I haven't hired anyone with "storyteller" in the exact title in the last 6 months, but I've been closely involved in hiring and leading roles where storytelling is the main value: brand strategists, content leads, and heads of comms. From a business view, "storyteller" is shorthand for someone who can line up three things: the numbers, the customer's lived reality, and the internal story leaders tell staff and investors. It's not about cute copy. It's about turning messy information into a clear narrative that moves revenue, hiring, or retention. What it means in practice: they can link a metric (say churn or CAC), to a customer moment (why they stayed or left), to a narrative ("this is who we are and who we're for") that shows up in sales calls, decks, onboarding, and product choices. If they can't tie the story back to numbers, it's just theatre. Operationally, I bake storytelling into systems. I'll ask a comms lead to own a "narrative spine" doc that connects product roadmap, customer proof, and our category point of view into one shared story. That single source then feeds sales scripts, pitch decks, launch campaigns, case studies, even internal all-hands. Same story, adapted to channel. That's where I see better pipeline quality, faster sales cycles, and higher close rates. Attitudes are shifting, but not evenly. In product-led or founder-led companies, comms is starting to be treated as a growth lever, because leaders see how a clear story changes who shows up, what they're willing to pay, and how long they stay. In more traditional firms, comms is still seen as a cost centre that "makes things look good", and "storyteller" is often just a fashionable label. My details: I'm Josiah Roche, Fractional CMO at Silver Atlas (www.silveratlas.org). I advise B2B and services companies on positioning, offers, and go-to-market. On Tuesday 12/16 I'm available 10am-1pm or 3pm-5pm AEST. If you're in another timezone, I can adjust within those windows.