Add Emotional Texture
Now step back and review all your content so far. Do you have the right mix of analysis and emotion? (See “Balance Analytical and Emotional Appeal” in the Message section.) If you need more emotional impact, you can add it with storytelling.
A message matters to people when it hits them in the gut. Visceral response, not pure analysis, is what will push your audience away from the status quo and toward your perspective. Stories elicit that kind of response. When we hear stories, our eyes dilate, our hearts race, we feel chills. We laugh, clap, lean forward or back. These reactions are mostly involuntary, because they’re grounded in emotion.
While you’re describing what is, tell a story that makes people shudder, or guffaw at the ridiculousness of their situation, or feel disappointment. While you’re describing what could be, tell a story that strikes a little awe or fear into their hearts—something that inspires them to change.
Table 3-2 shows a template (with an example plugged in) that can help you transform supporting information into a story with emotional impact.
You may be thinking that people don’t go to work to feel; they go to get stuff done. But by making them feel, you move them to action—and help them get stuff done. It’s not about issuing a gushing, weepy plea. It’s about adding emotional texture to the logical case you’ve built with data, case studies, and other supporting evidence.
Personal stories told with conviction are the most effective ones in your arsenal. You can repeat stories you’ve heard, but audiences feel more affection for presenters who reveal their own challenges and vulnerability.
Use relevant stories that are appropriately dramatic, or you may come across as manipulative or out of touch with reality. When giving an update at a small staff meeting on a project you’re leading, you wouldn’t tell a melodramatic story about the “just-in-time delivery” of multiple vendors you managed at your daughter’s wedding. It would waste everyone’s time.
But one U.S. government official did effectively tell a story about his daughter’s wedding—to get new remote-communication technology adopted in his organization. Many of his relatives couldn’t travel to the wedding, so he used a commercial version of the technology to push the wedding pictures quickly to the remote family members, helping all feel more included in the event. He argued that adopting the enterprise version of this technology would similarly include distant employees in the development of important agency initiatives. The senior executives not only understood this with their minds but felt it in their hearts. They could relate this story about a father doing his best to serve his family to their agency doing its best to serve the citizenry.
Take out a notepad and start cataloging personal stories and the emotions they summon. This exercise takes time, but it will yield material you can draw on again and again. Do your first pass when you have an uninterrupted hour or so to reflect. You can use the checklist that follows to trigger your memory. As you recall past events, jot down how you felt when you experienced them.
Inventory of Personal Stories
- Important times in your life: Childhood, adolescence, young adulthood, later years
- Relatives: Parents, grandparents, siblings, children, in-laws
- Authority figures: Teachers, bosses, coaches, mentors, leaders, political figures, other influencers
- Peers: Colleagues, social networks, club members, friends, neighbors, teammates
- Subordinates: Employees, mentees, trainees, interns, volunteers, students
- Enemies: Competitors, bullies, people with challenging personalities, people you’ve been hurt by, people you’ve hurt
- Important places: Offices, homes, schools, places of worship, local hangouts, camps, vacation spots, foreign lands
- Things you cherish: Gifts, photos, certificates/ awards, keepsakes
- Things that have injured you: Sharp objects, animal bites, spoiled food, allergens
Spending time with each item on this list, you’ll unearth many stories you’ve forgotten. Even after you’ve selected stories for whatever presentation you’re currently working on, save your notes and continue adding to them here and there, as you find time. They’ll come in handy when you’re creating future presentations.