2. Share Great Stories
Good stories are a presenter’s best friend. In fact, a good story can increase information retention by 26%. Why then do we often present the facts but leave out the stories that bring the facts to life? If you want to engage the hearts and minds of your audience, you have to do the hard work of developing and sharing powerful stories. Stories help you to celebrate the moments when your brand, product, or company made a difference in someone’s life. They bring credibility and authenticity to whatever content you are presenting.
When it comes to stories it is important to know and select the right story for your presentation. Here are three great options for your next presentation.
User Experience. These stories are some of the most powerful when it comes to portraying real life experience in your presentation. In this style of story, the presenter shares a first hand account of a situation they personally experienced. As a presenter you must always be looking for ways to bring your presentation to life, and a great opportunity for that is through your own life.
The Heroic Journey. If the user experience brings a presentation to life, the Heroic journey gives a presentation excitement. In this type of story a presenter shares the journey of a hero who goes on an adventure, only to find themself in a crisis, which they win victory over and leaves them forever changed. This style of story helps a presenter to express a solution to a felt need. This is especially effective when trying to sell or promote a product or brand.
Visual Metaphors. As we discovered in our first way to win the hearts and minds of our audience, it is vital that we speak to all learners, and the reality is that people will retain more if they have a visual image attached to a memory. That is where the visual metaphor comes in. This type of story is best used when the presenter can take a person’s common understanding of a situation or, in this case story, and then use that common understanding to paint a picture of a new reality. This type of story helps a presenter to not only engage their audience on a deeper level, but it also helps the audience to retain more information as it is associated a common visual.
Stories are powerful. They will leave your listeners connected on more than just a content level and really draw their hearts and minds into the presentation. Don’t make the fatal flaw of forgetting that no matter what the content, there must be a story that brings it to life.
If you want to learn more about how to engage your audience check out Ethos3.com/presentation-training.
