Narrative Thinking for Team Leaders and Business Heads

Narrative Thinking for Team Leaders and Business Heads

Programs

Narrative Thinking for Emerging Leaders

This program is for emerging leaders in ambitious organisations who want to apply storytelling every day in all communications with their stakeholders—be they teams, fellow leaders, partners, or customers. It is for your team if you want to learn how to:

Persuade and influence your teams and your leaders

Craft narratives for hiring and retention

Use stories to improve product launches and sales pitches

Create a narrative about yourself and your team

Inspire your teams and deliver bad news well

Use storytelling to improve data-driven decision-making

Enrol

100+

Participants trained

8.6

Impact on business outcomes

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“I enjoyed the programme and I am consciously making an effort to convert this learning into a habit of storytelling. Kudos to team The Ken, particularly PGK and Ruhi.”

Awadhesh Jha, Executive DirectorExecutive Director, GLIDA (earlier Fortum)

“The top-of-the-funnel to bottom-of-the-funnel conversion that used to take six months has now been halved.”

Sunder Balakrishnan, Supply Chain Analytics Leader at LatentView Analytics

“The way to put the hero and mentor was eye-opening and would make us rethink on the way we present information. The entire program is a new experience of learning and unlearning.”

Participant feedback

“After completing the program, I increased the footprint of one of my client accounts by 20%, customer reach by 8%, and the queries I used to receive from managers and clients to explain what a certain data point meant have halved.”

Hitesh Nayak, Lead data scientist

Application over theory

Our process starts with conducting interviews and running surveys with the managers

Our trainers diagnose the problem statement and understand the team’s learning objectives

We present a curriculum plan consisting of one workshop + masterclasses + post-program guidance that is designed to meet these learning objectives

Our goal is to improve the business outcomes of each participating team by focusing on the application of storytelling concepts using customised exercises

Workshop

module 1

How to get the audience to pay attention to your story

Good storytelling starts with stepping into the shoes of your audience

module 2

How to get the audience to remember your story

We cover structures for different contexts that make stories easy to remember

module 3

How to get the audience to care about your story

The ability to emotionally connect with your audience is made simple with our frameworks

module 4

How to get the audience to understand your story

The core of compelling storytelling is making the complex simple, and we teach you hacks to do just that

module 5

How to get the audience to value and trust your story

We share processes that we’ve developed at The Ken to craft trustworthy stories

module 6

How to get the audience to act on your story

Finding the right call to action can make stories the most effective communication style for businesses

Masterclasses

Learn how to apply storytelling concepts

Data Storytelling

Craft visually compelling data stories and visual infographics to communicate insights

Selling Stories

Create a strategic narrative and better sales pitches to improve your sales funnel

Product Launches

Take products to your customers in the most memorable and impactful way

Emails and Presentations

Stronger, clearer, and more impactful inter-/intra-team communications using emails, updates, and presentations

Story Listening

Listen to stories that your customers are telling to unlock growth opportunities

Journalistic Communication

Earn the trust of your audience using content, because every company can be a media company

“I enjoyed the programme and I am consciously making an effort to convert this learning into a habit of storytelling. Kudos to team The Ken, particularly PGK and Ruhi.”

Awadhesh Jha, Executive DirectorExecutive Director, GLIDA (earlier Fortum)

Led by leaders and practitioners of business and storytelling

Praveen and Ruhi have a combined three decades of experience practising storytelling as journalists, writers, trainers, and heads of business

Praveen Gopal Krishnan

Trainer & COO, The Ken

Over a decade of combined experience leading product development, business teams, and conducting workshops

Writes The Nutgraf, India's leading business and technology newsletter, which helps readers understand what businesses are doing in a way they can never forget—using a combination of visual frameworks, historical events, anecdotes, and even fables

MBA in Marketing and Strategy, Indian Institute of Management-Bangalore, 2011

More about Praveen

Ruhi Kandhari

Trainer & Head, The Ken Learning

Over 10 years of combined experience in business reporting, research-based writing, data journalism, and corporate training

Writes Inciting Incident, a weekly newsletter that decodes the big business narratives around us

M.Sc. in Development Studies, London School of Economics, 2012

More about Ruhi

Our programs have impacted teams across sectors

We don’t just use feedback collected from participants after sessions, but also check in with them three to six months after the program to measure its full impact

95%
Feel that storytelling is very important for their role and function
83%
Rated the program 8 or above out of 10 in terms of improving business outcomes
66%
Said they apply learnings from the program at least once a week

It is about the business first. Stories follow

No two Narrative Workshops can ever be the same because no two teams, businesses, or problem statements are the same. Therefore, customising the curriculum and balancing theory with practice is a consistent practice at The Ken's Narrative Thinking Programme.

Read case study

The best-kept secret of successful companies

Read case study

How Swissnex in India intensified its communications strategy using storytelling

Read case study

Customers care about brands when brands care about their stories

Read case study

“The Ken’s Narrative Thinking Program is a dream and a nightmare, all in one. It’s a dream because folks at The Ken really know what they are talking about, and they teach it with gusto. It’s a nightmare because it lays bare just how hard it is to unlearn and reprogram yourself and your organisation on the quest of becoming a better storyteller.”

Jonas Brunschwig, CEO and Consul General of Swissnex in India

Take the first step

Our trainers spend a lot of time curating our programs for each team and company. This means we only have a handful of slots open every quarter. Get in touch with us to check availability

Enrol Now

FAQs

No, we do not accept applications from individuals. We only accept teams of up to 15 participants because the sessions are very exercise- and interaction-heavy.

The workshop curriculum is covered in one day or eight hours with three breaks, and each masterclass is about three hours long. We recommend spreading out the sessions with a gap of at least a few days in between. You can also enrol in post-program guidance for up to one year to really improve your storytelling skills.

Yes, you cannot enrol a team for a specific application-based masterclass without first learning the mental models, concepts, and frameworks covered in the workshop.

Yes, the program can be curated for any professional with any amount of experience in any sector and from any background. You only need to be willing to learn and we will meet you where you are.

Definitely. We share a lot of resources and also offer post-program guidance and an annual premium subscription to The Ken so that you can continue the process of learning for as long as you like.
Storytelling is all about improving with practice, feedback, and mentoring. No one becomes good at it on their own, or overnight. We are here to support you over your entire journey.

The price for one workshop for up to 15 participants begins at Rs 10,00,000 (+taxes, travel and accommodation for trainers). We prefer to do the programs in person, but the program can also be designed for the online medium.