I'm sure we have all watched or listened to presentations before. The purpose of presentations is usually to inform, persuade, motivate, inspire, and so on. If you have seen or listened to a couple of presentations, you will agree that not all presenters are the same and if we are, to be honest, some presentations can be plain and boring. It is common practice for people to take down notes during presentations. While the intention for others is to go through them later on or in the future for whatever reason, some simply do it to try and absorb the information or stay focused. Many don’t go back to reading notes anyway.
It does not matter how important the presentation topic is or how good the speaker is, people are bound to forget some aspects of it within a short period. Therefore, presentations must not be merely a sharing of knowledge or stating of facts and statistics. To get the best possible results from presentations, various techniques can be used by the presenter to create lasting impressions and impact on the lives of the audience. Storytelling is one of the most powerful ways to achieve that.
However, you need to plan your story well and identify how you will present it to your audience if it is to have an impact on their lives. The planning includes knowing your audience and the type of stories that are likely to appeal to most of them. Well, you cannot please everyone. It also includes planning its chronology and ensuring that the story connects well with your presentation, and also includes deciding whether you will play a video/audio or tell the story yourself with or without visual aids. Whatever decision you make, your audiences must be the center of it all.
The benefits of storytelling in presentations include the following;
It puts information into perspective – using stories in a presentation allows your audience to get a better view of the subject matter. It presents information in a language better understood by the human brain which enhances comprehension and makes the audience think in a reasonable and wise way. Stories make information more relatable.
It helps you connect with your audience – sometimes as a presenter, you are required to speak to a group of people who see you as a stranger. Before you can even stand up to speak, some have already formed their own perceptions of you, negative or positive. For example, one might ask himself why you were considered the right person to address them, what qualifies you, and do you even understand their issues or concerns. Choosing the right story to tell such an audience can help create a bond with them and help them understand who you really are. This plays a huge role in determining your audience’s attitudes throughout the presentation. A bad or ‘wrong’ story can make them disconnect even more and affect how they receive anything else you say afterward.
It makes the presentation and/or the details thereof more memorable – stories allow us to imagine and ‘experience' the setting and characters of a story. It gives a feeling that in that very moment we are living in the world depicted by the story, thereby allowing us to connect better with and be attached to the details of the story. Also, it does not take a genius or research to know that humans are more likely to remember a story for years or the rest of their lives. Thus, there are higher chances of the memory storing facts that are presented with the aid of a story than it is to store information presented as plain facts unless the facts are repeated to us countless times. Therefore, with stories, we create long-lasting impressions.
Entertaining and captivating – it is common knowledge that presentations can be boring sometimes especially if they take longer. This may cause the audience's minds to wander and lose focus. Storytelling is a form of entertainment, and a presentation that uses storytelling is less likely to be boring if the presenter has good storytelling skills. A skilled storyteller knows well how to embed his or her presentation content in a story in such a way that the audience remains captivated while learning.
It appeals to the emotions of your audience – storytelling can make your audience emotionally connect with your cause. All you need to do as a presenter is to identify how you want your audience to feel by the end of the presentation. This will further determine how much they feel compelled to take action concerning what was presented to them. The part of the presentation where you choose to tell your story, as well as a powerful conclusion of the story itself, will help you achieve great results from your presentation. Answer the following questions; why should the audience care about the cause? What do they gain or lose from taking or not taking action? You do not need to spell it out to them. A well-planned presentation accompanied by a good story will do the job.
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