Creating the Future with Stories®: The Power of Narrative for All Business Professionals
My Story In Card Inc. offers workshop-style training to help business professionals overcome communication challenges by mastering the fundamentals of storytelling and developing both listening and speaking skills.
📋 Article Processing Timeline
- 📰 Published: April 1, 2026 at 19:30
- 🤖 AI Analyzed: June 2, 2026 at 12:57 (1481h 27m after Published)
Our company endorses April Dream, an initiative to make April 1st a "Day to Announce Dreams."
This press release represents the dream of "My Story In Card Inc."
Dream: The Power of Narrative for All Business Professionals
We envision a society where everyone can proudly tell their own story, and listen to the stories of their colleagues to deepen bonds. A teamwork and community where each individual can maximize and share their value. We aim to foster such a future through the power of stories.
To achieve this, as a concrete step that My Story In Card Inc. can contribute, we will be focusing on "workshop-style training" with two main pillars:
① Understanding the "Three-Act Structure of Stories" through T-SBI (Theme-Situation-Behavior-Impact)
② Practicing role-play to hone "Narrative Power = Listening Skills × Speaking Skills"
Background: My Story
My Story In Card Inc. was established in April 2023 by Representative Naoaki Nii, with the desire to utilize stories and narratives for regional revitalization and the career development of business professionals. While we advocate "Creating the Future with Stories®," I myself was not originally good at composition or Japanese language (my high school grade was about "6" on a 10-point scale). There were two major turning points that led me to be fascinated by stories and to hone them as a business soft skill.
One was working at Microsoft in the United States from 2006 to 2011 and attending the University of Washington's Executive MBA program, where I learned how indispensable "storytelling" is for corporate engagement and leadership, and met many coaches and excellent books. Having spent the first half of my life in a culture of "action over words," this experience was a significant culture shock.
The other was what I learned at Amazon Japan from 2011 to 2023. While involved in the launch of the Kindle service, I admired the world of business non-fiction and even attended an editor's school, but at that time, I couldn't even write short stories well. Later, as an Amazon "Bar Raiser," I was deeply involved in recruitment interviews, listening to hundreds of specific experiences and verbalizing feedback. It was then that I realized this was precisely storytelling itself.
① Stories are based on a simple Three-Act Structure
The "power of narrative" that I want to convey and can convey is not about excellent writing skills, emotionally rich literary works, or creative copywriting. It is the skill of calmly and factually narrating "specific experiences you are proud of," while recalling your own memories and inner self.
While some people can naturally verbalize these, many struggle to articulate their wonderful experiences or strengths (superpowers). As a training instructor for recruitment interviewers and a consultant for members and colleagues challenging new positions, I have sought ways to improve storytelling skills.
The first established method is to utilize the simple basic form of the "Three-Act Structure" of stories. From myths to Hollywood movies, stories that move hearts across all times and cultures share a common pattern: "Setup," "Confrontation," and "Resolution." In the field of leadership research, the "SBI model" – "Situation," "Behavior," and "Impact" – is used as an effective feedback method. Both are fundamentally the same in that they narrate the protagonist's actions in three objective steps.
Let's re-examine the universally known story of "Momotaro" using this Three-Act Structure.
S Situation: Momotaro, born from a peach, learned of the ogres who stole treasures and tormented the villagers.
B Behavior: He resolved to restore peace, gathered companions (a dog, a monkey, and a pheasant), and stormed Ogre Island.
I Impact: He subdued the ogres, recovered the stolen treasures, returned to the village, and lived happily ever after with everyone.
The most important thing in a story is setting the "Theme" or "Proposition": "What is this story about in the first place?" and "What value of the protagonist do I want to convey?" This is the motivation and starting point for storytelling.
T Theme: The experience of overcoming difficulties that could not be overcome alone, by gathering companions.
When given such a theme or proposition, or when setting it oneself, we want to narrate it concretely through the flow of situation, behavior, and impact, rather than ending it with abstract theories or impressions, to reproduce a vivid visual story in the listener's mind.
② Narrative Power = Listening Skills × Speaking Skills
Secondly, it is essential to cultivate the ability to deeply elicit the other person's story, even more than telling one's own. The starting point for this is genuine interest and respect for the other person, and the passion to verbalize their "strengths (superpowers)."
From Momotaro-san, let's sequentially draw out the story using the Three-Act Structure as follows:
T Theme
Momotaro-san, please tell us specifically about your "experience of overcoming difficulties that could not be overcome alone, by gathering companions."
S Situation
First, when and where was it, and what was the situation?
B Behavior
At that time, how did Momotaro-san decide and how did you act?
I Impact
And what was the result?
What is important here is to delve into and ask about any missing pieces one by one, so that a realistic visual story emerges in the listener's mind.
The shortest route to improving one's own storytelling skills was, in fact, learning the perspective and techniques of "eliciting the other person's story." And this skill is truly acquired not just by listening, but through practicing story writing, which involves putting the elicited content into text, or storytelling, which involves narrating the story to a third party. In other words, one must be able to reproduce the heard story so that it can be conveyed to others.
Furthermore, in reality, one's own story is often unnoticed by oneself or lies dormant in the unconscious until prompted and told by others. For this reason, accumulating "listening and speaking role-play" improves the ability to spontaneously write and tell one's own story.
Three Years of Progress and New Challenges
In April 2023, at the time of My Story In Card Inc.'s establishment, I had a dream of "writing my own stories and extracting and conveying the creators' thoughts and regional charms." Over these three years, as a writer and editor, I have written numerous non-fiction short stories for many people, published them on a community website (https://shiojirimerlot.com), and also published them through Amazon KDP. Particularly, receiving "paperback" format with an ISBN brought warm feedback such as, "My family was able to read my journey," "Customers learned about the challenges behind the products," and "It was donated to local libraries and became a community tradition."
From 2024 to 2025, I had the opportunity to serve as an instructor and coach for "Working Backwards Narrative Introduction" at several companies (please refer to the press release attachment for details). This experience became a catalyst, strengthening my desire to spread "Narrative Power = Listening Skills × Speaking Skills" to more people, even more than writing stories myself. I want to convey this power by gathering in real spaces, beyond digital and paper media, and engaging in conversations. This desire grew stronger.
This March, we collaborated with Doly Varden Inc., a professional fly-fishing guide in Hokkaido, and issued a press release for an off-site experiential learning program. We received many messages of empathy, and those voices encouraged me and solidified my decision for the path ahead.
2026 April Dream
The Power of Narrative for All Business Professionals — Creating the Future with Stories®
We will fully commit to this mission.
And now, the biggest dream is to realize a retreat program where we gather around a bonfire and share our personal stories:
Fireside Narrative Circle — Night Story Session
together with partners who share the same vision!
Creating the Future with Stories ®
My Story In Card Inc. ®
Connecting people across time and space with unique stories.
This press release represents the dream of "My Story In Card Inc."
Dream: The Power of Narrative for All Business Professionals
We envision a society where everyone can proudly tell their own story, and listen to the stories of their colleagues to deepen bonds. A teamwork and community where each individual can maximize and share their value. We aim to foster such a future through the power of stories.
To achieve this, as a concrete step that My Story In Card Inc. can contribute, we will be focusing on "workshop-style training" with two main pillars:
① Understanding the "Three-Act Structure of Stories" through T-SBI (Theme-Situation-Behavior-Impact)
② Practicing role-play to hone "Narrative Power = Listening Skills × Speaking Skills"
Background: My Story
My Story In Card Inc. was established in April 2023 by Representative Naoaki Nii, with the desire to utilize stories and narratives for regional revitalization and the career development of business professionals. While we advocate "Creating the Future with Stories®," I myself was not originally good at composition or Japanese language (my high school grade was about "6" on a 10-point scale). There were two major turning points that led me to be fascinated by stories and to hone them as a business soft skill.
One was working at Microsoft in the United States from 2006 to 2011 and attending the University of Washington's Executive MBA program, where I learned how indispensable "storytelling" is for corporate engagement and leadership, and met many coaches and excellent books. Having spent the first half of my life in a culture of "action over words," this experience was a significant culture shock.
The other was what I learned at Amazon Japan from 2011 to 2023. While involved in the launch of the Kindle service, I admired the world of business non-fiction and even attended an editor's school, but at that time, I couldn't even write short stories well. Later, as an Amazon "Bar Raiser," I was deeply involved in recruitment interviews, listening to hundreds of specific experiences and verbalizing feedback. It was then that I realized this was precisely storytelling itself.
① Stories are based on a simple Three-Act Structure
The "power of narrative" that I want to convey and can convey is not about excellent writing skills, emotionally rich literary works, or creative copywriting. It is the skill of calmly and factually narrating "specific experiences you are proud of," while recalling your own memories and inner self.
While some people can naturally verbalize these, many struggle to articulate their wonderful experiences or strengths (superpowers). As a training instructor for recruitment interviewers and a consultant for members and colleagues challenging new positions, I have sought ways to improve storytelling skills.
The first established method is to utilize the simple basic form of the "Three-Act Structure" of stories. From myths to Hollywood movies, stories that move hearts across all times and cultures share a common pattern: "Setup," "Confrontation," and "Resolution." In the field of leadership research, the "SBI model" – "Situation," "Behavior," and "Impact" – is used as an effective feedback method. Both are fundamentally the same in that they narrate the protagonist's actions in three objective steps.
Let's re-examine the universally known story of "Momotaro" using this Three-Act Structure.
S Situation: Momotaro, born from a peach, learned of the ogres who stole treasures and tormented the villagers.
B Behavior: He resolved to restore peace, gathered companions (a dog, a monkey, and a pheasant), and stormed Ogre Island.
I Impact: He subdued the ogres, recovered the stolen treasures, returned to the village, and lived happily ever after with everyone.
The most important thing in a story is setting the "Theme" or "Proposition": "What is this story about in the first place?" and "What value of the protagonist do I want to convey?" This is the motivation and starting point for storytelling.
T Theme: The experience of overcoming difficulties that could not be overcome alone, by gathering companions.
When given such a theme or proposition, or when setting it oneself, we want to narrate it concretely through the flow of situation, behavior, and impact, rather than ending it with abstract theories or impressions, to reproduce a vivid visual story in the listener's mind.
② Narrative Power = Listening Skills × Speaking Skills
Secondly, it is essential to cultivate the ability to deeply elicit the other person's story, even more than telling one's own. The starting point for this is genuine interest and respect for the other person, and the passion to verbalize their "strengths (superpowers)."
From Momotaro-san, let's sequentially draw out the story using the Three-Act Structure as follows:
T Theme
Momotaro-san, please tell us specifically about your "experience of overcoming difficulties that could not be overcome alone, by gathering companions."
S Situation
First, when and where was it, and what was the situation?
B Behavior
At that time, how did Momotaro-san decide and how did you act?
I Impact
And what was the result?
What is important here is to delve into and ask about any missing pieces one by one, so that a realistic visual story emerges in the listener's mind.
The shortest route to improving one's own storytelling skills was, in fact, learning the perspective and techniques of "eliciting the other person's story." And this skill is truly acquired not just by listening, but through practicing story writing, which involves putting the elicited content into text, or storytelling, which involves narrating the story to a third party. In other words, one must be able to reproduce the heard story so that it can be conveyed to others.
Furthermore, in reality, one's own story is often unnoticed by oneself or lies dormant in the unconscious until prompted and told by others. For this reason, accumulating "listening and speaking role-play" improves the ability to spontaneously write and tell one's own story.
Three Years of Progress and New Challenges
In April 2023, at the time of My Story In Card Inc.'s establishment, I had a dream of "writing my own stories and extracting and conveying the creators' thoughts and regional charms." Over these three years, as a writer and editor, I have written numerous non-fiction short stories for many people, published them on a community website (https://shiojirimerlot.com), and also published them through Amazon KDP. Particularly, receiving "paperback" format with an ISBN brought warm feedback such as, "My family was able to read my journey," "Customers learned about the challenges behind the products," and "It was donated to local libraries and became a community tradition."
From 2024 to 2025, I had the opportunity to serve as an instructor and coach for "Working Backwards Narrative Introduction" at several companies (please refer to the press release attachment for details). This experience became a catalyst, strengthening my desire to spread "Narrative Power = Listening Skills × Speaking Skills" to more people, even more than writing stories myself. I want to convey this power by gathering in real spaces, beyond digital and paper media, and engaging in conversations. This desire grew stronger.
This March, we collaborated with Doly Varden Inc., a professional fly-fishing guide in Hokkaido, and issued a press release for an off-site experiential learning program. We received many messages of empathy, and those voices encouraged me and solidified my decision for the path ahead.
2026 April Dream
The Power of Narrative for All Business Professionals — Creating the Future with Stories®
We will fully commit to this mission.
And now, the biggest dream is to realize a retreat program where we gather around a bonfire and share our personal stories:
Fireside Narrative Circle — Night Story Session
together with partners who share the same vision!
Creating the Future with Stories ®
My Story In Card Inc. ®
Connecting people across time and space with unique stories.
FAQ
What exactly does "the power of narrative" refer to?
It refers to the ability to deepen self-understanding and understanding of others by factually narrating one's own specific experiences and deeply listening to others' stories.
Which companies or individuals are suitable for this training?
It is suitable for individuals who struggle with self-expression in 1-on-1s or interviews, companies aiming to boost team engagement, and business professionals seeking leadership development.
What kind of program is the "Fireside Narrative Circle"?
It is an experiential retreat program where participants gather around a bonfire to share their personal stories and deepen their bonds.