You are preparing a presentation for your next prospect. You know a great success story about how one of your customers has used your products to great advantage.  However, the customer will not let you tell the story for fear of losing some competitive advantage.  Faced with that situation, do you drop the idea and drown your audience in a sea of facts about your company and products; or do you get creative?

Think about what you are trying to accomplish.  You are trying to get that audience to visualize your solution working in their company.  Creating a scenario about how your solution will work in their company IS telling a story.  You should use characters real or fictional to make it even more personal.  A well prepared scenario does just that; it is a story.

We all know that pictures help people create emotional attachments and remember things.  Think of a story, true or not, as a away to create a great mental picture of your solution.