Chapter 4
Tell Me a Story
To be a person is to have a story to tell.
—Isak Dinesen
So What’s the Story?
Telling stories isn’t a modern invention. Long before humans had a written language, we were swapping them. Our ability to create and share stories is one of the few truly universal human traits, found in all cultures throughout history and serves an essential purpose; they help us understand the world and our place in it. Storytelling helps us educate1, entertain, preserve history, pass on traditions, show affiliations, and reinforce social mores. You can learn a lot about a society’s belief system by looking at its fairy tales, parables, proverbs, legends, myths, jokes, and even nursery rhymes.
Additionally, many stories throughout history, regardless of culture or time, share common structural or literary devices. The late American scholar Joseph Campbell believed all stories everywhere share a fundamental structure, what he called a monomyth, the hero’s journey.2 Campbell identified several steps our “hero” archetype takes along a journey including: leaving home, overcoming great challenges, and eventually returning home having been endowed with special wisdom or powers. Campbell’s work has influenced artists and writers around the world, including Star Wars maestro George Lucas.3
What’s also fascinating about the human history of storytelling is that similar motifs (recurring objects or ideas in a narrative) pop up in all major cultures throughout the world, suggesting the same origin.4 The “great flood” narrative is a prime example. Though many Christians and Jews might have heard of the biblical story of Noah and his ark5, strikingly similar stories are found all over the world in different faiths and even centuries before Noah’s adventures were chronicled in the Book of Genesis. This knowledge becomes especially important if you’re considering incorporating stories into speeches because it illustrates how common themes might resonate and, therefore, connect with your audience organically. We’ll explore this idea later in the chapter when we talk about “universal themes,” but first, what’s your story?
A Storied Life
Has anyone ever told you that your life could be a movie or make a great reality show? This observation usually follows one of your especially zany, dramatic events or escapades. On the other hand, maybe you don’t think your life is all that exciting. If this is the case, time to reconsider. Every up and down of daily life is a story disguised as a victory, deed, or disaster. Take a closer look because you don’t want to miss out on one of the most effective strategies you can use in a speech. There are many reasons why this is true. The first is that you are a natural-born storyteller. You think and communicate in stories all day long. In fact, personal stories and gossip fill 65 percent of our conversations.6 This means your audience will be all ears for your story, too! Yet, our attention to stories goes deeper than that.
Intellectual Properties
When it comes to public speaking, an audience is far more likely to remember a powerful story over “facts and figures” long after the speech is over. It’s not only because we’re used to telling and listening to them. Humans are hardwired to hear them. When someone tells us a story, our brain immediately starts working to connect it with our own experiences. As we search through our intellectual inventory, the insular cortex in our brain kicks in, cuing us to identify with emotional elements of the story.7 This means that whether they are used to entertain, inform, or persuade, stories are effective because they appeal directly to our emotions and sense of empathy.8 This is great news for public speakers. It’s like moving into an apartment that’s already cable ready. Your audience is already hooked up and ready for you to flip the proverbial switch.
Universal Remote
What supercharges stories in speeches and in literature are universal themes. As we mentioned at the beginning of the chapter, these are central ideas that are found across the world, throughout time, and in almost every story ever told. These tales as old as time include: human (man or woman) against nature, human (man or woman) against self, human (man or woman) against society, human (man or woman) against human (man or woman), coming of age, eternal love, love lost, triumph over great odds, sacrifice brings rewards, crime doesn’t pay, and the importance of family. These types of themes drive the narrative, but are so ingrained in our psyche that we might not even be conscious of them. These are akin to, but not the same as, motifs. The “great flood” motif is a structural device used to illustrate a universal theme. In this case, it could be “man against nature,” “triumph over great odds,” or a number of others depending on the culture, religion, and respective worldview.
Telling stories with popular universal themes is one of the most effective ways to introduce an audience to new ideas and concepts. George Lucas isn’t the only guy in Hollywood who takes full advantage of this benefit. It’s a big reason period pieces (past or present settings) work so beautifully even though we live in the present. Take the 2006 Oscar-nominated film Apocalypto. It’s set in 1511, in pre-Columbian Petén, Guatemala, around the end of the Mayan civilization. The story follows a young Mesoamerican tribesman named Jaguar Paw (played by Rudy Youngblood) on an epic quest to rescue his family after their village is destroyed and he’s captured.9 All the dialogue is in the Yucatec Maya language. It might surprise you to learn that not very many Americans speak or understand Yucatec. In fact, everything about the movie seems completely removed from our cultural experience. So how can an audience have zero connection to Jaguar Paw’s culture or world-view at the beginning of the movie, but quickly become completely invested in his well-being? Stated another way, how is it possible we become empathetic to his specific situation? First, the hero’s journey as the fundamental structure is instantly recognizable and familiar. However, the emotional connection would never have been possible without the framework of universal themes. Apocalypto overflows with universal themes like: man vs. nature, man vs. society, man overcoming great obstacles, love and the importance of family. In other words, universal themes opened the door and allowed us to step into the world (and shoes) of someone who we deemed as completely different.
You can craft the same experience for your audience. If you need your audience to identify or empathize with a person, place, or thing that is completely foreign to them, do it with a universal theme as a backdrop. Then create a very specific world, and feel the connections happen.
The Underdog Effect
There is another archetype we have to tell you about because it is scientifically proven to be effective with almost all audiences; it’s a psychological phenomenon. We’re talking about the underdog. One of the most famous “underdog” stories is that of David and Goliath.10 The story, found in the Bible’s Books of Samuel, chronicles the battle between a giant Philistine warrior, Goliath, who is felled by a much smaller David, a future king of Israel and Judah.
The biggest surprise, perhaps, is that the underdog phenomenon doesn’t have to have David winning. We might like our winners, but we love our losers. That is, we root for the underdog—even when they lose. Remember first hearing about the Butler University Bulldogs a few years ago? Although the small Indiana school now sports a solid reputation for men’s basketball, back in 2010, not so much. In what was touted as a “Cinderella story,” the Bulldogs charged through the NCAA Tournament that year to take on the powerhouse Duke University Blue Devil’s for the National Championship. Duke overshadowed Butler University in almost every way. Yet, here was Butler on the finals court duking it out. In the end, Butler missed a game-winning shot at the buzzer and Duke took the title. But it almost didn’t matter. The Bulldogs had won millions of fans and goodwill from media outlets around the world. The New York Post even called the Bulldog’s loss “triumphant.”11
Research has also shown that U.S. Americans are 80 percent more likely to champion the underdog in almost every kind of situation, be it in sports, politics, entertainment, academics, or business.12 So what’s going on here? Are we that nice? Maybe, but scholars say it all might come down to our respect for justice and fairness. We also tend to evaluate an underdog’s characteristics differently than the top dogs. We see the underdog in a more positive light, one who is at an unfair advantage, overcoming greater obstacles. Finally, we see ourselves in the underdog. We have all struggled at some point. Maybe you’ve been bullied or faced hardship or challenges. Remember that mean inner critic of yours? Ultimately, we all know what it’s like to face Goliath, so we relate to the underdog and cheer them on.13
Obviously, the underdog archetype won’t work for every speech, but don’t forget about it for the future. It’s one of the most effective storytelling devices you can use. Okay, now let’s move on to how to best use your stories in your speech.
Story Lines
There are several kinds of storytelling approaches you can use in a speech ensuring your audience gets the message. One of the most popular and effective is an analogy, which compares a familiar idea with one that may be unfamiliar to your audience. As former presidential speechwriter John Pollack explains, “The most effective analogies, comparisons that resonate emotionally, use the familiar to illuminate the strange.”14 The intent of analogies is to show how two different ideas actually share traits, which can serve as “shorthand” for speakers and audience. For example, one widely used and effective analogy is the “domino effect.” It’s a quick way to cut through a lengthy explanation about chain reactions. Arguably, your audience will also have a stronger visceral response to “falling dominos” over a description like “one event setting off a sequence of events.”
Analogies are also useful when you need to illustrate the size of an object or want an audience to grasp a number so large that it risks becoming abstract for them and, therefore, meaningless. When talking about size, we’re sure you’ve heard everything from homes to countries described in terms of how many “football fields.” Citrus fruit is very popular in medical parlance: “When the vet removed Goldie’s tumor, it was the size of a grapefruit.” Numbers and statistics, just like sizes, can also be so abstract they become impersonal. If a speaker feels this is a risk, she might bring those numbers closer to home. For instance, she could take a number and “translate” it through an analogy like this: “That’s roughly five times the number of students who go to this college” or “Statistically, that means half the people in this room will experience some level of hearing loss before turning 50.”
Some analogies are more “figures of speech” comparing two unlike things to make your point more vivid for an audience. For instance, similes are comparisons that are linked by the words “like” or “as” where the traits of one thing resemble the traits of another. Commonly used similes are “as cute as a button” and “like two peas in a pod.” These figures of speech can be especially useful when introducing new technical, scientific, or other complex information to an audience by comparing it with something already familiar to them. For example, if you’re giving a speech on cells, you might say: “A cell is like a hotel. The nucleus is like the hotel manager, controlling what happens in the cell. The cell membrane, just like a hotel security officer, controls the perimeter.”
Similar to similes are metaphors, which have the same basic function, but in this case, the traits of one thing symbolically replace that of another. If you’ve ever said something like “He was a breath of fresh air,” “Her room is a pigsty,” or “You are the sunshine of my life,” you’ve made a metaphor. Usually, if you use a metaphor, you won’t use a simile and vice versa. This doesn’t mean it can’t be done, it just means you have to be a wordsmith or Winston Churchill. The late British prime minister used both (simile followed by a metaphor) describing his first encounter with President Franklin Roosevelt. Churchill noted, “Meeting [FDR] was like opening your first bottle of champagne; knowing him was drinking it.”15
Another storytelling technique is the use of testimonials. These are first-person accounts from someone with a direct connection to the subject matter like an expert (for example, scientist, professor, or top business professional) or a layperson. Both kinds of testimonials can be equally effective, but for different reasons. Citing an expert who believes the way you do, adds to your topic’s credibility. But a layperson who witnessed or experienced something first-hand can be just as convincing (for example, cancer survivor, foster mother) because it’s difficult to challenge someone’s feelings. Just like analogies, testimonials can also be especially useful to help statistics or big numbers “land” with your audience. For instance, let’s say you have to talk about how 50 million U.S. Americans suffer from neurological disorders. Although that number is striking, it doesn’t offer much in the way of emotional impact. However, what if you followed it up with an example of someone battling a neurological disorder, like Muhammad Ali, or someone who isn’t famous at all? Hearing “testimony” from someone struggling with a neurological disorder connects an audience with a number, which can be too abstract to absorb intellectually and certainly doesn’t have the same emotional appeal.
Another storytelling option is to use an anecdote to illustrate a point. These are short stories from the speaker’s life or the life of someone else (usually someone famous). They can be witty, poetic, poignant, or serious. Here’s an example of a personal anecdote, illustrating how the speaker learned about his own resilience.
“My family used to go to the same resort every summer. One of my earliest memories is splashing around in the pool. I remember hanging on the side because I couldn’t swim yet. My dad was sitting not too far away. It was pretty crowded so I kept moving myself closer to the deep end. Suddenly, I slipped off the ledge and I started sinking down. And down. And down. It was weird because I didn’t panic. When my feet touched the bottom, I pushed myself up to the surface, caught a breath and then sank down again. This went on and on. Each time I hit the bottom, I used my feet to push myself back up. Finally, my dad reached down and pulled me out of the water. I’ve never forgotten it.”
Short stories about famous people always make interesting anecdotes, especially if they are not widely known. Many years ago, a friend told us an anecdote about famous opera singer Jessye Norman. It goes like this:
“It was 9:45 a.m. and the production crew in the San Antonio Convention Center was ready to pack it in. The international opera star Jessye Norman was due in 15 minutes to rehearse for a special performance that afternoon. The crew had worked with ‘divas’ before, and a few had heard she was definitely of that persuasion. They were convinced she wouldn’t arrive on time for rehearsal, let alone the actual performance. But 10 a.m. on the dot, Ms. Norman strode in, regally, still wearing dramatic stage makeup. You see, hours earlier, she had performed a full opera and after the last curtain call, she had walked off the New York stage without removing her makeup. She changed clothes in midstride. Then she sped to the airport and flew all night to San Antonio. Later, after the crew learned this, one of the producers thanked her for making it to the rehearsal on time. Ms. Norman simply smiled and said graciously, ‘I gave you my word.’”
In the next section, you’ll see how these anecdotes could work in a speech.
Heads and Tales
One of the best places to tell a story (especially a really funny or dramatic one) is at the beginning of your speech as an attention-getter. We know audiences love stories and are wired to connect with them, so it’s a no-brainer to use a story to connect with your audience immediately and naturally! Of course, you can pepper the middle of your speech as needed with storytelling devices like analogies, similes, metaphors, and testimonials anytime you need to downsize a monster number or statistic or introduce new information to your audience. Finally, you can end your speech with a story. This is usually the perfect choice if you start your speech with one because you then “book end” your speech with the same story. You don’t say the same exact thing, of course, but should either refer to it, or finish it. So for example, if we started our speech with the personal anecdote about the kid almost drowning in a pool, we could conclude our speech by using it again to make a point:
“I’ll never forget that summer when I almost drowned. I learned three things that day. First, stick close to family. Second, watch that you don’t wander too far into the deep end. Finally, if and when I ever ‘hit bottom,’ I will land on my feet and push myself up to the surface again. And I know you can too.”
Or, if we used the Jessye Norman anecdote to kick off our talk, we could wrap it up this way:
“The crew and producers were expecting a ‘diva’ that morning in San Antonio. And when opera star Jessye Norman showed up, they got one. The word ‘diva’ is tossed around a lot these days and if you call yourself a diva you probably aren’t one. Because when you look up the real definition of diva, it means to be ‘celebrated.’ It’s not a self-ascribed title; it’s earned. So, if you want to be a real diva, act like one. Work hard, be a pro, and above all, keep your promises.”
Beware of Tall Tales
If you’ve ever been on the wrong end of a nasty rumor, you know that stories can harm. Fabrications among friends can be an awful experience, but being untruthful as a public speaker may have serious personal and professional consequences. For starters, if you tell a tall tale as truth, you’re asking for big trouble. This might sound overly dramatic (even for the chapter on storytelling), but as a speaker, you have a sacred contract with your audience to be honest. You can make mistakes, but they should be honest ones.
This doesn’t mean you can’t add flourishes, embellish for theatrical effect, or even reorder a time line a bit to create a compelling story. It does mean that you have to remember that telling a story in public is different from sharing one in casual or personal conversation. The stakes are higher and so are the consequences.
Greg Mortenson’s story about getting lost in Pakistan while mountain climbing and being nursed back to health by strangers is the basis for a best-selling 2007 book, Three Cups of Tea.16 He promised his rescuers he would build a school to thank them for their kindness. The publicity from his book and subsequent speaking tours persuaded thousands of Americans, including schoolchildren, to donate millions of dollars to a charity he established to build not one, but hundreds of schools in central Asia. But in 2010, allegations began to surface that Mortenson had fabricated the story told in Three Cups of Tea and that he was using his charity as a “personal ATM.” Soon, Mortenson’s credibility began to unspool. He later confessed the stories in Three Cups of Tea were amalgamations of several trips during a number of years and reimbursed the charity for $1 million.17 Mortenson lost a tremendous amount of credibility as a speaker because he broke a sacred contract with his audience.
Tale of Two Stories
Given that storytelling is a universal human trait and we are wired to process and remember stories, there’s a pretty good case for you using a story or two in your speech. But where do you start?
Many new speakers are tempted to tell a story that has nothing to do with their speech, just because they know it or think it’s amusing or interesting. This is a big waste of time and risks confusing your audience. Stories are meant to support the message of your speech, not detract from or work against it. Additionally, beginning public speakers often have trouble discerning which of their personal stories work well for speeches. This is why we always have them start with the underdog story. Remember how powerful that archetype is? One of the reasons it resonates is because we’ve all felt like the underdog at some time in our lives. We asked our student Chad to write down a time in his life when he felt like an underdog. Here’s what he wrote down and shared with us.
“When I was 15, I started wrestling. When I showed up for my first tournament, there weren’t any other kids in my weight class. So, they bumped me up to the next weight class. All the boys, there were seven of them, were 16 and were bigger than me. Everybody, even my coach, kind of counted me out before I even started. And it was hard. Those guys were way heavier than me. But I ended up beating three of them and took fourth place.”
It’s a classic underdog story. Chad was pinned underneath the general consensus that he was going to lose, even before his first match. The story is also full of universal themes. Along with the underdog, we identified “triumph over great odds,” “man against man,” and “coming of age.” So next, we asked Chad how he felt about placing fourth in his adopted weight class. He said, “Great!” This was interesting to us because most people wouldn’t consider coming in fourth place so “great.” This gave us an idea for one of the ways he could use this story in a speech. Let’s say Chad is doing a speech on the importance of determination or even America’s obsession with winning, he could tell the story like this:
“I’m 15 years old. I am trying to move, but this kid is 16 and has about 10 pounds on me. Did I mention that it’s my first wrestling meet? Or that when I showed up this morning, there were no other guys in my weight class, so they bumped me up to compete with the brutes? I’m trying to put on a game face, but everybody is telling me not to be too disappointed when I lose. In the end, out of seven guys, I came in fourth. In our society, we put a lot of weight into winning. If we’re not #1, well, we’re nothing. But what my 15-year-old self can tell you is this: That afternoon, so many years ago, when I was pinned underneath this older kid, knowing full well I was seconds away from a loss, I was smiling like a goofball because I had tried my best. And I don’t care what anybody else thinks, because I know this for a fact: If you try your best, a fourth place can feel just like first.”
There are other ways Chad can use this story in a speech. It would only mean emphasizing a different point or setting a different tone, but that’s the cool thing about stories: They can illustrate so many truths about life. Can you come up with any other lessons Chad could have learned from this experience?
Do you have a similar story? Even if doesn’t sound like Chad’s, we’re pretty sure you’ve felt like an underdog at some point in your life. Write it down. It doesn’t have to be terribly long, but should have details like: who, what, when, where, and why. Then think of different ways you can use it to illustrate a point, lesson, moral, or belief.
Additionally, we encourage you to rethink the moments in your life that mattered and begin jotting them down. As a burgeoning public speaker, it would be smart to start keeping an inventory of stories you can pull out for different occasions. And remember: One story can usually be interpreted in several ways!
Having the Last Word
In this chapter we learned that storytelling is a uniquely human trait. Storytelling is how we make sense of the world and we’ve been telling them for ages. Humans are also wired to process and remember stories. This makes storytelling a powerful device in public speaking and we encourage you to include a story or two in your speech. Remember how universal themes can open the door for audiences to learn about and embrace new people, places, and things. You can use a story at the very beginning of your speech, in the middle to illustrate a point (especially to bring a human face to big numbers), and also at the end. If you use a story at the end, it’s best to refer back to the same one you used in the beginning, as it creates a cleaner overall effect. Most importantly, remember you have a sacred contract with your audience to tell the truth; if this is broken, your credibility and your message are, too.
We also want you to get into the habit of listening to great storytellers. Here are a few places on the Internet where you’ll find them:
There’s also a really amazing Website where you can record your own stories and listen to people share their tales of loss and triumph. It’s called StoryCorps.org.
Try and Apply
Listen to the Story
Storytelling is a universal human trait. Begin to notice how many times you engage in this storytelling ritual. It’s probably more than you have ever noticed! The good news is that you have been practicing “speechwriting” without even trying. Now notice how many times you are listening to your friend, family member, coworker, neighbor—the list goes on and on—tell you a story. Notice what kind of stories grabbed your attention most. Did they fall into one of the universal themes?
Human against nature.
Human against self.
Human against society.
Human against human.
Coming of age.
Eternal love.
Love lost.
Triumph over great odds.
Sacrifice brings rewards.
Crime doesn’t pay.
Importance of family.
Observing this will give you a good start when you begin to prepare your speech.
Points to Consider as You Put Your Story Together
1. Have a beginning, middle, and end. This sounds like another “duh” moment, but it gives you a natural outline to start working from.
2. Have a clear protagonist and vibrant characters. Boring characters are just that.
3. You don’t need to tell your story in chronological order. You can start at the end and work backward if that provides a more surprising result for your audience.
4. Avoid making yourself the “hero” if possible. Hint: Even if it’s not a classic underdog story, your protagonist needs to be either likeable or wildly interesting.
5. Have an obstacle or obstacles your protagonist (or you) needs to overcome. What is the lesson to be learned?
6. Use vivid language!
7. Remember to write it to be said, not to be read. Tell a story; don’t read an essay (more on this in Chapter 6).
8. Use humor and/or drama to create tension. A little self-deprecating humor is effective in making you and your plight relatable to your audience. Too much self-deprecation is a turnoff.
9. Share a “short story.” In other words, a story’s function is to support your point, not be it.
10. Be honest and accurate. Rearranging a story can be helpful for storytelling purposes, but make sure you keep your credibility contract with your audience!
11. Practice, practice, practice. Try timing your story and also telling it to a friend or family member. After you’re finished, ask them to repeat the story back to you. If they have difficulty doing so, this could be a big clue that you need to rework the story. Remember: You know the story, other people don’t. You might have to do a bit more explaining in some parts and less in others, depending on your audience.
Key Notes
1. We are natural storytellers: The brain is hardwired to find a common ground and relatable themes in any story.
2. Universal themes: Supercharge your speech by writing it using a universal theme to engage your audience.
3. Storytelling isn’t random: Use one of the universal storytelling techniques as the foundation for your speech.
4. The unspoken oath: The audience expects you to be honest. You can stretch the truth, but don’t jump off the tracks.