In an era when 40% of South Africans actively avoid news, the ancient art of storytelling has become PR’s most sophisticated weapon, and it’s backed by neuroscience.
I grew up in Bauchi, Nigeria, where evenings around the fire were sacred. My parents and grandparents didn’t just tell stories — they transmitted our heritage, encoded moral lessons and issued warnings through narrative. Those firelit evenings sparked my love of reading and taught me a fundamental truth: how you speak determines whether you’re truly heard.
In South Africa too, stories unite communities, transfer knowledge and build leaders.
Now, after two decades in public relations, I’ve seen the same truth reinforced in leadership: leaders are not only defined by what they choose, but by what they say. Words can build trust, shift perspectives and drive action. Used irresponsibly, they can polarise and demolish trust.
According to the Reuters Institute’s Digital News Report 2025, 40% of South Africans deliberately avoid news, which matches the global average. This means organisations have fewer than half the opportunities they think they have to shape their reputation in what is an already hugely cluttered news and information environment. In this attention-scarce, trust-starved environment, every conversation counts. You may not get a second chance.
What our ancestors knew intuitively, science now proves definitively. Conversation neuroscience research finds that every conversation causes chemical reactions in the brain. A trust-building conversation releases oxytocin, enhancing collaboration and openness. A threatening exchange floods the system with cortisol, triggering defensive responses that can last for hours. Judith Glaser’s studies on Conversational Intelligence® show that talks are not merely the exchange of words, but also transmit signals, which will make people connect, resist or disengage.
This insight is gathering momentum. Harvard Business Review recently outlined five ways in which leaders convey power. The findings that it is not tone or presence, but structure and clarity. Effective communication of leadership, the magazine concludes, is intentional, targeted and respectful. It’s the sort of communication that makes the brain open to new ideas and collaboration.
When storytelling and behavioural science are blended, the result is a deliberate method to design messaging that’s hardwired to desired outcomes. It’s also a strategic and creative approach that matches messaging to communications programmes by eliciting behaviours and shifts in perception.
Words can build trust, shift perspectives and drive action. Used irresponsibly, they can polarise and demolish trust
Key to getting this right is understanding your audience’s operating system, including their locus of control (does the audience like to be directed, or prefer an open-ended discussion?); what their gain-versus-loss orientation is (is the audience gain-focused or loss-averse?); what their time perspective is (are they guided by the past or the present, or driven by the future?); and what their cognitive appetite is (does the audience crave depth and argument, or short, bite-sized “snackable” communications?).
These conditions determine what we say, how we say it and when we say it. Leadership is no different. A CEO declaring a strategic change will be successful or unsuccessful based on whether their message is consistent with the mindset of the audience. Equally, this messaging will steer the creative and executional outputs towards a more deliberate outcome.
My experience in PR has repeatedly shown the power of this approach. At times of crisis, from hostile takeover proposals to national crises, good leaders understood that every word matters. They were mindful of tone, sequence and setting. They understood that the conversation would continue far beyond talking, built more by intuition than fact and sense making.
A good conversation measurably fosters inquiry, collaboration and trust. Communicating power transfers definition, confidence and authority.
For the PR practitioner, that means helping leaders to connect at a human level by using anecdotes; communicate with language informed by the science of behaviour; anticipate the brain’s likely reaction to every message, phasing communications so that trust is built before requesting change; and keep interactions dynamic, not limited to one-off statements.
When science-informed communication is combined with cultural storytelling, the result is measurable: increased engagement, improved memory and faster trust building. In leadership, this means more efficient strategy execution, faster crisis recovery and better alignment.
Every conversation can create or dismantle trust. Don’t waste it on jargon, wishy-washy messaging or signs of disconnection. You may not have this chance again any time soon.
People remember how you treated them and what you said. When you combine the people aspect of storytelling with the precision of science-based communication, you don’t merely speak. You lead. And this is the impact of a powerful conversation.
Ima Peter is head of corporate at Razor.
The big take-out: When science-informed communication is combined with cultural storytelling, the result is measurable: increased engagement, improved memory and faster trust building.
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