Storytelling can be a very effective tool in
presentations. Evocative, relevant
stories can engage your audience and help you clearly communicate your
message. Here are three tips for effective
storytelling:
In order to manage the vast amount of
information they receive, people decide what to pay attention to and what to
ignore. That means that when they're
listening to your presentation, everyone in your audience is thinking, "what's
in it for me?" and trying to figure out what is relevant for them. Therefore, your story should have a pertinent
point that clearly relates to your message – and your message should be
meaningful for that audience.
As you're preparing your presentation and
practicing your story, think about it from the audience's point of view. An irrelevant story, no matter how funny or
unusual, will only distract from your message.
And if the point of the story is not obvious, be clear in explaining it
to the audience. With fairy tales,
fables and parables (some of the oldest stories we have), there is often a line
at the end, "and the moral of the story is…" In your story, substitute
"message" or "point" for "moral," and make sure
it's relevant.
2.
Include
vivid, memorable details
A good story should have vivid, memorable details. Specific details are more memorable than
general descriptions. For example, if
you're telling a story about an employee problem, saying, "he came into
work 2 hours late, with bloodshot eyes and slurring his words," is more
effective and memorable than saying, "he came in drunk." The details
help the audience visualize the story in their minds and will help them
remember it.
Use your five senses –
sight, sound, smell, touch and taste - to craft the details. For example, if you're sharing a story about
your six-year-old son's soccer game as an example of how even inexperienced
people can overcome obstacles, describe the smell of the wood fire in the air
during an autumn soccer game, the sound of the leaves crunching under your feet
or the taste of the mint chocolate chip ice cream at the postgame celebration
party. Choose whichever senses help paint the picture most clearly.
3.
Vary
your body language
When you're telling a story, another way to add
life and interest to it is by varying your body language, the non-verbal part
of your communication. Body language
includes elements such as facial expression, gestures, eye contact, voice,
posture and movement. These elements
should change so your body language matches the words that you or the characters
you're portraying in the story are saying.
If you've ever read a bedtime story to a child, you have varied your
body language instinctively by making your voice loud and harsh when you're the
Big Bad Wolf and softer and higher-pitched when you're Little Red Riding Hood.
At first, varying your voice while telling a
story during a business presentation may feel silly, but you can become more
comfortable with it by practicing. Even
small variations in your body language can make a difference. For example, if you're telling a story about how
your teenager always responded to your questions by saying, "whatever,"
you can say "whatever" in a monotone, shrug your shoulders, roll your
eyes and then look at the floor.
That
change in body language will help the audience envision your teenager and
understand when he or she is speaking in the story. To engage the audience even more, you can
make them part of the story by repeating the body language pattern, such as the
"whatever" sequence, a few times and letting them fill in the
blank. The third or fourth time you say,
"and then I asked him another question and he said [pause]…" the
audience will fill in the blank with "whatever."
Stories can be an effective tool to use when
giving a presentation and using these tips will make your stories more
relevant, interesting and memorable.