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The truth about storytelling
Spent 3 hours reading 'storytelling advice' yesterday. Left more confused than when I started...
Stephen Stanberry
December 26th, 2025
In partnership with
Hey friend!
Did something weird the other day.
I opened LinkedIn with a mission:
Read every "storytelling advice" post I could find for 3 hours straight.
No scrolling past. No skipping. Just reading.
I wanted to see what everyone's actually teaching out there.
The result?
My brain felt like scrambled eggs.
Because here's what I noticed:
Post #1: "Great stories need vulnerability and emotion to connect."
Post #3: "Stop being emotional. Use data and facts to build credibility."
Post #7: "Keep your stories short. 3 paragraphs max or you'll lose them."
Post #12: "The best stories are long-form. Take people on a journey."
Post #18: "End with a question to drive engagement."
Post #24: "Never end with a question. Always end with a clear call-to-action."
Every single post contradicted the last one.
And they all had hundreds of likes.
Saved by thousands.
Comments saying "This is exactly what I needed!"
But here's the thing that really got me...
I went through the profiles of the people posting this advice.
Looked at THEIR stories.
And guess what?
Half of them weren't even using their own advice.
The person who said "keep it short" had 12-paragraph stories.
The person who said "always use data" was posting pure emotion.
The person who said "end with a CTA" was ending with vague philosophical questions.
It was chaos.
And then it hit me:
Nobody's actually teaching storytelling.
They're teaching OPINIONS about storytelling.
Personal preferences dressed up as universal rules.
Which explains why you can follow all this advice...
And still not see any results.
Because it's not a system.
It's just... noise.
And the worst part?
I've been guilty of this too.
For years, I taught storytelling the way I learned it.
"Make it relatable." "Add emotion." "Create tension."
All true. All useful.
But completely useless without the one thing nobody talks about:
CONTEXT.
Because a story that works for a SaaS founder selling to enterprise?
Won't work for a coach selling to solopreneurs.
A story that converts on LinkedIn?
Might bomb in an email.
A story that builds your brand?
Might not drive a single sale.
There's no one-size-fits-all.
And pretending there is? That's what's breaking everyone's storytelling.
So here's what I want to know:
What's the most confusing or contradictory piece of storytelling advice you've seen?
The thing that made you think, "Wait... but that other person said the opposite?"
Reply and tell me.
Talk soon,
Stephen
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