Beginners badly underestimate how much time great storytellers pour into crafting and packaging a story. Petra's rule of thumb: a company-wide story about the next three to four months is roughly two weeks of work — one or two hours a day — because compelling, lasting stories can't be improvised.

Great storytellers invest heavily in creating and formatting their stories
A story explaining the next 3-4 months to the company is about two weeks of work
That's roughly one or two hours a day, not eight-hour days
You don't get better overnight; it takes practice and deliberate time

“that's maybe the first tip you have to plan to put in a lot of work to create your story”
Petra · 36:30

“then I think that's two weeks of work not eight hours a day obviously but two weeks of work maybe one or two hours a…”
Petra · 37:00

#storytelling#communication#leadership

Hot Take· 4

Hot Take30:00

Pick One Book and Study It for a Whole Year

Instead of endlessly consuming new content, one of Petra's coachees stopped reading widely and dedicated an entire year to a single methodology — Teresa Torres' Continuous Discovery Habits — rereading it over and over. A committed, deep approach that trades breadth for real mastery.

One coachee quit consuming lots of books and content
He committed a full year to a single book and methodology
He reread Continuous Discovery Habits repeatedly across the year
The trade-off: you'd better pick the right book, then share learnings with peers

“he stopped reading a lot of books and consuming a lot of content and he instead dedicates the whole year to using one methodology or…”
Petra · 30:00

#learning#focus#discovery

Hot Take44:30

Weak Storytelling Caps Your Career

You can do the IC-level PM job without being a strong speaker, but getting promoted is far harder if you can't tell stories and rally a team behind a shared goal. A whole team can compensate to some extent, but a lack of storytelling and public-speaking ability is a real career limiter.

You can do IC product work without strong public speaking
Promotion gets much harder without storytelling and team-rallying skills
Many people do public speaking but never actually land their point
A team can help create the stories, so you can compensate somewhat

“but getting promoted is way harder if you're not good in telling stories and running the team behind the shared goal and all these kind…”
Petra · 45:00

“but I would consider it a bit of a career starter if you don't get to a decent level of Storytelling and to a decent…”
Petra · 45:30

#career#storytelling#promotion#public-speaking

Hot Take56:30

A Community of Practice Is the Cheapest Way to Develop People

A good product community of practice increases stickiness — people stay where they're learning — and takes people-development work off the product lead's desk. Compared to expensive trainings, conference tickets, and external coaches, letting people learn from each other is remarkably cheap.

Communities increase retention because people stay where they grow
A good community offloads people-development from the product lead
Trainings, conference tickets, and external coaches are all expensive
Making room for peers to learn from each other is a cheap, high-ROI alternative

“it's actually a pretty cheap way of doing people development because trainings are expensive conference tickets are expensive getting an external product code expensive”
Petra · 57:00

#community#people-development#retention#roi

Hot Take1:03:30

Don't Be the Center of Your Community

A community resting on the shoulders of one to three people isn't sustainable — it becomes a company-like pyramid rather than a community. Petra advises distributing the workload and responsibility, thinking in circles of interest and building bridges between them so members help each other.

A community carried by one to three people is not sustainable
Distribute workload and responsibility, including unpleasant jobs like moderation
Centralized control makes it a pyramid, not a community
Think in smaller circles of interest and connect them with bridges

“it's not sustainable if the whole Community is on the shoulders of one two three people so you need to distribute the workload”
Petra · 1:04:00

#community#leadership#sustainability

Explainer· 2

Explainer06:30

Why Non-Product Managers Struggle to Lead PMs

Many product leaders come from marketing, business, data, or engineering and never worked as a PM themselves. Because they don't understand the craft, they can't point their reports toward relevant talks, books, or best practices, so IC PMs are forced to learn everything on their own with nobody curating their progression.

A large share of product leads have never worked in a product management role
They lack empathy for the day-to-day struggle of product people
They can't direct reports to existing best practices, talks, or books
IC PMs then have to learn the craft alone with no one curating their growth

“plus how should you help people grow if you have no clue what their role actually is all about”
Petra · 06:30

#coaching#product-leadership#management#empathy

Explainer41:30

Beat Stage Fright by Starting Small

Petra was terrible at public speaking and still doesn't love it. Her path forward was to start with very small, friendly audiences — your team, a company all-hands, or a local meetup of ~30 people — then grow the audience over time and always plant a friendly face in the front row for feedback.

Start in front of small, super-friendly audiences of five to ten people
Company all-hands or local product meetups are good early venues
Grow the audience size gradually over time
Get feedback from both peers (harsher) and strangers (spot storytelling gaps)

“the easiest way is to get in front of really small and super friendly audiences”
Petra · 41:30

#public-speaking#storytelling#confidence

Q&A· 1

Q&A17:00

Where to Start If You Want to Be a Better Coach

Asked where a new manager should begin, Petra advises starting with the development plan rather than a full competency assessment or a definition of a good PM. Even without those, the person usually already knows what they want to get better at, and the low-effort follow-up on that plan is what makes the difference.

Don't get paralyzed trying to first define what a 'good PM' is
Start with the development plan the person owns
People usually already know one area they want to improve (storytelling, prioritization, etc.)
Consistent follow-up takes little time from the lead but drives the results

“I usually advise people to start with the development plan because even if you have never done the assessment”
Petra · 17:00

#coaching#development-plan#management

Tool· 2

Tool31:30

Keep a List of Emotions Handy for 1:1s

People often find it hard to say how they really are, especially with a line manager. Petra keeps a list of around 30 emotions on hand and, when someone seems to need support, asks them to point to where they are on it and why — an easy way to open up a real conversation.

People struggle to articulate how they truly feel in a 1:1
A list of ~30 emotions gives them a concrete anchor to point to
Ask where they land and why, then offer help
Pairs well with a go-to list of coaching questions for unprepared 1:1s

“what I find super helpful is a list of emotions because people tend to find it really hard to talk about how they currently really…”
Petra · 31:30

#coaching#one-on-ones#emotions#tools

Tool43:30

Two Backstage Tricks for Pre-Talk Nerves

For the jitters right before a talk, Petra points to two physical tricks: the 'Superman pose' — standing tall and looking straight up — or a gorilla-style soft chest tap to raise your energy level. Do them backstage, plus keep friendly, respectful faces in the front row.

The Superman pose: stand tall looking straight up (helps many, not her favourite)
A soft gorilla-style chest tap bumps your energy level
Do these backstage, not where the audience can see
Find people you like and respect for the front row

“I think the two things that work well it's either the Superman pose”
Petra · 43:30

#public-speaking#nerves#tools

Takeaway· 5

Takeaway08:30

Product Is a Career, Not a Role

You can read every book, take every course, and read every newsletter, but you only get so far without actually doing the work. Getting good at product means years of trying, failing, and shipping, not a six-month sprint.

Courses and books only take you so far; hands-on practice is what makes you better
Improvement comes from failing and from doing things that succeed
Getting good takes years, not months
Product is a career with endless things to learn, not a single role

“I so often have said the sentence of it's not a role it's a career being in product”
Petra · 09:00

#career#product-management#learning

Takeaway20:00

Consistency Beats Intensity for People Development

Small, regular time investments in development beat big-bang 360-degree reviews. Monthly check-ins on a shared, colour-coded list of goals keep progress alive so the next performance review isn't a scramble to remember what was agreed.

Regular check-ins outperform the once-every-six-months review
Small weekly chunks apply to both the PM's learning and the lead's coaching time
A shared doc with concrete themes and a status colour-code per item keeps things on track
It's more pleasant and more likely to stick for both parties

“we all of us know consistency beats intensity”
Petra · 20:30

#coaching#feedback#development-plan

Takeaway22:30

Hire for Curiosity and Empathy — They're Hard to Coach

Some traits are far easier to hire for than to build in a corporate environment. Petra always screens for curiosity — the best PMs are interested in any topic — and for empathy, without which it's nearly impossible to help someone reach a decision-maker level.

Separate personality traits (hard to develop) from skills and know-how (coachable)
Curiosity is a top hiring filter: great PMs are curious about the world no matter the topic
Empathy is partly coachable but a baseline level must already exist
Skills like user interviewing and discovery can be developed later

“I think product people need to be curious about the world how it works about things no matter the topic”
Petra · 23:00

#hiring#curiosity#empathy#product-management

Takeaway37:30

Cut the Business Jargon — Speak to Hearts and Minds

We overuse business lingo until it becomes banner blindness that people tune out. Petra urges swapping three-letter abbreviations and overused terms for natural, sensory language, because stories that evoke feeling actually release hormones in the brain — but only when the words are natural.

Overused business terms create 'banner blindness' — people overhear them
Even 'product discovery' may need re-framing if a company is fed up with it
Natural language about smell, sense, and how life gets better triggers a brain response
Removing three-letter abbreviations is harder in practice than it sounds

“the other tip would be really make sure that you're using language that speaks to the heart and the minds of the people because we…”
Petra · 37:30

#storytelling#communication#jargon

Takeaway58:00

How to Tell If a Community Is Worth Your Time

Petra's benchmarks for a community worth sticking with: it helps you network with interesting people, you learn a real nugget every now and then, you can contribute and share what you know, you genuinely enjoy the people, and there's an actual level of activity — because too many communities are dead.

It helps you network and meet nice, interesting people
You learn something new every now and then — real nuggets, not daily noise
You can contribute: moderate, organize rituals, or share what you learned
You enjoy the people and there's genuine activity, not a dead forum

“I would say if it helps you with networking that is really something something good if you meet nice interesting people”
Petra · 58:00

“is there some level of activity in the community because there's too many dead ones out there”
Petra · 59:00

#community#networking#learning

Frameworks in this episode

Community of Practice as People Development

Growing Into Public Speaking

Story as a Design Tool

The Five Ingredients of Coaching Product People

The PM Wheel

Insights & moments

⚡Myth Buster· 1

You Don't Get Good at Storytelling Overnight

◆Hot Take· 4