As a leader, your success depends on how well your stories land. Whether you’re rallying a team around a new strategy, persuading executives to back your vision, or inspiring clients to take action, the story you tell often determines the outcome. AI won’t tell the story for you — but when used thoughtfully, it can help you tell it better.
By treating AI as a partner instead of a shortcut, you free up time for what matters most: listening, connecting, and telling stories that move people. Here are five steps to put this powerful approach into practice.
1. Capture Raw Material
Record virtual and in-person conversations, sessions, and presentations with tools like Fathom and Otter.
Don’t let the transcripts sit idle: drop them into a custom GPT or project trained on your voice, frameworks, and other critical context.
Try these prompts:
- “What are the three most important insights from this meeting?”
- “What are the next steps?”
- “What could I do to provide extraordinary value next?“
2. Sharpen Your Ideas
Start with your own framing — your story comes first. Choose one element to refine, whether it’s an idea, argument, or example you want to land.
Use AI as a sparring partner to stress-test your thinking and challenge your assumptions, so your story emerges clearer and more resilient.
Try these prompts:
- “Argue against this point of view. What am I missing?”
- “How would a skeptical [executive] react to this?”
- “Compare this to Yuval Noah Harari’s thinking on collective myths.” (This prompt helps uncover the unspoken myths in your story.)
3. Verify (and Challenge) Your Perspectives
Once your core ideas are sharp, broaden your view. Run drafts through ChatGPT for clarity, Claude for nuance, and Perplexity for fact-checking.
Use AI to surface blind spots, biases, and alternative perspectives — not to make decisions for you, but to make your story more credible and complete.
Try these prompts:
- “What blind spots or biases could be putting the strength of my argument/idea at risk?”
- “How can I strengthen this argument/story/example so it resonates with [executives]?”
4. Design for Clarity
Ask AI to organize your story into a structure that’s simple and easy to follow. Frameworks like Simplify–Transform–Perform (from my book IMPACT) keep your narrative tight and memorable.
Refine slides using tools like Gamma, applying your brand fonts and colours to keep the design clean and consistent.
Try these prompts:
- “Organize this talk using the [Simplify–Transform–Perform] framework.”
- “Draft a slide outline that explains this argument clearly.”
- “Rewrite this section so it’s simpler and easier to remember.”
5. Close the Loop
Don’t stop once the story looks ready. Run a final stress test with AI, this time focusing on audience alignment. Use prompts that reveal how your story might land with different groups, what expectations they may have, and how your delivery could be strengthened.
Then share it with your team, colleagues, and important stakeholders for feedback. Their input helps you make final refinements so your story is aligned, polished, and ready to resonate.
Try these prompts:
- “How would this story land with [specific audience]?”
- “What would a client expect to hear that is missing?”
- “What adjustments would make my delivery more confident and engaging?”
Now, step into the boardroom or onto the stage knowing your story has been sharpened at every step.
The Storytelling Advantage
When you follow these steps, AI helps you finish with more than just a polished draft — it helps you build the habit of telling stronger stories. That’s the real advantage: as a leader, you spend less time wrestling with notes and more time delivering messages that connect, inspire, and make an impact.
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