This Is the Era of the Strategic Storyteller

by Olivia Ding

Today’s storytellers need to be masters of multiple tools – and know when to use them. 

Ekin Yasin, PhD, introduces the Matt Chan Storytelling Award at Communication Leadership’s Screen Summit, recognizing outstanding student projects

When we think of the greatest storytellers, they’re usually defined by their medium: Steven Spielberg as a film director, Ira Glass as a podcaster, even Shakespeare as a playwright. But today’s professional communication landscape is different. Successful storytellers aren’t made by mastery of a single medium — but by their ability to move confidently across multiple platforms, adapting their message while maintaining narrative integrity. The market speaks clearly to this shift.

With 90% of HR leaders predicting half their workforce will need to reskill in the next five years, versatility isn’t optional — it’s the competitive advantage. Meanwhile, freelance marketers and agencies increasingly recognize that clients expect professionals who can think strategically across channels and execute integrated solutions.

Why Versatility and Strategic Thinking Matter

Consider Dominick Joseph from MCDM Cohort 21, who completed courses in Audio Storytelling, Video Storytelling, and Storytelling & Communication. Now at Tulalip TV (a tribal public TV station), he’s handling everything from on-air commentary and graphic design to drone footage and broadcast engineering. His earlier work at Daybreak Star Radio taught him the same lesson: “Having both technical and narrative storytelling skills allowed me to take ownership of projects from concept to final production.”

But Dominick’s versatility isn’t just about doing more jobs — it’s about thinking strategically about which tools serve the story best. “The choice often depends on the emotional tone and community reach of the story,” he explains. “If a story relies on voice and emotion, audio through podcasting creates intimacy. If the story involves visual elements — like art, ceremony, or location-based storytelling — video becomes essential to honor and show those details authentically.”

This strategic thinking comes from understanding how each medium fundamentally works. Sai Siddhay (MCDM Cohort 24), who took both Video and Audio Storytelling courses, discovered this the hard way: “You would think that writing a podcast script would be similar to writing a video script, but with no way to visually engage the audience, you need to find different ways to entertain and inform your audience. And in a video script, you need much less exposition because your visuals do the heavy lifting.”

This connects to what Kayla Moani Huitt (MCCL Cohort 24) learned about transmedia storytelling — the concept that a story is told and developed across multiple different forms of media, each platform adding new layers to the narrative. In her work as a Visual Communications Intern at the City of Seattle, Kayla applies this thinking daily: “I think a lot about how the visuals I’m creating will be perceived on different platforms and the story that they’re telling my audience.” This is the real competitive edge: professionals who can analyze a communication challenge and choose the right tool because they understand each platform’s unique demands and possibilities — not because they’ve been trained in only one.

The Strategic Thinking Behind Communicator Mastery

This mastery isn’t just about collecting skills; it requires deep strategic thinking, the ability to find the core narrative that can adapt across any platform. This winter, Communication Leadership is launching Foundations of Documentary Storytelling, taught by award-winning documentary director Elliat Graney-Saucke. Her approach reveals why learning diverse tools and strategic thinking matters beyond job skills.

“Documentary is essentially a form of nonfiction storytelling,” Elliat explains. “What’s exciting about bringing this into communications leadership education is that students get to really think about how to take these nonfiction interviews or stories and craft them into something that an audience will be excited to watch. The intention is not just to collect information. The goal is to be curious and excited, find what’s interesting about the story, and create content that is much more compelling, much more emotionally resonant.”

The course structure is deliberately hands-on. Students work in teams during the first half, learning camera, audio, and lighting with guest filmmakers. Then they pitch their own project ideas, vote on the top projects, and shoot together. Here’s the critical part: every student receives the same footage and creates their own individual edit. “Everybody will come up with their own different version from the same thing,” Elliat notes. “There’s so many ways to tell a story.”

This isn’t just about learning to edit. It’s about developing the critical thinking and storytelling judgment that transfers across every medium. When you understand how to find the compelling narrative in raw footage, how to make editorial choices that serve the story, how to balance information with emotion — those skills apply whether you’re cutting a video, scripting a podcast, designing an infographic, or writing copy. Communicators with diverse skillsets aren’t just learning tools. They’re learning how to think strategically about their craft.

Communication Leadership students produce video content for their multimedia projects

The Verdict: Versatility Wins

Dominick’s advice to emerging communicators is simple but profound: “Embrace experimentation early on — explore different platforms and tools even before you know how they’ll connect to your main focus. Each one adds a new layer of depth and understanding. The more tools you can move between with confidence, the more valuable, versatile, and creative you become as a communicator.”

Real impact comes from understanding communication deeply enough to choose the right tool for each challenge. The communicators who thrive won’t be the ones who picked a lane and stayed in it. They’ll be the ones who learned to move between tools and platforms confidently, bringing fresh perspective to every format.

At Comm Lead, we’re building professionals who can see the full landscape of possibilities — and know exactly which tool to reach for. Our graduates are landing at Tulalip TV, the City of Seattle, public radio stations, and beyond, including freelance positions where they advise clients on integrated communication strategies. And they’re not just doing more jobs. They’re doing more meaningful work, because they understand their tools well enough to serve their audience, not their tool.

So the question isn’t ‘what medium do you want a career in?’ It’s ‘how are your stories going to impact people?’ At Comm Lead, we’ll help you find out.

*Acknowledging Lineage: Dominick Joseph (tsi dsdaʔ Dominick Joseph tulʔ̕ al čəd dxʷlilap) is from the Tulalip Tribes. As is customary when members of the Tulalip Tribes introduce themselves, Dominick honors his lineage: his great-grandparents Loretta James and Harold Joseph, his grandparents Kenneth Alan Joseph and Melody St Clair, and his mother Chena M Joseph. At Tulalip TV, Dominick works alongside an incredible video team covering everything happening in Tulalip, highlighting the voices, achievements, and culture of tribal members through sports media, graphic design, camera operation, broadcast engineering, and more.