How a CMO Reclaimed her Team's Trust with Storytelling

Sarah was a newly minted CMO at a national restaurant chain. She was sharp, ambitious, and upwardly mobile, but she was already in trouble.

Her team was burning out.

Every quarter, they were tasked with producing the board materials: an exhausting parade of slides, talk tracks, and pre-reads on top of their already demanding day jobs. For two out of every twelve weeks, they dropped everything to build presentations they weren’t even sure anyone read.

Worse, the other departments threw dumbbells instead of life preservers. They submitted content late, if at all, forcing Sarah’s team to scramble. Marketing turned into a data landfill four times a year, and what should’ve been a high-impact department was branded a “career killer.”

She texted me one word: “HELP.”

When we met, I asked about the pre-reads: “Why send them 72 hours before the meeting?”

“That’s what the last team did,” she said. “The board likes to review them while traveling in.”

“But do they actually read them?” I asked.

The look on her face said it all.

We scheduled a call with the board. When Sarah asked what they liked about the pre-reads, silence filled the line.

Then one board member cleared his throat. “I used to read them. Now, I just wait to hear it from you. You explain it better. I trust you.”

Another admitted he hadn’t opened a pre-read in over a year. Chuckles erupted (from the board, not Sarah).

The moment was simultaneously a relief and a gut punch. Sarah had already earned the board’s trust but had been operating as if she hadn’t. And her team had paid the price.

We said goodbye to the board and Sarah flew from the conference room to apologize to her exhausted team.

The lesson? Don’t assume. Ask.

Sarah’s story has a happy ending, but only because she stopped to listen.

Most presenters never do.

They charge into meetings, throw up slides, and deliver their message at the audience instead of with them. They assume they know what people want or need to hear. They don’t pause to ask what their audience already knows, how they prefer to engage, or what would actually help them.

They confuse presentation with conversation, in an effort to project power and poise, and to build their personal brands. But projecting is not the same as connecting.

If we want to move people toward our ideas, we have to start where it matters most: with empathy. We must know who’s listening.

That’s the first rule of effective storytelling, and the first crack in our deck addiction. Slides prioritize information. Stories prioritize understanding. And the best stories don’t begin with “What do I want to say?” They begin with “Who is this for?”

In Sarah’s case, the answer changed everything.

Know your audience. Really know them.

“Audience” comes from the Latin audire—to listen. It implies a relationship. One that requires attention and intention.

If your strategy is solid but your message isn’t landing, start by asking better questions. Don’t just gather data. Seek emotion. Learn what your audience fears, wants, trusts, resists. That’s how you build a message that resonates.

Because ideas aren’t fixed objects. They’re invisible until someone believes in them. And belief happens through connection.

To bring an idea to life, it has to move from your mind into someone else’s. That transfer doesn’t happen through bullet points. It happens through empathy, emotion, and trust.

So before you open a blank slide or build your next deck, pause.

Ask yourself:

Who’s listening?

What do they care about?

How do they prefer to learn?

And how can I show them that I see them?

That’s where every powerful story begins.

How Much Should You Prepare for a Presentation?

This week, Libby Magliolo and I got back in the ring for another episode of A Matter of Life and Decks, where we answered this question and more.

If you’ve ever thought to yourself, “I can totally wing this one and I’ll nail it,” this is for you.

In Campfire Method® workshops, attendees practice tools to better understand our audiences, so we can deliver presentations that demonstrate empathy and build trust with other humans.

🔥 Hi, I’m Eric, and every week, I share insights, observations and tools so you can ditch decks and light a fire in your high-stakes presentations. If you like what you see here, follow me on LinkedIn.