Episode 04 - Story-Driven Influence with Park Howell
Story-Driven Influence with Park Howell
What if you discovered that the real reason your sales team is missing targets isn’t lack of effort or weak tactics—but your stories are sabotaging your results? In this episode, Bernadette McClelland welcomes the Emmy Award-winning branding expert and storytelling authority, Park Howell, to blow the lid off how most leaders unintentionally widen their “influence gap” by relying on logic and features instead of emotion and narrative.
Park Howell unpacks his core story framework—the ABT (And, But, Therefore)—and shows how it can transform sales conversations, emails, pitches, and brand strategy into powerful emotional connections that move audiences to action. Hear how a simple rewrite triggered a 400% increase in campaign engagement, why technical people can be the best storytellers, and how to stop “anding” your audience to death.
Whether you’re a CEO, sales leader, or entrepreneur, this episode is packed with practical tips for intentional storytelling, the neuroscience behind what truly influences, and a new way to approach AI as “artful intelligence.” Plus, you’ll learn what really differentiates branding powerhouses and how to tell memorable, business-changing stories—in 90 seconds or less.
Key Takeaways
- Logic and features rarely move buyers. Stories that create emotion do.
- The ABT framework (And, But, Therefore) turns any pitch, email or presentation into a clear story.
- Your brand is the story people tell about you, so shape it intentionally.
- Technical people can be strong storytellers once they have a structure.
- A simple story rewrite lifted one campaign’s engagement by 400%.
Timestamped Overview:
Episode Overview
00:00 – Welcome, introductions, and why story is central to influence
02:22 – Park Howell’s advertising background & personal story “aha” moments
05:14 – From intuitive to intentional storytelling (and why structure matters)
07:07 – The ABT framework explained and how it speaks to the buying brain
09:55 – What businesses lose by neglecting strategic storytelling
11:56 – Why people default to logic (and why it fails to create influence)
13:27 – The Amsterdam analogy: Where logic fits in your brand story
14:28 – Brand as the story people tell about you—and how to shape it
16:26 – From “winging it” to intentional narrative
18:09 – The digital marketing shift, AI, and “artful intelligence”
22:00 – Why most leaders stay stuck at “good” and not “great”
23:31 – Moments vs. epic stories—the small stories that move business
25:10 – Bernadette McClelland shares the moment behind launching The Influence Gap
27:24 – Closing the branding gap for smaller companies
30:20 – How to connect with Park Howell and access his tools
33:36 – Rapid fire questions and closing remarks