Is Storyteller Tactics worth it?
Karen Tilstra discovered that Storyteller Tactics could help her create more impactful stories despite her extensive experience. As an educational psychologist and innovation consultant who had already written two books and given hundreds of presentations, she initially thought she couldn't learn anything new. The cards proved her wrong and became her secret weapon for crafting more powerful narratives.
Visit Karen's website"...really helps you focus on telling a very impactful story"
Why Karen needed better storytelling tools
Karen Tilstra is an educational psychologist, innovation consultant and creativity advocate who co-founded (with her son) The Creativity Effect. A flashpoint moment at a conference led her to explore creativity and innovation; since then she has helped create innovation labs across healthcare, professional sports, higher education and other industries. Tilstra believes everyone is creative and capable of leading; she has taught thousands of people design thinking and helps organisations tap into their creativity to solve real problems.
"I really thought I knew how to put a story together. But with the storytelling tactics, Pip Decks, I found it is easier. But more importantly, it's more impactful. It gets to the point of the story and really helps you focus on telling a very impactful story and delivering what you really want the story to do."
Watch Karen's testimonial about Storyteller Tactics
Full testimonial transcript
Hello, I'm Karen Tilstra and I am a creativity consultant, innovation consultant and educational psychologist. And I have to tell you, I love Storyteller Tactics by Pip Decks.
When I first encountered Pip Decks on my Instagram, I saw it as an advertisement. I completely ignored it because I had already written two books and I have already given hundreds of presentations. And I thought, hmm, they look interesting, but I don't think I can learn anything from it.
But the advertisement kept coming and so I thought I might as well check it out. And so I did. I read about it and I got more and more excited and I finally ordered it.
I got the box and I was so excited when it came because I just love story. And it comes first off with the first card. If you don't want to even dive into the deck and just, they tell you just do these things and guide you into creating your own story.
But then it also gives you, what I love is a little card, kind of an assessment card. What do you need from your story? Do you need a concept? You need to explore it more. Do you need character and you need structure?
Once you answer that, they kind of guide you into the direction that they can with these other kinds of cards that are followed up by story arcs.
And what I love about this system is I love story and I love to include story in my talks and in my workshops and in my lessons I teach and I really thought I knew how to put a story together.
But with the Storyteller Tactics, Pip Decks, I found it is easier. But more importantly, it's more impactful. It gets to the point of the story and really helps you focus on telling a very impactful story and delivering what you really want the story to do.
So I encourage you check out these Storyteller Tactics. And there's a lot more too because you get videos and everything. So try it because I love it.
From skepticism to revelation
Karen initially ignored Pip Decks advertisements because she thought she couldn't learn anything new. As someone who had already written two books and given hundreds of presentations, she believed her storytelling skills were already well-developed.
The persistent advertisements eventually caught her attention. She decided to check it out and quickly became excited about the possibilities. The structured approach to storytelling revealed gaps in her knowledge and provided tools to make her stories more impactful.
The experienced presenter's challenge
Even experienced presenters can benefit from structured storytelling tools. Karen discovered that despite her extensive experience, Storyteller Tactics provided her with new insights and techniques that made her stories more focused and impactful.
The assessment card helped her identify exactly what she needed from each story, whether it was concept development, character work, or structure. This targeted approach improved her ability to deliver stories that achieved their intended purpose.
What made the difference
Karen's experience shows how Storyteller Tactics solves real problems for experienced professionals. The cards provide instant access to proven storytelling frameworks, reducing planning time whilst maintaining quality. The structured approach, in particular, helped her focus on the core purpose of each story.
How Karen uses Storyteller Tactics in practice
Karen starts with the assessment card to decide whether a story needs concept, character or structure work. For executive workshops, she uses a hook to open with stakes, then a structure card to turn case examples into a clear arc—challenge, exploration, insight, action. In training, she treats each exercise as a micro‑story: participants become the protagonists, the tools act as guides, and the outcome is confidence to try something new this week.
Because she coaches at scale, the cards give her a shared language with teams, which speeds up critique and makes iteration less personal and more about the story doing its job.
Who this helps
- Education leaders designing programmes that stick
- Innovation facilitators translating insight into action
- Corporate L&D teams building story‑driven content at pace
Transform your story impact
If you're tired of stories that don't achieve their intended impact, the Storyteller Tactics Deck might be exactly what you need. You'll join over 200,000 professionals who've found their confidence through these cards.
Karen's success story represents one example of how Pip Decks' community of over 200,000 professionals across 100+ countries is transforming their work. These are real experiences from trusted experts who've field‑tested these tools in demanding professional environments.
For the complete storytelling system, consider pairing Storyteller Tactics with Workshop Tactics to create sessions that both educate and inspire.
Explore more success stories on our Pip Decks Testimonials Hub.
One of the few newsletters I look forward to.
— Dave Cunningham, Head of DesignOps @ NHS
