January 14, 2026
Last year I ran a wild experiment.
I told the same story 21 times, but each time with a different technique, and then I asked over a thousand people which one they liked the most.
Guess what? There was one technique that was ranked much higher than all the others.
If you just focus on that one technique, you’ll tell better stories than 99% of people.
But let me show you a short story from Leonardo DiCaprio where he perfectly uses that one technique.
Can you guess which technique he’s using?
I was on a plane to Russia and the engine exploded. I was looking out the window, and the entire engine just turned into a fireball.
I was the only person there that seemed to see this, but it was a flaming fireball. I kind of felt like I’d already died and gone to heaven because no one said anything.
And I was screaming at the top of my lungs, saying, “What the HELL is going on here?!”
The stewardess came out and said, “We seem to have a slight problem here.”
A Russian guy finally said, “What is the problem?” And she said, “Well, we lost one of our engines.”
He goes, “How many engines did we have?”
She’s says, “Well, we had two. Now we have one.”
So, what made the story so freaking good? It was the dialogue.
He didn’t just summarize the conversation like, “Oh, well then the flight attendant informed me that there was a problem.”
No. Instead, he recreated the scene, saying the exact words of the flight attendant in that moment: “We seem to have a slight problem here.”
Dialogue turns a story from a summary into an experience. It makes people see and feel what happened, almost like they were there with you.
Most of your stories involve more than one person—maybe a coworker, a client, or a friend.
You can make your story instantly more interesting by sharing what someone said in that crucial moment of the story.
What were the exact words? Quote that person.
Let’s look at a few examples together. Here’s the first one.
Without dialogue:
Well, my manager was frustrated.
That’s pretty standard, right? But also pretty boring.
Now, with dialogue:
My manager called me and said, “How on earth did you mess that up again?”
Boom. Now you can feel the tension, right?
Second example, without dialogue:
Well, my mom loved the idea.
Now with dialogue:
My mom smiled and said, “Wow, Philipp, this is exactly what I needed. Thank you.”
Feels warmer, more human.
Let’s do one more.
Without dialogue:
My friend panicked.
With dialogue:
My friend looked at me and whispered, “Dude, we’re f**ked.”
See how your brain starts playing a scene?
That’s what dialogue does. I know it might seem like a small detail, but it makes such a difference.
Before we look at another story example, let me share three simple tips for using dialogue the right way.
Keep it short and snappy. Don’t use dialogue that sounds like a formal email.
For example, don’t say, “The CEO said, ‘You prepared a very thorough presentation and I’d like to congratulate you for your satisfactory work.’”
Don’t do that. That’s too long. Too stiff.
Instead, say something snappy, something like: “The CEO said, ‘Wow, that’s what we needed. Great work, team.’”
Shorter lines stick in people’s minds.
Bring it to life. Don’t just say the words—be the person.
Change your tone, even your posture, even your expression.
Leonardo DiCaprio, in his story, says, “We seem to have a slight problem here.” He copies the voice of the flight attendant, and it’s so hilarious.
That tiny shift makes the story unforgettable.
Don’t worry about remembering it perfectly.
Sometimes you forget what someone said word for word years ago, right? And that’s fine. You don’t have to quote them exactly if you don’t remember.
Instead, ask yourself: what could that person have said in that moment?
Then say it as it could have sounded—but still use words that are shorter and ideally a bit more emotional.
With that clear, let’s look at one more short story to see dialogue in action.
This one’s from Cody Sanchez. See if you can spot the moments where she uses dialogue.
But what happens when you hang out in rooms with other people who have way more zeros than you do is your problems are so small to them that often they can see into your future.
It’s a really weird thing. And I remember back in the day, one of my mentors, David Osborne, who was worth about 100 million at the time—I thought that was the richest any human could be—we were on a walk, and he was like, “How much money do you have right now?”
And I was like, “I don’t know, probably like X. I have 100K in the bank right now.”
He’s like, “No, no. How much money exactly do you have in the bank?”
And I was like, “Well, I don’t know. I’d have to look.”
He goes, “You have to look.”
He’s like, “How much money do you make a month?”
And I was like, “Well, about this.”
He’s like, “You don’t know exactly.”
And I was like, “I also don’t know that.”
How much money do you spend? I also don’t know that.
And he goes, “Money is a cruel mistress. If you don’t pay attention to her, she will leave you for somebody else.”
And then I said, “Well, okay, let’s take that one step further. So if all I have to do is follow my money, look at her, pay attention to her, and she’ll grow.”
And he said, “I can guarantee you if one year from now you look at your money every single day, and you look at your spending, and you look at your savings, and you think about an ability to grow both, one year from now you will be richer.”
And I was like, “You guarantee?”
And he’s like, “I guarantee.”
And that conversation changed my life because now I am at a point where I realize she is a cruel mistress. So give her attention, or she’ll leave you.
Today we went deep into what I believe is the most powerful storytelling technique that is out there.
If you just focus on this one, your stories will already be in great shape.
But if you want to take your storytelling even further, check out this next article where I share some of my favourite storytelling techniques.
Enjoy.
P.S. Want to become a stronger communicator?
Here are two ways I can support you:
👉 Want to tell more engaging stories? Join our next Storytelling Workshop.
👉 Want to speak with confidence and clarity? Check out our Communication Skills Training.
Both are fun, practical, and designed to help you grow fast.
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