By Denise Nah & Janissa Ng (2 min read)

You’ve got the credentials. The track record. The results.
But when you speak, it doesn’t quite land.

Something we’ve seen again and again with incredibly capable leaders: credibility isn’t the same as connection. And when your story doesn’t connect, your influence stalls.

How do you know your leadership story isn’t landing? And what can you do about it?

Let’s break it down.

1. You’re Delivering a Message You Don’t Fully Believe In

One of the most common — and subtle — signs of a story that doesn’t land is discomfort with the message itself.

We’ve seen this in leaders who are handed corporate talking points or coached to stick to “key messages,” but deep down, they don’t fully align with them. What happens next? The delivery falls flat. You can feel the disconnect. And so can your team.

“If you don’t believe the message, that’s the first thing people will feel. And you can’t fake that.”

— Denise Nah

What to do instead: Bring your own perspective into the message. Even if the strategy isn’t yours, your story around it should be. What does this change mean to you? Why does it matter? What do you see that others might not? People follow clarity and conviction — not compliance.

2. There’s No Excitement Or Trust

When leaders deliver a vision without energy, the room goes cold. we've watched this happen in high-stakes moments — town halls, reorg briefings, strategic rollouts — and witnessed the outcomes both good and bad.

The bad: The leader read off talking points and rattled off numbers. Without a real emotional anchor, people disengage. Worse, they stop believing it’s real.
The good: A leader at the helm of a massive organizational changes built trust not by sugarcoating, but by reminding the people in the room how he’s showed up consistently over years. He addressed staff by name, referred to past experiences and did not leave the hard questions to a HR memo.

What to do instead: Connect the message back to something personal. It can be a belief or a shared experience with the team. The most memorable leaders don’t hide the hard parts — they bring people into the process.

3. You’re Talking Like a Résumé

Too many leaders — especially those stepping into more public or entrepreneurial roles are still narrating their careers like bullet points. Years of experience. The titles they held. But you’re not applying for a job anymore — you’re building a platform.

In a world of AI-polished posts and back-to-back calls, personal connection cuts through.

What people remember isn’t your title. It’s your story.

“I once kicked off a workshop by talking not about my qualifications but about my great-grandfather, who was a rubber tapper and grandfather who once worked in a rubber factory. That single story — a family thread woven into my work — made me memorable.”

— Janissa Ng

What to do instead: Whether you're pitching investors, joining a podcast, or introducing yourself to a new partner — a personal hook always creates a human connection. So start with a moment, struggle or memory that sets the context for what you’re going to talk about. That’s what makes people listen.