The narrative mode (also known as the mode of narration) is the set of methods the author of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical story uses to convey the plot to the audience. Narration, the process of presenting the narrative, occurs because of the narrative mode. It encompasses several overlapping areas, most importantly narrative point-of-view, which determines through whose perspective the story is viewed and narrative voice, which determines a set of consistent features regarding the way through which the story is communicated to the audience. Narrative mode is a literary element.

The narrator may be either a fictive person devised by the author as a stand-alone entity, the author himself, and/or a character in the story. The narrator is considered participant as an actual character in the story, and nonparticipant if only an implied character, or a sort of omniscient or semi-omniscient being who does not take part in the story but only relates it to the audience.

The narrative mode encompasses not only who tells the story, but also how the story is described or expressed (for example, by using stream of consciousness or unreliable narration).

The "narrator" can also be more than one person, to show different story lines of people at the same, similar or different times. It is used in film and books to illustrate the story from different points in time and is sometimes more effective than a singular point of view because it gives a better effect for a more complex story line.