Tell a Story, Stop the Spreadsheet: Using Intrigue to Reclaim Attention

Analysis and narrative can’t run at the same time. When the room dives into cell D47, attention chills, emotions drop, and momentum dies. Intrigue reverses that by activating hot cognition—desire plus tension. The brain pays attention when there’s something we want and something at stake. So keep a 90-second story “in the can” that centers you and your client, not your rate sheet.

Use the “man in the jungle” structure. Set up the challenge: “Builder incentives were crushing my first-time buyer’s plan.” Let the beasts attack: “Lock ticking, appraisal delays, listing agent pushing hard.” Hold them at the edge: “We engineered a lender credit the builder didn’t expect and re-timed the lock.” Don’t rush the ending—pause to reconnect: “Want to see the one-page model we used?” Delivered at the exact moment the Analyst Frame appears, this story warms the room, resets status, and earns you the right to show the right numbers. Stories don’t replace math; they make the math matter.