Many of us who come from a software development background, myself included, often pay little attention to how we package our thoughts when communicating with departments and stakeholders outside of R&D. You’ll often hear tech folks explaining their work purely from a technical angle, without touching on product value, business outcomes, or customer impact.

That might work fine in the early stages of your career, but as you move up the ladder—from individual contributor to manager, principal engineer, or beyond—your ability to influence starts to diminish. You might even feel like you need a “translator” just to communicate effectively with Sales or Customer Success.

The reality is, we were never trained for this. Not in school, and probably not during our years of deep technical work. Storytelling always seemed like something reserved for other departments—marketing, design, or sales. So why should software engineers bother with these “soft” skills?

Boy, was I wrong. Here’s what I learned, sometimes the hard way: storytelling is everywhere. It’s about framing a message to fit a specific audience, at the right time, in the right context. It’s what helps you create a hook in a candidate’s mind when recruiting, making your company stand out. It’s what you rely on when driving cross-departmental changes—people need to understand the “why” and the value behind it. It’s what helps you inspire your team, boost their motivation, and align them with the company’s goals. It’s also what you need when trying to get buy-in from your CEO and stakeholders for your roadmap.

Storytelling is a critical skill that should be taught and practiced from day one.

I’m not here to offer a step-by-step guide—there are plenty of books, frameworks, and even people within your organization, like those in marketing or sales, who can help you out. My point is simple: as a technical person, and especially as a leader, you need to take this seriously. Invest in yourself and train your team.