Storytelling and why is it important to a professional?
Everybody likes a good story. One that sucks you in from the beginning and has you sitting on the edge of your chair with bated breath waiting for the conclusion. It is for this reason that storytelling is becoming more important when delivering a professional presentation in the workplace.
When presenting in a professional setting you are limited by what information you can deliver and quite often the format that you need to use. So weaving in an interesting or gripping story is just as important to consider as you put your presentation together.
Why is it important?
Storytelling is the emotional connection that you make with your audience. It allows them to join you in what is happening. They can feel the same sense of accomplishment and urgency as the person presenting.
Most of the time the presenter just focuses on delivering the facts and recommendations. However, this can quite often be a very dry or boring way of conveying the message. If your audience does not get hooked on what you are saying then they are less likely to buy into what you are recommending.
How do you do it?
As you prepare your information you need to think about:
Why is it important?
Who is it important to?
What will happen if we don't take action?
Why do I care about this?
Why should my audience care about it?
Once we have done this we can then start to plan our story around these answers. When we understand why we care then we can let our audience know the same.
We need a hook
Once we have an idea of why this is important then we can start to think about what is going to grab the attention of the audience at the start of the presentation.
Some hooks you can consider
Ask a question
Share an anecdote of a worse case/best case scenario
Keep in mind that when you start to include examples and anecdotes we need to make sure that they are relevant and on point. If you meander or miss the point then your audience will be frustrated and so if you can’t be consiste at the same time then you are probably better to stick with the facts and keep your presentation shorter.
What makes a good story?
An unexpected twist
Emotion
Entertaining
Challenging
We need to think about our own style and what we are comfortable with when we start to try to add stories to our presentations.
Find your style and hone it
Watch TEDtalks and presentations online. Find ones that you enjoy and ask yourself
Why did I like this?
What were the key elements I liked about this?
What would feel natural for me to take from this and add to my own delivery?
If you watch something and you don’t enjoy it as much then ask yourself the following
What in particular did I not like?
Do I do the same when I make a presentation?
What would have made this more enjoyable/interesting for me?
Keep in mind that what works for you may not work for other people. When we start to weave through stories we do need to consider the impact on the audience. The better we know our audience the better we can tailor our stories to hopefully get the attention of those who most need to hear this information.
How to bring your story to life
Depending on the length of your presentation you may have one overarching story or you may link lots of little stories with each point or recommendations.
Always practice your delivery out loud. The story in our head is rarely what comes out of our mouths. The more we practise out loud the more we can think about the delivery pacing and tone.
No matter how interesting or engaging the story is, the way we deliver it will take it from being good to amazing. Take those elements and practice your timing and pacing.
Conclusion
Storytelling is a great way to improve your presentation. To make it more interesting, engaging and therefore more likely to be effective and achieve your outcomes. To be an effective storyteller you need to find what works best for you and your audience. Then practice the delivery so you can make the most of your time in front of the audience.
