I’ve noticed something about how we react to product pitches, especially in ag. Whenever someone starts pitching, our brain tightens up a little. We get defensive.

But tell me a story about someone who went through the same thing I did. Suddenly I’m leaning in.

We stop evaluating and we start imagining.

That’s why stories beat product talk every single time in ag.

You are minding your business scrolling through LinkedIn and see 2 posts about the same problem: Soil compaction costing farmers money.

The first post is a product photo with statistics about yield loss and a link to book a demo. You probably keep scrolling. I would too.

The second post is from someone telling a story. It describes a family farm in Iowa. How they spent 5 years watching their soil degrade. How nothing worked until they understood the problem differently. They just tell you what they learned, no product mentioned. You get involved in the story, so you stop, save it, follow them, maybe even share it.

Two weeks later you see another post from them sharing a solution, now you are ready to listen.

So, why did the story work better?

This is how personal narratives create trust and change beliefs more effectively than arguments or data alone

When we become fully immersed in a narrative, our attitudes and beliefs can be influenced by the story’s messages. This immersion is called narrative transportation.

During this, something amazing happens. The brains of those hearing the story mirrors the of the storyteller’s, they even start to anticipate what happens next. Your brain and the speakers brain sync up.

But that’s not all. Stories release oxytocin — the trust and empathy chemical — because the brain experiences story characters as real people who seem trusted, safe, and familiar.

That’s a big contrast

Features tend to activate critical thinking. Your brain evaluates: Is this true? how does it compare? Can I trust this?

Stories activate emotion and imagination. You stop judging and start experiencing

This matters in agriculture because most ag purchases require behavior change, and trust is the single biggest factor in adoption decisions.

When you lead with a story, you bypass skepticism and build credibility before the buyer’s defense systems activates

Before pitching your technology to investors or potential customers, tell the story of why you built it. What problem where you facing that forced you to invent something new?

Early adopters and investors want to see that. A story about your journey proves better than any market research deck

The goal is not to showcase the genius of you. It’s to prove you understand the pain better than anyone else, because you lived it.

When you're expanding into a new region, farmers don't care about your product credentials yet. They care about farmers like them who got results.

But here's the key: tell the full story, not just the outcome. What was their situation? What did they try before? What changed their thinking?

Regenerative agriculture requires farmers to rethink everything. This is not a featured based sale. This is a belief-change sale.

That’s why a newsletter works so well. It’s where you share real farm stories, lessons from the field, and what growers are learning along the way.

LinkedIn gets attention.

Newsletters build belief week by week.

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We trust a story more when it’s told by someone with mud on their boots.
Don’t polish every post. Show the work, the field, and the imperfection.