Using storytelling as a tool for scientists & researchers
Why narrative is the most powerful communication tool researchers have, and how this drives our approach to training
Humans don’t remember facts. They remember stories.
This isn’t a metaphor or a motivational observation — it’s how memory and meaning actually work. Narrative structure is how the brain organises information, makes sense of cause and effect, and decides what matters. When researchers present data without story, they’re working against the grain of how their audiences process what they hear.
The good news is that story isn’t separate from science. The best research already has the essential ingredients: a question that matters, a journey of discovery, obstacles overcome, and a finding that changes something. The skill is learning to see that structure in your own work — and communicate it in a way that lands.
Storytelling techniques and narrative thinking underpin almost everything we do at SciComm Success.
So where does storytelling appear in research communication?
Where storytelling appears in research communication
Story and narrative aren’t limited to presentations or public talks. Once researchers understand the underlying logic, they find it everywhere:
Presentations and talks: structure, opening hooks, the arc from problem to finding to implication. A presentation without narrative is a data transfer. A presentation with it is an experience.
Poster design: a poster tells a story spatially. The visual hierarchy, the sequence of information, the title that stops someone in a busy conference hall? All of it is narrative.
Grant applications and funding pitches: funders back stories as much as science. The problem, the gap, the approach, the potential impact: this is a story structure. Researchers who understand that write stronger applications.
Public engagement and outreach: reaching non-expert audiences requires translating complex research into narratives that connect. Facts alone don’t do this. Stories do.
Teaching and learning: story-based learning increases engagement, comprehension, and retention. Researchers who teach benefit as much as those who communicate publicly.
Professional identity: the story you tell about your work, your trajectory, and your purpose shapes how others perceive you. Personal branding is fundamentally a narrative exercise.
Our approach to science communication and communication skills training is story-driven: from the structures we introduce and the frameworks we share, to our work with voice, visuals, and audiences, story and narrative always play a part.
Where this story-driven approach comes from
When SciComm Success founder Suzanne Whitby first began working with scientists in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010, she was already a committed practitioner of storytelling. In her communication consultancy, she had used narrative to help small business owners sharpen their messages. In her intercultural work, she had used it to illuminate cultural difference and build understanding. In her own time, as an oral storyteller, she had long understood something that research increasingly confirms: facts clothed in story travel further, land deeper, and stay longer.
Over fifteen years of working with scientists and researchers across Europe, that conviction has only deepened. Story structures and narrative techniques now underpin much of SciComm Success’s training — not as a bolt-on technique, but as a foundational way of thinking about communication.
Suzanne also researches the role of storytelling and narrative at VU Amsterdam, with a particular focus on how stories engage people with climate and sustainability challenges. She uses storytelling actively in her public engagement work, and has taught university professors to use story-based learning to make higher education more engaging and effective.
This approach doesn’t come from a trainer who “learned storytelling from a book”.
It’s the foundation of how Suzanne thinks about communication, and how SciComm Success uses this.
Where storytelling connects across our training
Narrative thinking is embedded throughout our curriculum. These pages explore how it applies in specific contexts:
Research Presentation Skills
Story structure as the foundation of every talk.
Visual Communication
Narrative applied to posters, graphical abstracts, and slides.
Outreach & Engagement
Storytelling for public audiences, media, and digital channels.
Professional Communication
Narrative as the basis of personal branding and pitching.
Storytelling training: what we offer
Two focused courses.
Storytelling for Scientists and Researchers
A one- or two-day workshop on narrative structure, story shapes, and practical storytelling techniques for communicating research. Participants work with their own research to find the story already inside it — and learn how to tell it for different audiences and contexts. Includes extensive practice, peer feedback, and facilitator coaching. Particularly valuable as a foundation before presentation skills training, poster design, or public engagement work. Request details & costs or See what’s covered →
Essential skills session — 2 hours online
Storytelling and Narrative Foundations →
A focused introduction to narrative structure and story shapes for researchers. Participants leave with practical frameworks they can apply immediately across presentations, posters, and professional communication.
Beyond training: storytelling in teaching and practice
For institutions interested in story-based learning for higher education — helping academics and researchers use narrative techniques to make teaching more engaging and effective — we offer tailored workshops and consultancy.
Get in touch to discuss what this might look like for your context.