Discover the 3 Essential Elements for Effectively using Storytelling in Your Presentation or Speech
Key points to consider when including a story in your speech/presentation to make your story more engaging and interesting:
1. Where are you sourcing your stories? Stories can come from all facets of our lives: places we have been, people we have known, and events that have occurred. It may be helpful to start a list of places, people, events, and brainstorm the stories that are evoked by your memories.
2. Is your story related to the core message or point you are trying to make? Stories that are irrelevant to the point you want to make do nothing to enhance your overall message. Stories that are related to your core message or key point will be remembered long after you have delivered your speech.
3. Does your story have these 3 essential elements: context, action, and a result or resolution?
Context is the where and when of your story. It provides just enough background information to ensure your story makes sense. The context of your story introduces the main character and what that character wants. Be cautious – too much information or exposition can ruin a story. Parts of the exposition you might think are important will not be important from your audience’s viewpoint. An important part of any story’s context is the main character and what he/she is trying to achieve.
Action is what happened to the main character. Conflict is what makes your story interesting because conflict creates action. Where is there conflict in your story? What is the obstacle that the main character faces?
Resolution is the final phase of your story and explains the result of the action that was taken. You don’t want to leave your audience hanging – the resolution enables your audience to feel satisfied. The resolution includes the lesson you want your audience to take from the story, and it should include why you told the story in the first place.
4. Are you in the story, or just telling it? As you tell the story, be in the story. Being in the story as you recount it for your audience rather than just telling it allows you to relive the emotions as you experienced them. An emotional connection with your audience will move them much more effectively than data ever will.
And if your presentation includes a lot of data, be sure you are including the story behind the data or why the data is important.
We are all hard-wired to listen to stories. Speakers who can craft and deliver engaging stories are often the most sought-after and successful speakers because they are able to readily connect with any audience.