Improve Your Public Speaking with Storytelling

What’s the point of including stories in your presentation?

Surely you can just tell people what they need to know in a shorter, more succinct way?

Well, yes. But public speaking isn’t only about efficiency. If communication were purely about brevity, we wouldn’t have the Godfather trilogy or Lord of the Rings!

Stories matter because they create escape—connection—imagination. In public speaking, stories are one of the best skills you can use. They help deliver a message that sticks.

Stories also help simplify complex topics. Metaphors, analogies, and narratives all give your audience something concrete to hold onto.

But possibly the best reason to include stories in your presentation is this: storytelling helps your audience feel something.

Maya Angelou put it perfectly:

“People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

If you want to improve your public speaking, one of the best ways is to strengthen your storytelling skills.

Here are some techniques to improve your storytelling in your next presentation.

Structure It

One of the best speaking skills to develop is the ability to structure a story clearly. Try summarising your story in three or four sections and give each section a title. To make it feel more engaging, think in epic terms—so instead of “The flight out,” try “The adventure begins.” Map them out visually on post-its.

Once you have your structure, keep each section distinct. Use them to build momentum and create a clear sense of chronology. This stops your story from drifting or sounding like a ramble.

Imagine It

If you want to improve your public speaking, focus on your ability to visualise the scene. When you take your audience into your story, it helps to transport them to the starting location.

Paint the picture in your mind first:

What does it look, feel, sound, smell, or taste like?

What’s the atmosphere?

Who else is there?

Be specific and deliberate.

You don’t need to overwhelm your audience with details, but you do need enough to anchor them in the world of your story. Avoid diving straight into the action without setting the scene. A little exposition helps your story land.

The clearer you imagine it, the clearer your audience will too.

Embody It

Another hallmark of the best speaking skills is bringing your story to life physically and vocally.

Give characters dialogue—even if the character is you. Avoid relying purely on “he said/she said” narration. Show us how the characters speak, how they move, how they feel.

To help with this, assign an emotion to each section of your story. If your first chapter is “The adventure begins,” the emotion might be excitement, anticipation, or trepidation.

Once you know the emotional journey, embody it. Let it influence your tone, pace, and delivery.

Find the Climax (& Raise the Stakes)

To elevate your storytelling—and your public speaking—identify your emotional peak. This is the moment where the tension is highest: a breakthrough, an unexpected event, a challenge, or a turning point. Slow it down and relive it in real time so your audience can experience it with you.

To make this peak land, you also need to raise the stakes throughout the story. One of the most common issues in public speaking is telling a high-potential story in a low-energy way. If the stakes feel low, the audience’s interest will drop.

Raising the stakes doesn’t mean adding drama—it means emphasising why the moment mattered. Look for natural pivot points such as but, however, or suddenly. These are moments to amplify tension.

Try telling a key moment at 2/10 intensity, then at 9/10. Notice how your pacing, tone, and energy change—and how much more engaging it becomes. You shouldn’t try to sit at 9/10 all the way through! But your story should build toward it.

This is one of the simplest and most practical ways to improve your public speaking impact.

Final Thought

So if you're looking to improve your public speaking, storytelling is an invaluable tool.

• Use structure to make your story clear.

• Imagine the scene so your audience can see it.

• Embody the characters and their emotions.

• Identify your emotional peak.

• Raise the stakes so your story feels worth following.

And finally, keep practising. If you do these things often, your stories will do more than just fill time in a presentation. They will create connections, spark emotions, and make your message memorable long after the talk is over.

If you want to find out more about our public speaking training, check out our 1:1 sessions and our courses below.