Podcast Interviews
Storybuilding in Conversation – Dialogue on Positioning, Alignment and Meaning
In these interviews, I unpack the Storybuilding method with hosts from around the world. We go beyond slogans and campaigns to discuss how companies define who they serve, why it matters, and how to build a story that holds together internally and externally.
Keynote speaker
More than a few words with Lorraine Ball
8 March 2026
In this conversation with Lorraine Ball on the More Than a Few Words podcast, John Elbing explores the difference between storytelling and what he calls Storybuilding. Rather than polishing a company’s story with clever techniques, Storybuilding begins by asking a more fundamental question: which story should a company tell in the first place. The answer, he argues, is the customer’s story.
John explains the three psychological steps people go through when they encounter a brand for the first time: recognition, perception, and projection. First, customers must recognize themselves in the story and feel that the brand is meant for them. Then they form a perception of what the company does, how it is different, and where it fits among alternatives. Finally, they project themselves into the future, imagining what their experience will be like and how their life will improve.
The conversation also touches on the practical tools behind the method, including visual canvases that help teams analyze their customers, identify trigger moments, and craft a narrative that works across websites, presentations, and everyday conversations. By shifting the focus from “what we do” to “how we help customers succeed,” Storybuilding helps organizations create stories that resonate more naturally and lead to stronger engagement.
Aligned, engaged and fulfilled with Clarence Bongalos
3 March 2026
In this episode, Clarence Bongalos interviews John Elbing, a growth story architect, about the power of story building in marketing and organizational culture.
They explore how shifting from storytelling to story building can enhance engagement, authenticity, and alignment within companies and careers.
Key Topics
1. Difference between storytelling and story building
2. The importance of customer perspective in marketing
3. Aligning internal culture with external brand story
4. The role of authenticity in effective storytelling
5. Impact of story building on leadership and strategy
MarketPulse: Pros & Pioneers with Paul Banks
18 February 2026
Stop Talking at People. Start Speaking to Them.
In this episode of MarketPulse Pros & Pioneers, we sit down with John Elbing to explore why the most powerful leadership skill in a world of AI, automation, and digital transformation is still deeply human: perspective. John shares how avoiding conflict in his early career became a superpower, teaching him to see situations through other people’s eyes and build influence through understanding rather than force.
Together, we unpack why so many change programmes and technology projects fail, not because the tools are wrong, but because the people are forgotten. From customer experience and brand strategy to leadership communication and storytelling, John explains why progress only sticks when leaders genuinely understand how others experience their world.
The conversation moves into the future of work, the limits of automation, and the role of story in making ideas land. John reflects on learning to move from memorising presentations to telling stories, why humans cannot be replaced by systems, and how great brands and leaders succeed by respecting how people actually think, feel, and decide.
This is a grounded, practical, and deeply human discussion about leadership in complexity, the psychology of customers, and why seeing the world from someone else’s standpoint changes everything.
The Mason Duchatschek Show
12 February 2026
If you are struggling to stand out in a noisy marketplace, align your team around a clear message, or convert more prospects into loyal customers, this episode is for you.
Today, Mason sits down with brand strategist and story building expert John Elbing, creator of the Story Building Methodology. Instead of polishing the wrong message with better marketing, John teaches leaders how to build the right story from the ground up by starting from the customer’s standpoint.
His framework is transforming how founders, marketers, HR leaders, and executive teams create clarity, alignment, and messaging that drives action.
🎯 What You Will Learn in This Episode
- The critical difference between storytelling and story building
- Why most companies are telling the wrong story better
- The 3 stages every customer goes through before they buy
- Recognition, Perception. Projection
- How to flip your messaging from “look at us” to “we understand you”
- Why narrowing your niche increases revenue and engagement
- How to validate your brand message before launching a campaign
- How storybuilding strengthens internal alignment and company culture
- Why HR leaders must think like marketers in today’s talent war
- How AI can support messaging without replacing authenticity
If you lead a company, run a sales team, manage HR, or are responsible for growth strategy, this conversation will change how you think about communication.
🚀 Why This Matters for Business Owners & CEOs
Your customers are overwhelmed. Your employees are filtering out noise. Your prospects are actively looking for reasons to ignore you.
Facts and features are forgettable. Stories are memorable.
When your brand story creates recognition, builds trust, and helps your audience envision success, you shorten sales cycles, improve engagement, and build long-term loyalty.
This is not theory. This is practical strategy you can apply to your website, pitch deck, recruiting messaging, sales conversations, and leadership communication immediately.
Innovation Storytellers with Susan Lindner
22 January 2026
In this episode of the Innovation Storytellers Show, I sit down with John Elbing, Business Storytelling Strategist and founder of Standpoint, for a thoughtful conversation on how organizations can tell stronger innovation stories by shifting perspective outward. This interview is the second in The Storytellers Series, where I invite other storytellers I deeply admire, people who bring their own lenses, frameworks, and lived experience to the craft of story.
John introduces his Story Building Method, a three-stage framework built around recognition, perception, and projection. He explains why compelling stories help customers recognize themselves first, understand where a brand fits second, and finally imagine what life looks like after engaging with a product or service. Throughout the discussion, John emphasizes that storytelling works best when it allows customers to see themselves as the hero of the narrative rather than being positioned as an audience to a company’s internal achievements.
The conversation also explores why narrowing focus can actually expand impact. John challenges the overuse of demographic personas and argues for building stories around aspirations and challenges instead. By targeting what people are trying to achieve or overcome, organizations can connect with audiences that may look very different on the surface but share the same underlying motivations. Susan and John unpack real-world examples from consumer brands, B2B software, and even nonprofit work to show how this approach changes clarity, positioning, and engagement.
They also address common storytelling mistakes, from overreliance on clever language to feature-heavy messaging that misses emotional relevance. John makes a strong case for clarity over cleverness and explains why the most effective brand stories are the ones that make customers feel seen, understood, and supported. The episode closes with John sharing how listeners can continue the conversation through his book, Story Building, and offering a complimentary 45-minute pre-call consultation for those looking to sharpen their own innovation story.
The Inside Scoop with Sam-Erik Ruttmann
30 January 2026
In this conversation, storytelling strategist John Elbing reveals how great hospitality brands are built from the outside in, not the inside out, and why the most powerful brand stories are created by employees, not marketing teams.
Key Takeaway Moments
Storytelling starts with employees, not marketing If a housekeeper can’t explain what the hotel stands for, the story isn’t alive. Culture is the first channel of communication.
Memorable beats perfect. Guests don’t remember consistency — they remember moments. A single “red telephone” moment can outweigh a flawless stay.
Stop appealing to everyone. Hotels that try to please all guests become invisible. The strongest brands choose a niche and build raving fans.
Sustainability must be felt, not claimed. When sustainability is real, guests sense it without being told. Generic green messaging destroys credibility.
Leadership is where storytelling lives or dies. When leaders use story as a daily tool — not a campaign — employees gain autonomy, and guests feel it instantly.
Arrival and departure define memory. The first and last five minutes of a stay shape the entire perception of the hotel.
Technology should remove friction, not humanity. Automation works only when it enhances the experience, not when it replaces it.
Marketing from the Frontline with Blake Sweeting
27 January 2026
In this episode of Marketing From the Front Line, I’m joined by John Elbing, strategic storyteller and author of Story Building, to talk about why so many businesses struggle to connect with customers, even when their product or service is solid.
We get into what it really means to take the customer’s standpoint, why most websites fail at the first moment of recognition, and how businesses accidentally design marketing that works for themselves rather than the people they want to reach. John shares hard-won lessons from building brands across startups and global companies, including what didn’t work when he tried to scale his own visibility.
We also talk about consistency, credibility, books as marketing assets, where AI helps and where it actively gets in the way, and why differentiation matters more now than ever in a sea of sameness.
If your marketing feels “fine” but not effective, this episode will challenge how you think about brand, messaging and growth.
The Vignette Effect with Raquel Furman
22 January 2026
Brand storytelling has become an overused term that’s pretty vague. John’s take will give you a new take and things you can apply today to your website and marketing. He’s focused on building a customer-centered story framework you can use everywhere, so your marketing doesn’t end up sounding like a company talking about itself.
In this episode, we talk about:
- Storytelling vs story building
- How to make your customer the hero:
- The 3-step story arc John uses: Recognition, Perception, Projection
- How B2B needs emotion, too
- One simple audit prompt
- A myth worth deleting from the internet
- Plus, John shares the “three beers” idea for loosening up B2B content without going off-brand
In Clear Focus with Adrian Tennant
13 January 2026
Brand strategist John Elbing of Standpoint explains why people don’t care about your story, they care about how you fit into theirs.
John introduces his “Storybuilding” methodology, a canvas-based approach that helps companies find their foundational story before crafting marketing messages. He breaks down the three stages of encountering a brand—Recognition, Perception, and Projection—and shares how to use AI as a sparring partner to achieve authentic customer-centricity.
On Brand with Nick Westergaard
12 January 2026
Storytelling is easy to talk about—and hard to do well. On this episode of On Brand, I’m joined by John Elbing, Chief Storybuilder Officer at Standpoint, to unpack how his Storybuilding approach helps startups and brands clarify their value, sharpen their pitch, and actually connect—with a framework so effective it’s now a #1 international bestselling book.
What You’ll Learn in This Episode
- Why most brands jump to storytelling tactics before they understand the story they should be telling
- How recognition, perception, and projection shape whether people connect with your brand
- Why customer standpoint matters more than founder backstory
- How structure can unlock creativity instead of killing it
- A simple way leaders can improve their story starting this week
Your Marketing Dude with Mike Cuevas
3 January 2026
In this episode, Mike sits down with brand strategist and communications expert John Elbing, founder of Standpoint, to explore why clarity of story is the foundation of every successful brand. John explains why most businesses struggle not because of poor marketing execution, but because they’ve never clearly defined who they are, what they stand for, and why anyone should care. Together, they break down the difference between messaging and storytelling, how narrative alignment impacts trust, and why growth without clarity only amplifies confusion. John also shares how leaders can uncover their authentic story, align teams around a shared narrative, and create consistency across branding, sales, and communication. If your marketing feels scattered or your growth has plateaued, this episode shows why the problem might not be tactics—but story.
The Business Simplicity Podcast with Chris Parker
16 January 2025
Does your brand truly connect with your customers? Most companies fall into the trap of talking about themselves, leaving potential customers to guess how they fit in.
Storybuilding introduces a revolutionary approach to positioning your brand from your customer’s point of view. Using a series of interactive, canvas-based exercises, this book empowers you to craft stories that engage, inspire, and resonate deeply with your audience.
Whether you’re a startup, solopreneur, or corporate leader, Storybuilding is your roadmap to customer-centric storytelling that drives authentic engagement and long-term success.
