Will Storr is an award-winning journalist and bestselling author, known for sharing insights on branding, marketing, and business. His Sunday Times bestseller, 'The Science of Storytelling', explores the human psychology behind stories and how it can be used to create more effective narratives. Currently an instructor on Section4’s Business Storytelling Sprint, Will teaches attendees how to craft persuasive narratives, influence audiences, and build brand loyalty. As a speaker, he explores these ideas in detail, working with business leaders and organisations to maximise their business storytelling and create lasting impact.
Beginning his career in journalism, Will reported from some of the world's most challenging environments, covering the civil war in South Sudan, gang-related drug violence in Guatemala and remote Aboriginal communities in Australia. In 2010, he received the Association for International Broadcasting Award for Best Investigative Documentary for his two-part BBC radio series, 'An Unspeakable Act'. He later won a One World Media Award and an Amnesty International Award for his human rights reporting on sexual violence against men. This experience gave Will a unique understanding of human behaviour and shaped his ability to tell powerful, real-world stories that stay with audiences.
Still involved in journalism, Will writes for Esquire, The New Yorker, The Sunday Times and The Guardian. Alongside this, he has published several books, including 'Selfie: How We Became So Self-Obsessed and What It's Doing to Us' and 'The Status Game: On Human Life and How to Play It'. Drawing on his expertise in human psychology, he unpacks how identity, social status and the need for recognition shape our behaviour and decisions. In 2018, he also ghostwrote Ant Middleton's number-one Sunday Times bestseller 'First Man In', which was later shortlisted for Non-Fiction Book of the Year at the British Book Awards.
Will Storr is a sought-after speaker for conferences, summits and panel discussions, bringing fresh insights into storytelling, psychology and human behaviour. His keynote talks share practical storytelling frameworks that increase persuasion, audience engagement and brand awareness. With experience speaking for leading organisations, including Expedia, Zoopla, Wunderman Thompson, Publicis Sapient, TNS BMRB and the EU Parliament, he is an excellent choice for business events focused on branding, marketing, creativity and PR. Transform your marketing strategy, strengthen your brand, and elevate your messaging with Will Storr today!
Social Media
Books
Selfie: How the West Became Self-Obsessed
The Science of Storytelling: Why Stories Make Us Human, and How To Tell Them Better
The Status Game: On Human Life and How to Play It
A Story is a Deal: How to use the science of story to motivate and persuade
Reviews
Will Storr received a 4.3 star rating across 31 events in 2026
Agent Recommendation
"Will Storr is a popular keynote speaker who brings storytelling, psychology and human behaviour to life through engaging and insightful talks. His practical advice helps businesses improve their communication, connect with audiences and use storytelling to achieve better results."
Will Storr's official speaking topics are listed below:
The Storytelling Brain: Why Some Messages Stick and Others Vanish
Every leader, marketer, and communicator depends on stories, yet few can explain why one narrative changes minds while another is forgotten by lunchtime. Drawing on his Sunday Times bestseller The Science of Storytelling, Will Storr takes audiences inside the brain to show how it builds a model of the world, why it pays attention to surprise and change, and how characters and conflict pull us in. He then translates those mechanics into concrete principles for presentations, campaigns, and brand messaging, so that teams can craft stories built on how people actually think rather than on guesswork.
Story as a Deal: Narrative Frameworks to Lead, Sell, and Persuade
Much of the storytelling advice circulating in business is folklore. In this practical session built on A Story Is a Deal, Will Storr replaces it with a framework rooted in psychology and evolutionary science, in which every story makes an implicit bargain with its audience and succeeds only when it keeps its promise. He shows leaders, marketers, and sales teams how to structure that bargain, from the opening hook to the change they want people to make, using examples from advertising, politics, and everyday leadership. Participants leave with a repeatable method for pitching ideas, products, and strategies.
The Cult of the Perfect Self: What Selfie Culture Costs Us
Be thinner, richer, happier, more productive, more authentic: modern culture asks people to perfect themselves, and the strain shows up in burnout, anxiety, and disengagement at work. Based on his book Selfie, Will Storr follows the story of the Western self from ancient Greece through the self-esteem movement to Silicon Valley's promise of limitless self-improvement. Combining history, psychology, and economics, the session explains how individualism became our dominant cultural script, what it quietly costs individuals and organizations, and how leaders can set healthier expectations without giving up on ambition.
Playing the Status Game: The Hidden Force Behind Behavior at Work
Pay and power are the obvious motivators, but Will Storr makes the case that a quieter, far older drive shapes how people behave: the search for status. Drawing on The Status Game, he shows how this instinct runs from hunter-gatherer bands to corporate hierarchies, social media platforms, and political movements. The keynote explains why people react so strongly when their standing is threatened, why some cultures descend into politics and turf wars, and how leaders can design recognition, reward, and team structures that channel the hunger for status into collaboration and high performance.
- 2026 - Published 'And You'll Be Okay Forever: Selected Essays'
- 2026 - Published 'A Story is a Deal'
- 2022 - Teaching professional for Section4
- 2021 - Published 'The Status Game: On Human Life and How to Play It'
- 2019 - Published the Sunday Times bestseller 'The Science of Storytelling: Why Stories Make Us Human, and How to Tell Them Better'
- 2018 - Ghostwrote Ant Middleton's number-one Sunday Times bestseller 'First Man In', which was shortlisted for Non-Fiction Book of the Year at the British Book Awards
- 2017 - Published 'Selfie: How We Became So Self-Obsessed and What It's Doing to Us'
- 2012 - Won the One World Media Award and an Amnesty International Award for his human rights reporting on sexual violence against men
- 2010 - Won the Association for International Broadcasting (AIB) Award for Best Investigative Documentary for his two-part BBC radio series
- 2007 - Writer for The Guardian
- 2007 - Writer for The Sunday Times
- 2007 - Writer for The New Yorker
- 2007 - Writer for Esquire
How to hire Will Storr
Contact the Champions Speakers Agency to provisionally enquire about hiring Will Storr for your next event, today. To get in touch, simply call an official booking agent on 0207 1010 553 or email us at [email protected] for more information.
** We do NOT accept requests for autographs, signed merchandise, fan mail, birthday messages or any other non-commercial contact with the speakers or acts. Each speaker on the website may not have necessarily worked with Champions in the past but are known to perform such engagements within the industry.
