation ever will.
Thanks for reading. Be easy!
Girvin
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