Practice changes everything.

Most founders think storytelling gets better through talent or experience.

The reality is that you get better at telling your story through repetition.

When you practice telling your story, your brain changes, your delivery settles, and confidence starts to show up without forcing it.

In today's issue, I break down the science behind why practice works and share:

Enjoy making practice your edge…LG

If you are a founder and you do not practice telling your story, it will show.

In your pacing.
In your clarity.
In how quickly people lose confidence in what you are saying.

You can feel it when it happens…and so can everyone listening.

Most founders want to jump in, pitch it, sell it, and figure it out live.

After coaching hundreds of founders for the past decade, here is the straight truth:

NOBODY LIKES PRACTICE. THAT'S THE PROBLEM.

Very few people wake up excited to practice anything.

Yet founders avoid practicing the one thing they use every day.

We want results. We want momentum. We want the win. But storytelling does not reward winging it. It punishes it.

When you skip practice, a number of things tend to happen:

These do not build trust. Practice is not about sounding scripted. It is about earning freedom.

STORIES IMPROVE BECAUSE YOU'RE CHANGING YOUR BRAIN

Here is what most founders miss:

When you practice, you are not just improving the words. You are physically changing your brain.

As you practice, your brain builds insulation around neural pathways, making it faster and more efficient at delivering your story. According to a study published in Cell Biology, the more you practice, the easier it becomes for your brain to move information.

Over time it commits the skill to memory and starts using less energy to do it.

That is why when you initially tell your story, it feels unnatural, awkward, and stiff. Your brain is in survival mode.

Don't forget the point. Don't mess up the order. Don't sound stupid.

But once memorization kicks in, your brain reallocates energy. Your story starts to feel natural and fluid, so it sounds and looks natural to others.

Now you can slow down. Make eye contact. Read the room. Respond instead of react. This is the shift from reciting to communicating.

Unpracticed stories feel forced because the brain is working too hard.

Practiced stories feel real because the brain has room to breathe.

Stewart Butterfield, founder of Slack, practiced explaining Slack through live demos and repeated storytelling. Early presentations were refined again and again based on what confused people.

Demos became intuitive. Messaging stayed human and plainspoken. Growth followed understanding. That practice tightened the story before the market caught up.

PRACTICE REVEALS WHAT'S BROKEN

You cannot improve a story you have not practiced. Practice is what surfaces the parts that feel awkward, unclear, or unstable so you can work them out before they ever reach an audience.

As you practice telling your story, patterns start to appear. You notice where people lean in, where they get confused, where energy drops, and where time drags.

That feedback is not a failure. It is the signal that shows you exactly what needs attention.

Practice makes the broken parts visible.

Once you see them, you can tighten the story, remove what slows it down, and sharpen the moments that matter. Each adjustment makes the next version clearer and easier to deliver.

CONFIDENCE IS THE BYPRODUCT

It shows up as a result of doing the work.

And that calm is what people read as confidence.

MAKE PRACTICE PART OF THE PROCESS

As a founder, your story does real work for you. It shapes first impressions, builds trust, and helps people decide if they want to follow you.

It shows up in pitches, sales conversations, hiring, partnerships, media, and casual conversations that quietly influence big decisions.

If it matters that much, it deserves reps.

And you will soon discover that practice is not optional. It is the work.

Strong storytellers do not wait until everything is perfect. They practice while things are still forming. By writing, speaking, and listening back, the story tightens and confidence builds naturally. Here are three simple ways founders can practice telling their story and improve it as they go:

LESSON 1: START ON THE PAGE (Write)

Writing your story down forces structure. Keeping it to one page or less makes the gaps obvious and prevents rambling before it starts. Also, stepping away for a day and rereading it with fresh eyes helps you feel what works and what does not.

Once it feels solid enough on the page, time how long it takes to read. Length and clarity matter. If it feels scattered or too long in writing, it will only get worse out loud.

LESSON 2: SAY IT UNTIL IT SOUNDS LIKE YOU (Speak)

Stories are not meant to live on paper. Saying your story out loud reveals where language feels stiff or unnatural. You do not need to memorize it. The goal is flow, not precision.

As you speak it, notice where you rush, pause, or lose momentum. Time how long it takes to tell. Repeating this step helps the story move from something written to something you can actually deliver.

LESSON 3: LISTEN LIKE YOUR AUDIENCE (Record)

Recording your story gives you distance from it. You hear patterns you miss while speaking, including filler words, awkward transitions, and pacing issues.

Listening back shows you what to tighten and what to keep. Each pass makes the next version easier to deliver and more natural to hear. This is where clarity compounds and confidence starts to show up without effort.

Research on sports performance shows that deliberate practice explains about 18% of the difference between good and great athletes. Nearly one fifth of success comes from structured repetition, not talent alone.

That same discipline shows up in elite communication. Presentation coaching firm Persuadius recommends a 30:1 preparation-to-performance ratio. For every hour you speak, they advise spending 30 hours writing, refining, and practicing. In sports, that level of preparation is standard. In business, it is rare.

If you want to be great at telling your story, treat it like a performance skill and practice accordingly.

In  this video, “Why You Need to Practice Telling Your Story as an Entrepreneur”, I break down why repetition matters more than polish. The video explains how practice changes how your brain handles storytelling, reduces mental strain, and lets you focus on delivery instead of remembering what comes next. You will see why stories feel awkward at first, how they smooth out with reps, and how practice helps you spot what works and what does not before it matter. Watch here:

Why You Need to Practice Telling Your Story as an Entrepreneur-010
https://youtu.be/Opg9b5ei8cw?si=fV_j3T2NwNNr_Eye

Send an email to [email protected] and someone from my team will circle back with you.