The air was thick and the faint smell of coffee lingered...

As I stared at the blank screen, the cursor blinked mockingly as silence and that familiar feeling slowly filled the room...

Yup, it was page fright.

See what I did there?

I painted a picture.

That's so much more powerful than simply saying, "I had writer's block."

Storytelling is one of the most effective skills you can develop as a marketer.

Humans crave stories, and we've been sharing them for thousands of years (dating back to the days of cave drawings and loincloths.)

Good stories yield immense power:

• They entertain
• They make messages stickier
• They move people emotionally

That last point is critical to your marketing.

People buy based on emotion first and logic second.

So, if you can tap into their emotions through vivid storytelling, they'll move directly into the buying zone.

I'm a huge AI nerd—and I've heard a lot of chatter about how it's going to make writing obsolete.

And while AI may make mediocre content creation easier, cheaper, and faster, there's one thing I know for certain it CAN'T do: share your stories and experiences.

AI models are predictive, meaning they use patterns to determine what comes next.

This creates generic-sounding, cliché-filled output. It's stuff that puts your audience to sleep and practically ensures they don't buy.

There's simply no substitute for good storytelling.

Here are some of my most important tips:

1. Thou shalt entertain.

This is the first and most pivotal copywriting commandment I lay out in my book, Lean Marketing.

‍Think of your content as infotainment. It's job is to entertain first and inform second.

If your content is boring, it doesn't matter how valuable it is—it won't get consumed. So, make sure your writing is memorable and stands out.

2. Start writing before you start writing.

How do you avoid staring at a blank page?

You never start writing from scratch.

I always write interesting stories down and store them in my story bank to draw inspiration from them for my content whenever I'm in need.

Not just that, but I'll take note of stories from the real world...powerful marketing, ads that sold me, things I heard on a podcast, etc.

It will make your writing process immensely easier.

3. The two-step framework.

This simple storytelling framework to become one of the world's top keynote speakers:

• The incident - aka the who, what, where, and when
• The point - aka the reason I'm telling you this

Lead with the incident. End with the point.

And along the way, fill your story with details—what you saw, heard, smelled, anything that will transport the audience to that world.

I believe anyone can be a great storyteller—and, by extension, a great marketer.

But here's the truth:

If your writing is bland, forgettable, or cranked out by the dozen, it won't stand a chance.

Make your writing bold. Make it interesting. Make it you.

In marketing, storytelling isn't just a tool. It's your edge.