rebirth. 3. Know your audience. Stories motivate us to move away from something unwelcome or towards something welcome.
Tips for effective storytelling
Tips for effective storytelling
The tips in this document bring together the main insights from the topic. Take 5 minutes to review and 5 minutes to reflect on the tips.
1. Dealing with facts and figures
3. K now your audience
Good data is a powerful supporting argument, but to get your audience involved and engaged, you need to mobilise their senses and emotions. For example, you want to involve your audience in this: “We will help to provide access to clean drinking water, improve access to effective sanitation and provide basic hygiene education (eg hand washing and the dangers of open defecation) for 60 million people by 2015.” Tell them the story of how one little girl’s life will change. “Awa lives in a dusty village in Burkina Faso on the southern edge of the Sahara. Every morning at 4am, while it’s still dark, she walks to a muddy stream to fetch water.”
Stories motivate us to move away from something unwelcome or towards something welcome. These motivations are deeply embedded in the brain and can be triggered by a good story. Information can plug into this fundamental motivation as long as the benefit is clear. Does this information help me to survive or thrive? This is why you need to know your audience and identify the things they will see as benefits. They may not be selfish benefits; they may be quite altruistic, but ask yourself: what’s in it for them/us?
2. Structure your story
We all tell stories and we all have an innate sense of how a story should be told. The secret is to transfer those skills from the privacy of family and friends to the public stage of management. Reflect on the storytellers you have seen in this topic: Barack Obama, Steve Jobs, JK Rowling and others. The features they have in common are not drama or bravado, but honesty, humility, creating detail and sincere reflection. You can transfer your own storytelling skills, but at first it will need courage, practice, feedback and reflection. Make yourself confident by holding the pose of a confident speaker for 2 minutes before you go on stage, as Amy Cuddy suggests.
To turn information into a story, you need to give it a sequence and a structure. There are 7 basic plots, all of which involve change, and can therefore be used to present management change. Comedy and tragedy plot lines are very general, but others suggest a clear and dramatic arc through challenge to achievement, such as: • a journey taken and the return • overcoming challenges • making our way in the world • a quest • rebirth
4. Become a natural storyteller
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5. Find your hero
7. Plan, plan, plan!
There is someone out there who represents the dramatic struggle you want to present. Male or female, colleague or client, real or imagined, famous or unknown. Someone who has been through the changes you want to encourage, and has learnt from the process, maybe not through victory, but through an increased awareness of what to do better next time. Identify this hero, give them an identity and a context, and build your story in a dramatic arc around them.
• Plan ahead – think about where you want your story to take the listeners • In one phrase, what is the purpose of your story? Try collecting stories from the news and everyday life, so you have one readymade to fit your purpose • Learn to identify your own strengths as a storyteller and the triggers your audience will engage with, then go out there and speak with energy, passion and suspense • Be yourself and enjoy the moment. • Don’t be afraid of collecting honest feedback from people you trust.
6. Connect with your audience Learn from every poor presentation you see. Instead of disengaging, watch the presenter’s every move. Can you hear them? Are they looking at you? Are they projecting sincerity and authority? Do you get the impression that they know you, the audience, and understand what gets you interested, excited and engaged? What would you do differently?
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