The 3-Tier Storytelling Framework
by Petra Wille • Independent Product Leadership Coach & Author at Strong Product People
Petra is an independent product leadership coach based in Hamburg, Germany, and the author of 'Strong Product People'. She focuses on helping product leaders (Heads of Product, CPOs) improve their capability to coach and develop their teams.
🎙️ Episode Context
In this episode, Petra Wille discusses the critical role of product leaders in coaching their teams, outlining a 5-step framework for people development. She also delves into the art of storytelling for Product Managers, offering practical formats for different audiences, and explores the value of internal Communities of Practice for scaling learning.
Problem It Solves
PMs struggle to communicate their strategy effectively across different contexts, leading to lack of buy-in or team misalignment.
Framework Overview
A preparation strategy ensuring the PM has their vision ready in three distinct durations/formats for different stakeholders and contexts, utilizing emotional hooks rather than just business lingo.
🧠 Framework Structure
The 75-Second Pitch: An elevator pitc...
The 6-Minute Version: A concise overv...
The 18-Minute 'TED Talk': A full narr...
Speak to Hearts & Minds: Remove corpo...
When to Use
When preparing to launch a new strategy, rallying the team for a new quarter, or seeking stakeholder approval.
Common Mistakes
Thinking storytelling comes naturally without work; relying too heavily on slides instead of narrative structure.
Real World Example
Petra advised using the 'Hero's Journey' structure, placing the team as the hero fighting 'monsters' (technical debt, legacy systems) to reach a brighter future.
It is a career staller if you don't get to a decent level of storytelling.
— Petra Wille