Daryl Fairweather, chief economist at Redfin, has leaned into storytelling as a way to expand her reach and connect with a wider audience.

Since joining the real estate brokerage five years ago, she has made it her mission to become the “go-to housing market economist for journalists.”

She’s launched a Youtube channel, created a Substack newsletter and was interviewed first by CNBC and Bloomberg and later by 60 Minutes. She also has a book in the works.

What’s notable about Fairweather is how intentional she has been about developing communication skills. Before she joined Refin, she was an economist at Amazon who focused on analyzing internal data and didn’t present to external audiences.

She spent years writing dry pieces about the housing market for Barron’s, Business Insider and Forbes. The publications had relatively strict guidelines. You don’t have much leeway when explaining how the Fed’s monetary policy works, she explained.

When I spoke with her recently, she explained that “too many economists only talk to other economists in the language of economists.” It limits their influence.

She said that as she began writing her book — the title is taken from her Substack newsletter called Hate the Game — she realized that she needed to develop and lean into her own voice.

She has been influenced by her economics advisor Steve Levitt, the co-author of the bestseller Freakenomics, and her mother who was writer and theater critic.

That effort is evident in the Substack she writes. For example, a recent newsletter explained the economic concept of signal — which refers to information or actions that convey valuable insights or knowledge — by telling a story about the musician Prince.

Fairweather noted that Prince was booed when he opened for the Rolling Stones, but responded to that “signal” by deciding to play only for his own fans. She noted that mother had attended the concert that evening.

She said that she’s accelerated her effort to improve her writing starting last year by focusing on character and plot devices in fiction, as well as podcasts and other writing. She said she learned about plot from Save the Cat, a book about screenwriting by Blake Snyder.

“You have to take the narrative pretty seriously if you want it to be a page turner,” she said.

She said that writing on social media helps in getting audience feedback, though Twitter and Facebook have become less reliable sources. “LinkedIn is the most valuable place to post right now because they aren’t throttling links.”

She said that economists are trained to be completely objective and not put any emotion in their work which “kills the writing.”

She argues that storytelling is essential to making complex economic ideas accessible.

“I’ve learned that’s how you engage an audience.”