Storylistening: The Forgotten Superpower of Communication Professionals

20 October 2025 Reading Time: 3 minutes

Erwin Van Overloop:

Many communication professionals face the same challenges: campaigns fail to resonate, change programs stall, employees provide limited honest feedback, and survey results feel empty or biased. Meanwhile, one crucial question remains: what is really happening on the work floor?

Enter: Storylistening – the communication technique that doesn’t broadcast, but listens. And that is exactly why it works.

In this article, you will learn in just a few minutes:

– What Storylistening is

– Why personal stories are so powerful

– How to put Storylistening into practice

What Exactly Is Storylistening?

Storylistening is the structured practice of listening to the personal stories of employees. The goal of deep listening is to better understand the undercurrent: which emotions, beliefs, and patterns lie hidden in what people say about their work? Do not confuse it with storytelling, where organizations use a narrative to sell their message. Storylistening does not start with broadcasting, but with listening and genuine curiosity.

Why Are Personal Stories So Powerful?

A personal story is much more than an anecdote. It is an expression of identity, emotion, and experience. Where a survey stops at a checkbox, a story goes further. It reveals doubts about a reorganization, the frustration of a lack of recognition, or the quiet pride in a team. This is where the foundation for true communication lies: human, nuanced, and meaningful.

What Does Storylistening Deliver?

Storylistening can be applied broadly, for example:

– As a diagnostic tool: What is really happening on the work floor? Why is collaboration between departments stalling? Where are the friction points in a cultural change?

– As a strategic instrument: How can leaders demonstrate they listen and act? How can they sharpen the “why” of their transformation?

– As a communication tool: How do you build a vision story that truly resonates with employees? How do you create space for dialogue instead of one-way communication?

– As an evaluation method: How do you measure impact based on meaning, not just numbers? What do stories reveal about the real effects of your communication or transformation initiatives?

Whether it concerns cultural change, collaboration, retention, or leadership: stories bring nuance, context, and insight.

How Does It Work in Practice?

Storylistening starts with a good question. Not the standard “How is work going?”, but a narrative trigger that invites a personal and meaningful story. For example: “Can you describe a situation at work where you would say: This is really different from six months ago?”

From there:

– Collect stories through conversations – recorded and transcribed verbatim.

– Interpret layers of meaning – first by the storyteller, then by the listener.

– Recognize patterns – what insights keep returning?

– Connect stories in a “story web” where themes, meanings, and patterns are structured.

It is important that stories are not judged on truth or accuracy. What matters is the experience of the storyteller, and what that experience reveals about the broader organizational context.

From Listening to Movement

The power of Storylistening lies in what it unleashes: recognition and insight. Those who are allowed to tell their story and experience genuine listening feel acknowledged. And organizations that learn from these stories communicate and transform with more direction.

For communication professionals, this requires a radical shift: from broadcasting to listening, from persuading to understanding. And precisely because of that, communication becomes more effective.

Conclusion: Less Broadcasting, More Understanding

Storylistening is not a hype or trendy tool. It is a fundamental choice for communication that not only spreads the message but creates connection.

For those who truly want to have impact: start by listening.

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Erwin Van Overloop is director at vonk, network for internal communication professionals in Belgium and managing partner at Studio InsideOut, strategic internal communications consultants.

Written by: Editor