21 Storytelling Frameworks Leaders Must Know
Everyone loves hearing a good story, but the problem is not everyone knows how to tell one, especially in the professional setting. You’re in luck 🍀
My good friend Oliver Aust, Founder of Speak Like a CEO, has compiled the ultimate storytelling bible.
Oliver is one of the world’s most renowned voices on leadership communications. He spent 1000+ hours studying storytelling over the past ten years to solve the problems most of us have when it comes to storytelling in business:
→ If you read one book, the author gives you just one framework.
→ Most storytelling advice comes from people in entertainment NOT business.
→ But as a leader, you are looking to move people to action, not entertain them.
Inside Oliver’s guide "21 Storytelling Frameworks Leaders Must Know“ you'll get the top storytelling frameworks for your business, when to use them and what to avoid, so you don't need to spend 1000 hours or years of trial and error.
Dear {{ first name | Legend}},
I have a question for you “Why are shopping baskets at a grocery store placed where they are?” or “Why is gum always placed at the checkout?” How about “Why do some stores play music?”
You might say “for convenience” or “for ambience.”
And you’re partly right. The truth is it’s much more than that.
Every square foot of a store is a behavioral decision disguised as layout.
Every shelf, every scent, every sound… that’s a subconscious conversation with your brain.
Weeks ago, I sat down with Paco Underhill, the godfather of retail research and psychology, he shared the most effective strategies on how to influence people without saying a word.
(Paco Underhill is a pioneer in environmental psychology, founder of Envirosell and the author of the NYT Best Seller Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping, one of the most influential books on consumer behavior. He also wrote Call of the Mall, What Women Want, and How We Eat. For over 30 years, he’s helped brands like Citibank, McDonald’s, and Microsoft design spaces that shape how people move, think, and buy.)
Paco once moved a basket stand just a few feet closer to the entrance and sales jumped 18% overnight.
Not because customers suddenly wanted more things but because they could hold more things.
He later found that gum sales soared when it was moved to the checkout lane.
Why?
Because that’s where people’s brains switch from decision-making to reward-seeking.
When you’re done thinking, you start indulging.
Same shoppers, same products, but completely different behavior.
Heartset: Environments shape us quietly, constantly, and completely (without us knowing)
Every January, we set our intentions. New goals. New habits. New versions of ourselves. It’s admirable that we want to reinvent ourselves and grow.
But here’s what we are missing: our environments have already decided whether any of that will happen.
The placement of the snacks in your kitchen will decide your diet.
The layout of your workspace will decide your focus.
The lighting in your gym will decide if you stay or leave.
We think we’re creatures of willpower. We’re really creatures of context.
Mindset: Don’t motivate behavior. Make behavior inevitable.
“I could walk into virtually any space and point to something that should be changed. What was an education for me was understanding the dimension of the impact.”
Paco wasn’t just talking about stores, he was talking about everything.
Because every space — physical or digital — is a behavioral script.
It nudges, cues, and primes us, often without us even knowing.
The tragedy?
It’s that most people try to change behavior with more motivation, instead of redesigning the context.
When an environment works, you don’t need discipline — you just do the thing.
As behavioral scientist BJ Fogg says:
“Put hot triggers in the path of motivated people.”
That’s the secret of influence: you don’t force action; you engineer inevitability.
Here’s how 👇🏽
Skillset: The Influential Environment Design Playbook
Want the playbook as an infographic? See the post on LinkedIn HERE.
1. Perception: Make it seeable, scannable, and human
“Ninety percent of us are right-handed. Our eyes age in the same way… yet most environments ignore that.”
That’s the heart of perception design: make seeing effortless.
If your customers can’t orient themselves in three seconds, you’ve already lost them.
Design Principle:
Clarity is influence. Design for tired eyes and lazy brains.
High contrast, fewer choices, better hierarchy.
Lighting and highlights that point to what matters.
Fewer visual distractions; stronger focal points.
Examples:
Apple Stores: neutral backgrounds, spotlight lighting. Your eyes know where to go.
Google Search: absolute minimalism — the web distilled into one box.
A landing page that improves contrast, spacing, and readability can increase conversions by 22%.
2. Safety: Make people feel calm before they think
If people don’t feel safe, they don’t stay — they flee.
Paco’s gender insight drives this home:
“If I ask your wife when she last had a creepy experience in a parking lot, she’ll say within the past week.”
Think about psychological safety across the entire experience, not just at the point of transaction.
Design Principle:
Familiarity breeds trust. Predictability reduces anxiety.
Remove aggressive pop-ups and surprises.
Use human reassurance (“Here’s what happens next”).
Choose warm, consistent tones over sterile efficiency.
Examples:
Airbnb: “Reserve” instead of “Book Now” — same transaction, softer frame.
Duolingo: humor and friendliness lower fear of failure — even the mascot winks.
When people feel safe, they explore.
When they explore, they buy.
3. Urgency: Design for tempo, not tension
“I can watch someone in a grocery store and tell you how loud the clock is ticking inside their head.”
That clock exists online, too.
Design Principle:
Set the right tempo for decision-making.
Use progress indicators to signal advancement.
Highlight defaults and recommendations.
Use countdowns and “remaining stock” cues ethically — urgency without stress.
“Time crunch means defaults and social proof are highly important and progress indicators can ease tension and improve completions.”
Examples:
Booking.com: “Only 2 rooms left” creates gentle motion.
Peloton: the pre-class countdown primes commitment.
TurboTax: the animated progress bar turns dread into dopamine.
You should meet urgency with anticipation “you’re almost there”, not stress.
4. Ease: Simplify, clarify, unify
Ease is the art of eliminating friction.
Design Principle:
Give people one clear path forward.
Remove cluttered options.
Group elements into solutions.
Make next steps obvious.
Examples:
Zara & Mango: outfits displayed together — “this top with these shoes.” Solution, not decision.
Netflix: autoplays previews — fewer clicks, more engagement.
SaaS company: reduced six plan options to two bundles — trials up 30%.
Paco loved a grocery store that greeted customers with a display labeled “Tonight’s Dinner” — meat, vegetable, and starch together. “It’s selling a solution, not an item,” he said.
That’s what your customer wants: less thinking.
5. Physiology: Make people feel before they think
“Sampling is there to get your saliva glands working. And it isn’t to get you to buy what you sampled, but if your saliva glands are working, you end up buying more.”
The body always decides before the brain rationalizes.
Design Principle:
Engage the senses that reinforce the behavior you want.
Motion sustains attention.
Texture builds trust.
Sound creates memory.
Examples:
Nike Stores: curved paths keep customers moving; motion equals exploration.
Starbucks: the smell of coffee arrives before the barista does — olfactory trust.
Apple: the “click” of the trackpad is engineered for a microdose of satisfaction.
Digital UX: micro-animations and scroll momentum increase click-through without changing copy.
“Is music meant to entertain your employees, or reach your customers?” Paco asks.
Design that engages physiology doesn’t just communicate — it conditions.
It makes emotion automatic.
💡 Rule of thumb: If the environment makes people work for the behavior, it’s working against it.
🧭 Bonus: The Influential Environment Design Playbook
If you like this issue about getting buy-in without selling, you’ll love:
The Hidden Code of Attraction: Environment Design (How to design your space for wealth and abundance)
The Art of Influence: How Design Shapes Human Behavior (The five steps to make design work for your business)
From Shame to Superpower: The Surprising Truth About What Makes You Unstoppable (The 6P story framework)
Change behavior, change lives 🤘🏽
Howie Chan
Creator of Influence Anyone
P.S. If you haven’t already, go take the free assessment and find out your preferred influence style!
Don’t miss: The Influence Anyone Podcast
What if the reason people don’t change — no matter how much you teach, sell, or inspire — has nothing to do with motivation… and everything to do with design?
In this episode, I sit down with Paco Underhill, the godfather of behavioral retail and author of Why We Buy, to break down the science of how space, sound, and sight quietly shape every decision we make.
We dig into the ideas that didn’t make it into the newsletter:
Why grocery stores are emotional maps, not product aisles
The hidden choreography that makes us walk, pause, and buy
Why global brands succeed when they design locally
If you’ve ever tried to change behavior — in yourself, your team, or your customers — this episode will show you the invisible design rules that actually make it happen.