An explain article

The year is 2019. The art of storytelling is making a comeback as a cure-all for poor communication. No wonder! Behind the buzzword 'storytelling' lies an entire collection of positive mechanisms. Stories – flight simulator, empathy generator, and mirror neuron catalyst. The entire media landscape is excited about storytelling...

The entire media landscape? No! A stubborn medium continues to resist and still insists on sober presentation styles and the stoic listing of facts. It's the presentation.

Actually, it's time to conquer this last bastion too. And some brave lone warriors are already doing so. But the tenor still prefers to dedicate itself passionately to the media that have always been predestined for storytelling – text and film. Literary or journalistic formats have always been the playground of storytelling. No wonder! Written text can describe exciting, absurd, emotional stories of all kinds. Narrative perspective? Anything is possible. Word choice and sentence length? All a matter of style. After all, I can read complex sentences multiple times. The film medium may have initially told boring stories (1896 "Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat Station"). But with advancing possibilities, the tension arc also grew (1903 "The Great Train Robbery"). From that point on, film became inseparable from the art of storytelling. Especially in today's times, even the most abstract thought experiment can be visualized in 3D. Black holes, the Himalayas, or 20,000 leagues under the sea? No problem! Narrative perspective? Freely selectable.

So what is the effect of the recent storytelling hype? Even texts from science, business, or advertising are increasingly using the dramaturgical tools of entertainment literature. TV spots, corporate videos, and even tutorials align themselves with the scripts of blockbusters. And presentations? Certainly, presentations have changed in recent years. But not nearly to the extent that other media have. Why is that? What distinguishes presentations from all other media?

#01 - Simplicity.

Unlike text and film, I can't consume a passage multiple times. The text is spoken and must be understood the first time. It must be simple. And yet it must offer an experience, entertain the listener. A balancing act.

#02 - Visualization.

Plain text leaves the design of the scene and the characters to our brain as a supercomputer. Film, on the other hand, leaves almost nothing to the imagination. The presentation positions itself exactly in between. It must depict what should not be left to the imagination. But it also has to describe well what no picture can depict.

#03 - Roleplay.

The narrative perspective can be designed in various ways in other media. But as a speaker, it's difficult to quote foreign stories from one's own role. The risk of coming across as a storyteller by the fireside is too high. Moreover, authenticity plays a special role. The credibility of my story ultimately depends on my personal impact.

Storytelling in presentations is therefore a very special discipline that requires finesse and good intuition. But the effort is worth it! So what should you pay attention to? And which stories are particularly suitable?

Personal Stories

Your own story can be a powerful tool. You can inspire others with it, leading by example. You can subtly let others learn from your mistakes and thus outsmart the natural reactance of humans. Or you can use them to establish a level playing field between yourself and the audience. All meaningful methods in the context of a presentation. At first glance, telling a personal story seems to be an easy exercise. There's no conflict regarding the narrative perspective. You know the protagonist of the story particularly well. In addition, you know their emotions, personal entanglements with the environment, and their motives. The basic conditions couldn't be better. And yet, in presentations, I rarely hear personal stories that really move me. Memorized, emotionlessly recited, and overly extensive explanations neutralize any impact.

The next time you want to incorporate a personal story into a presentation, consider your life like a large box of Lego. Imagine that every event, every experience has a different shape and color. When you talk about hope, only use the green blocks. When you talk about anger, only the red ones. Leave out all building blocks of the story that aren't absolutely necessary. Built ready? Authenticity is crucial when designing the slides. Ideally, you use real photos from your life. Stock photos of overly beautiful people with perfect smiles make your story seem unbelievable. If nothing concrete can be depicted, use the slide to convey a mood. Find images that evoke precisely the feelings – the longing, joy, or sadness – that you felt back then? Let the audience share in your emotions.

Product Stories

When presenting complex products or services, people often get caught up in unnecessary explanations. After all, you feel like you need to explain just this one function. Or the algorithm, the tenth feature, the hundredth function. The audience responds by mentally shutting down and letting the torrent of words wash over them in passive calm. This wouldn't happen in advertising. So why do we let ourselves be so often tempted by the medium of PowerPoint? Stories provide a remedy here, as they give rational facts meaning. Or to put it in the words of Brené Brown: "Maybe stories are just data with a soul.”

Focus on the absolute core, the essence of your product or service. If you can capture the core in one word, you have the optimal basis to find stories or other narrative approaches. What does this word mean in another context? What can this word be compared to? What is it temporally, spatially, or causally related to? Which famous personalities do you associate with it? Look at it from various perspectives. Are there perhaps employees, customers, partners, celebrities who can talk about this essence from their perspective? In the end, you have numerous ideas for metaphors, analogies, anecdotes, and examples that you can sprinkle throughout the presentation. Those who present frequently can develop an entire arsenal of stories this way.

When designing slides, I recommend not depicting too much. Because everything shown is expected by the audience in the audio track as well. So if you depict every detail, you create a cage from which you can hardly escape. Versatile visualizations allow you the freedom to improvise and adapt the content to your audience.

Corporate Stories

I have heard incredibly exciting founder stories. Incredibly funny anecdotes from everyday business life and adventurous tales of failure. Rarely, however, have I experienced these stories in the context of a strategy presentation. The goals of the year are bar charts on a white background. Their animation is the only dramatic element. The motivational speech is reduced to KPIs and incentives. And even in recruiting, these stories are rarely unpacked. The countless stories of a company are what give it an identity.

What coincidences came together for the company to be founded? What was the trigger? What were the greatest hurdles? What were the greatest successes? What made the company great? Gather all these stories and let employees from different areas have their say. This makes it a collective story that everyone gladly presents. But here too it applies: Focus on the dramatically valuable moments when formulating. Also, be careful not to present only your best side. Nobody likes show-offs. Laughing at your own mistakes and looking at failure with a wink makes your company human and thus also sympathetic. This works as a representative story outwardly. But it can also fundamentally change internal company presentations. Because it turns employees into heroes fighting battles against monsters (slumps in sales) and making their way through the jungle (digitalization).

This story becomes truly effective when you create strong images or symbols from it. Images for presentations that everyone knows how to interpret and imagine. Images that stand for values and are given a place of honor in your own building. Images that connect all employees with the company. Then the exciting, funny, or adventurous tales also become part of your presentation culture.

Once upon a time …

For a long time, presentations and storytelling were still opposites. But PowerPoint has long been able to do more than bullet points and tables. Speakers are becoming braver. The audience craves entertaining messages and entertainment. Even the last bastion will fall. Soon, stories will conquer the meeting rooms or move thousands to tears at events. And the rest is history …