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• 17-08-2023

Storytelling-make your talk engaging !!

Why do all fairy tales begin with the phrase ‘Once upon a time……?

The answer is relevant in context of business presentations or talks. We weave hard facts into narrative patterns as associations with well known tales are evoked in our memories and these remind us of the pleasure of listening to them. As a consequence our attention span increases.

Classy fairy tales follow a particular sequence:

Abstract: how does it begin? (‘Once upon a time….’)

Orientation: who/where/when? (‘A king and queen had a daughter….’)

Complicating action: the problem to be solved (‘But all around the castle, a hedge of thorns started to grow….’)

Resolution: solution (‘Then he stooped and kissed sleeping beauty. And she opened her eyes for the first time many many years….’)

Evaluation: what results from it? (‘And they lived happily ever after….’)

Coda: what remains? (‘And the moral of the story….’)

Now apply the above to your speech or lecture or session. Emotions are very important in speech making as they engage audience better. Walter Fisher, a communication researcher in 1984 came up with a radical thesis: People do not want logical arguments rather they want good stories. We do not evaluate a story on the basis of arguments, but on the basis how much we trust or believe in the story – Can I identify with the subject or the people? Is it coherent – does the story make sense?

Chris Anderson, the inventor of TED, says something similar about the tree rules for a perfect TED talk

1. Don’t talk about the Concept, a deficiency or a product; talk about an idea
2. Focus on just one idea
3. Talk about the idea in such a way that people will want to tell others about it.

The next time you have to say something in front of a group, start talk with this sentence: ‘Let me tell you a story….’ or ‘On the way here, something interesting happened…’

Sources: Reading/learning from Walter Fisher, Chris Anderson, have been a facilitator/speaker for the last 10 years gathered quite an experience !!