Envista is a $6B public dental company with market-leading brands and a familiar problem: commoditized categories flatten great companies into spec sheets. A three-hour storytelling intensive gave its executives a different language, with numbers to show for it.
Envista is one of the largest dental product companies in the world, operating a portfolio of market-leading brands across implants, orthodontics, imaging, and infection prevention. Fifteen top executives from across the portfolio, including CEOs, GMs, and CHROs, gathered for the company’s annual Leadership Lab.
In a sea of commoditized products and crowded markets, how do dental industry leaders stand out? Despite robust R&D, operational efficiency, and proven products, many leaders struggled to translate those strengths into narratives that differentiate and drive results.
In commoditized industries, storytelling helps great companies be perceived as great. Most leaders undervalue how much internal strategy documents and customer-facing materials shape brand perception. Framing technical capabilities in human terms, with clear stakes, obstacles, and value, resonates far more than spec sheets or slide decks. And even a basic narrative structure yields fast, visible improvement in confidence and communication across functions.
Matt designed and facilitated a three-hour custom storytelling workshop at Envista’s annual Leadership Lab. The program blended hands-on exercises tailored to B2B audiences, competitive analysis of Envista’s top industry rivals, real examples from major consumer brands and in-house strategy decks, and gamified group challenges that had executives applying storytelling to their own marketing, leadership, and internal communications on the spot.
Each executive was challenged to use storytelling as a lever: to influence customer behavior, accelerate trust, elevate strategic narratives, and improve team alignment.
The workshop sparked an internal movement: storytelling became a language for leadership. One that connects, and converts.
“Matt’s workshop was a masterclass in making the complex compelling. He gave our leaders practical tools to communicate with more clarity, confidence, and impact - skills that are already showing up in how we sell, lead, and align internally. One of the most engaging sessions we’ve had at Leadership Lab.”
Leading a strong company in a commoditized market? That’s a story problem.
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