Stories make business presentations come alive!

If you want to hit a grand slam in your next presentation, tell a story. Now obviously, the story has to have something to do with the subject matter.  It can’t come out of left field, but assuming you have such a story, let me make a case for using it.

Human beings, and that includes many of the people who read this blog, hear, digest and remember stories better than any other form of communications. We have been programmed since we were little people to hear stories when our parents held us and whispered “Once upon a time…”.  Cognitive scientists have shown that when we tell a story, our face becomes more animated, our arms and hands gesture more, our posture improves and our voice gets stronger.  In other words, all of the things you want to be doing in any presentation happen naturally when you tell a story.

Remember that a story has an open, middle and ending.  You don’t need to tell the story in the exact way it happened in real life. Make the story fit the flow of the presentation. You are allowed to exaggerate.  When telling a story don’t get side tracked with back stories and off road adventures. Just tell the story.  No one knows the real facts anyway, so you can’t tell the story wrong.  I heard a speaker tell a story of something that happened on Main Street in her town. As she got into the story she realized that it was Broad Street, not Main and  she made a big point of correcting it.  The particular street was not germane to the story. The name of the street didn’t matter and the correction only served to confuse the audience. Keep your eye on the reason you’re telling the story, not the minor details. 

Find strength in this axiom from Leslie Stephen, “No good story is quite true".

One last tip that will guarantee you have a great presentation. If you can tell the story as the opening of your presentation, literally stand up and start with the story, it will calm you down, put the audience at ease and give you a spectacular start  to your pitch.

Stories are the strongest and easiest way we have to communicate. Use them as frequently as you can. 

That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.