The art of storytelling for financial advisers: Explaining money like a human

Financial advice is about more than numbers. It is about people, their goals and the stories that help them make sense of money, as Mike LeGassick, Independent Financial Adviser and Behavioural Investment Coach, explains.

Financial advice has always been about more than spreadsheets, risk ratings, and fund fact sheets. At its heart, advice is about human beings: their goals, fears, habits, and blind spots. Yet too often, the profession hides behind jargon, acronyms, and technical language that leaves clients more confused than informed.

That’s the problem my new book, The Art of Storytelling for Financial Advisers – Explaining Money Like a Human, sets out to solve.

More than numbers

After more than 30 years as an Independent Financial Adviser, I’ve seen first-hand how powerful clear, human communication can be. Clients rarely remember the details of asset allocation or platform charges — what they remember is how you made them feel. They remember the analogy you used that finally made inflation click. They remember the story that showed them why chasing the latest market fad can be ruinous. They remember the picture you painted of their retirement, not the Monte Carlo probability score.

That’s why I often use physical props. Whether it’s a crystal ball, a set of noise-cancelling headphones, or even two water beakers to illustrate risk and reward, these simple, tactile tools help clients connect with abstract financial concepts in a way that charts and jargon never could. They cut through fear, uncertainty, and the endless noise of markets to deliver reassurance and clarity.

Why storytelling matters

Storytelling isn’t a “soft skill” — it’s the cornerstone of trust and understanding. When clients truly grasp the why behind their plan, they are far more likely to stick with it through the ups and downs. That behavioural resilience is what ultimately drives better outcomes, not picking the next star fund.

Behavioural research consistently shows that investors are their own worst enemy. Dalbar’s studies in the US, and Morningstar’s work in the UK, highlight the “behaviour gap”: the costly difference between market returns and the lower returns most investors actually achieve because they buy high, sell low, and abandon their plan when volatility strikes.

The job of an adviser is not just to build a portfolio — it’s to coach behaviour. And the best way to do that is through stories that cut through complexity and reach people on a human level.

Lessons from experience

I left school at 16 without attending university, and like many of my generation, I started on a Youth Training Scheme earning £25 a week. I wasn’t handed a career on a plate. Instead, I built my knowledge the long way — through relentless self-education, books, courses, seminars, and thousands of real client conversations over three decades.

That background has shaped my philosophy: real expertise isn’t about impressing clients with jargon; it’s about making the complex simple, and the intimidating feel achievable. Over time, I discovered that the conversations clients found most valuable weren’t the ones packed with charts, graphs, and data — they were the ones where I used simple analogies, stories, and props to make the invisible visible.

This is the essence of the book. It’s a curated collection of stories, metaphors, and examples that any adviser can use in their client conversations.

A toolkit for advisers

The book is not a theory-heavy manual — it’s a practical toolkit. Each chapter takes a core financial planning concept — risk, volatility, inflation, retirement spending, market cycles, investor biases — and pairs it with relatable stories. Advisers can take these and use them directly in conversations, presentations, or reviews.

For example:

In a first meeting with new clients, I often bring out a crystal ball — not because I can predict the future, but to make the point that no adviser can. The real value lies in building a plan that works without needing to know what markets will do tomorrow.
To explain how investors can tune out the endless noise of headlines, I use my noise-cancelling headphones. Just as they filter out distracting background sounds, a disciplined financial plan helps clients filter out market panic and focus on what really matters.

The goal is always the same: to make clients feel informed, reassured, and confident enough to stay the course.

The human side of investing

The book also explores common investor biases — the shortcuts and blind spots that derail rational decision-making. From loss aversion and recency bias to herd mentality and overconfidence, advisers must understand the psychological forces at play if they want to help clients succeed. Storytelling gives advisers a way to surface these biases gently, without lectures or judgement.

For instance, when markets fall and panic sets in, clients rarely respond to a technical explanation of volatility. But they can immediately relate to the idea of wearing noise-cancelling headphones to block out the din and stay focused. Similarly, when discussing long-term compounding, a simple orchard story — planting trees today for fruit tomorrow — resonates more deeply than an exponential growth chart.

Amazon success

Since launch, The Art of Storytelling for Financial Advisers has already become an Amazon bestseller, ranking at #2 in Personal Finance. That reception shows the appetite within our profession for a new kind of resource — one that goes beyond technical manuals and speaks to the human side of advice.

I’ve been humbled by the messages from advisers across the UK and overseas who have said the book has given them not just practical tools, but renewed confidence in how they communicate. Many have told me they wish they had been given something like this when they first entered the profession.

A shift in the profession

The timing is important. Advisers are under more pressure than ever from regulation, Consumer Duty, and fee scrutiny. At the same time, robo-advice and DIY platforms are commoditising the technical side of portfolio construction. What cannot be commoditised is human connection.

The advisers who thrive in the coming decades will be those who can demonstrate empathy, compassion, clarity, and communication. Storytelling is the bridge. It allows advisers to translate the language of finance into something deeply personal, memorable, and actionable.

For advisers, by an adviser

This book is written by an adviser who has been in the trenches for three decades. It’s not academic theory. It’s not marketing fluff. It’s the real language, questions, and stories that work with clients sitting across the table.

Ultimately, my hope is that The Art of Storytelling for Financial Advisers helps advisers everywhere communicate with confidence, reduce client anxiety, and build stronger long-term relationships. Because when clients understand their plan, they stick with it. And when they stick with it, they succeed.

As Nick Murray has often said, “All financial success comes from acting on a plan. All financial failure comes from reacting to the market.” My contribution is to give advisers the tools to make that plan resonate at a deeply human level.