Help your audience remember your message. Tell a story. People can remember stories, not facts, figures, and charts.
Telling stories creates understanding and builds emotional connections. As discussed here, people can’t remember facts, figures and charts, but they can remember stories. Think about the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Unless you have young children, you probably have not read this story in many years. However, I bet you could tell the story well enough to be true to the book. Why? I am sure repetition has something to do with it, but more importantly because the story is interesting! And we remember what is interesting and forget the rest. Watch your favorite speakers; view multiple Ted Talks and I bet the presenters you are drawn to and feel are most impactful are particularly good at storytelling in their presentations.
Good storytelling takes practice. Begin by writing out your speakers’ notes as you normally would and look for where you can insert short stories to make your point pop for the audience. Not every point you make needs to have a story to support it, but when you think about the key messages you are going to deliver ensure those have an interesting supporting story and you will stand out relative to those that do not. When possible, make the story personal and your audience will feel a more direct connection to your message.
As you develop your notes, it’s likely some facts, figures, and charts may be necessary to get your point across. But an endless stream of them will likely have your audience bleary eyed and only half listening. Think about which facts, which aspects of the charts and figures are most important for the audience to understand for them to act on your message. There may be many points you would like for them to understand as well as you do, but do they need to? Identify the ones that are central to the action you’re asking them to take and consider how you might share them through a story to ensure your message sticks with them.
Share your thoughts below.
Do you balance storytelling with the “data” you need to share? How have audiences responded to your approach?
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