Storytelling to Influence Leadership and Decision Makers
Craft data-backed stories that win leadership approval
Storytelling to Influence Leadership and Decision Makers is a concise professional-development course taught by Tiffany Uman that focuses on persuasive business storytelling to influence leaders and stakeholders. It frames presentation strategy around reverse-engineering desired outcomes, researching stakeholder priorities, and using data-backed narratives to make clear, actionable asks.
The curriculum emphasizes practice and measurable competencies, with interactive role-play and short exercises that let learners rehearse responses, anticipate objections, and refine delivery for high-stakes meetings. This format suits busy professionals seeking to convert proposals into decisions by improving framing, message design, and confidence under pressure.
At a Glance
Storytelling to Influence Leadership and Decision Makers is a concise, practice-focused course that teaches how to craft and present persuasive business stories for leaders and stakeholders, taught by Tiffany Uman.
The course emphasizes planning from the desired outcome, researching stakeholder priorities, anticipating objections, and delivering a data-backed narrative to win support and resources.
| Level | General |
| Rating | 4.6 out of 5 |
| Duration | 45+ minutes |
| Languages | English |
| Certificate | Certificate of Completion |
| Access | Access while your subscription is active |
| Course includes |
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| Price | Included with subscription |
What This Course Teaches
Outcomes are framed as measurable competencies you can practice and apply immediately to influence leaders and secure decisions.
By completion, learners can reverse-engineer target outcomes, build data-backed key messages, anticipate objections, and present a concise ask that drives approval.
How the Course Is Structured
The course is organized as 18 short video lessons arranged into themed sections that move from foundations through business-case building to presentation preparation and delivery.
The full course runs about 50+ minutes total and is built as a sequence of brief, focused lectures you can complete in one sitting or return to for targeted practice.
Curriculum overview
01Storytelling to influence leadership▾
Sets the stage with course goals and the role of persuasive storytelling for leaders and decision makers.
02Reverse-engineer the target outcome▾
Shows how to define the desired decision and work backwards to shape your ask and success metrics.
03Build key messages to reinforce your target outcome▾
Explains how to craft concise messages that repeatedly support the decision you want leaders to make.
04Develop the core structure of your persuasive story▾
Outlines a repeatable narrative structure for sequencing problem, evidence, and recommended action.
05Learn your stakeholders’ needs to build a persuasive story▾
Covers techniques for identifying stakeholders’ priorities and tailoring language to their concerns.
06Leverage pain points to minimize resistance▾
Describes how to surface and address organizational pain points so your proposal faces less pushback.
07Integrate the right data to create a persuasive story▾
Explains selecting and presenting quantitative evidence that ties directly to the decision’s impact.
08Incorporate stakeholders to solidify your storytelling▾
Demonstrates ways to involve or reference stakeholders to build consensus behind your ask.
09Prepare for worst-case scenarios while presenting▾
Guides on anticipating tough questions and preparing fallback responses to reduce derailment risk.
10The six elements of compelling business storytelling▾
Breaks down core elements that make a business story memorable and decision-focused.
11Design your presentation to stick to your message▾
Covers slide and visual design principles that keep the audience focused on the three-point message.
12Incorporate the winning mindset of “us” in your story▾
Shows how to frame recommendations as shared wins to increase buy-in from leadership.
13Understand hot topics to prepare for questions in advance▾
Advises scanning current organizational priorities to anticipate and pre-answer likely queries.
14Start your story strong▾
Explains opening techniques that capture attention and frame the decision context immediately.
15Deliver your message in three key points▾
Shows how to distill complex proposals into three digestible, repeatable points for leaders.
16Manage pressure and nerves while presenting your story▾
Offers techniques to stay composed and clear when delivering high-stakes asks.
17Drive home your story and seal the deal▾
Focuses on closing tactics and specifying next steps that increase the chance of approval.
18Start crafting your story▾
A short conclusion prompting learners to apply the framework and begin drafting their own ask.
Audience & Requirements
This course is aimed at professionals who need to persuade leaders and secure resources within organizational environments.
Ideal learners include mid-level managers, product and project leads, individual contributors preparing high-stakes asks, and coaches or HR professionals who support others in stakeholder influence.
- Mid-level managers seeking buy-in and resource approvals.
- Product managers and project leads who must align stakeholders.
- Individual contributors preparing promotion or project proposals.
- Career coaches and HR professionals advising others on influence tactics.
- No special prerequisites; designed for a general professional audience.
- LinkedIn Learning subscription or institutional access to view the course.
- Willingness to practice via the course’s AI-powered Role Play and short exercises.
- Basic comfort with business metrics and stakeholder terminology to apply examples.
Final Verdict
This is a practical, tightly focused course that delivers immediately actionable techniques for persuading leaders; its concise format and interactive role-play make it efficient for busy professionals.
Given its strong platform rating, inclusion of a certificate, and subscription-based access model, it represents good value for learners who already use the platform or plan to take multiple short professional development courses.
Recommend it for working managers, product or project leads, and individual contributors who need to make clear, data-backed asks to decision makers; those seeking a deep, long-form training on storytelling should view this as a targeted skill booster rather than a comprehensive program.
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