Apply Storytelling Principles

Stories have the power to win customers, align colleagues, and motivate employees. They’re the most compelling platform we have for managing imaginations. Those who master this art form can gain great influence and an enduring legacy.

If you use stories in your presentation, the audience can recall what they’ve learned from you and even spread the word. Just as the plot of a compelling play, movie, or novel makes a writer’s themes more vivid and memorable, well-crafted stories can give your message real staying power, for two key reasons:

• Stories feature transformation: When people hear a story, they root for the protagonist as she overcomes obstacles and emerges changed in some important way (perhaps a new outlook helps her complete a difficult physical journey). It’s doubly powerful to incorporate stories that demonstrate how others have adopted the same beliefs and behaviors you’re proposing—that is, show others going through a similar transformation that your audience will go through. This will help you get people to cross over from their everyday world into the world of your ideas—and come back to their world transformed, with new insights and tools from your presentation.
• Stories have a clear structure: All effective stories adhere to the same basic three-part structure that Aristotle pointed out ages ago: They have a beginning, a middle, and an end. It makes them easy to digest and retell—and it’s how audiences have been conditioned for centuries to receive information. Make sure your presentation—and any story you tell within it—has all three parts, with clear transitions between them.

In this section of the guide, you’ll learn how to use storytelling principles to structure your presentation and incorporate anecdotes that add emotional appeal.