How to Tell Your Company Story in 10 Seconds (And Why That’s Enough to Earn the Next 5 Minutes)
People form first impressions extremely quickly — in hundreds of milliseconds — and research shows audience attention declines significantly by about the 10-minute mark if you don’t re-engage them.
You don’t have an hour to win someone over. So you need a story you can tell in five to ten seconds: long enough to build clarity and trust, short enough to keep attention before it starts to drift.
What Makes a Story Stick
Think about “Make America Great Again.” Regardless of politics, it’s ‘sticky’: emotional, easy to remember and repeat, and vague enough to invite projection. The challenge for businesses is to capture some of that stickiness without losing complexity or truth. The balance is a clear message that still leaves room for depth.
Chip and Dan Heath’s Made to Stick gives us a checklist: stories that are Simple, Unexpected, Concrete, Credible, Emotional, and Story-shaped (the SUCCESs model). Not all grand narratives will have each of these elements, but nearly all are simple and emotional.
“We’re in business to save our home planet.” - Patagonia
“To empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.” - Microsoft
“To prove that comfort, good design and sustainability don’t have to be mutually exclusive.” - Allbirds
“To accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy.” - Tesla
Internal and External Stories
Internal and external stories often overlap. Messages that work tend to have one core promise or tension (e.g. “comfort and sustainability”, “empower” + “everyone”). They avoid trying to say everything. The best ones leave something unsaid, inviting people to imagine or care. That curiosity gap makes them sticky.
But (there’s always a but, isn’t there?), these stories serve different purposes internally and externally.
The internal story is what keeps employees aligned and motivated. Without it, teams drown in Slack, scattered goals, and pointless meetings. Thus, the story anchors daily tasks to a bigger purpose, helping people see how their effort contributes to something that lasts.
The external story sparks curiosity with the outside world. This one is for your investors, customers, partners, and even future hires. “I’m Lovin’ It”, “Think Different”, “Just Do It.” These lines work because they make the listener feel something and want to know more. They act like the tip of the spear: focused, memorable and lightweight.
If your employees hear one thing internally and the market hears another, trust erodes. But when both align, they reinforce one another: the internal message fuels belief, and the external message attracts interest. Together, they form the backbone of a company’s narrative.
Your Next Step
Write out your own ten-second story, then run it through the SUCCESs filter. Remember, you don’t have to hit all of these but it’s worth asking: is it simple enough? Does it contain something a little unexpected that makes people perk up? Is it concrete so the listener can picture it? Credible enough that they believe you instantly? Does it spark a reaction? And finally, does it hint at a larger story that makes them want to know more?
Say it out loud. Record yourself. Share it with someone who knows nothing about your industry. A neighbour, a patient spouse, a kind-hearted canine. If they get it straight away and follow up with a question (or a woof), you’ve done the job.
And if you can’t tell your story in 10 seconds, you don’t fully know it. But once you can? Those seconds are a invite people to share your vision for the world.
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If you want help sharpening that story, TalkWerks runs focused Story Audits designed to uncover the message you’re not telling and show you how to make it stick.
Book a Story Audit with TalkWerks →
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References & Further Reading
1. Willis, J., & Todorov, A. (2006). First Impressions: Making Up Your Mind After a 100-Millisecond Exposure to a Face. Psychological Science.
2. Harvard Business Review. The Science of Strong Business Presentations.
3. Harris Poll / Grammarly (2022). State of Business Communication Report
4. Donald Miller (2017). Building a StoryBrand. HarperCollins.
