curiosity Archive - The Art of Communicating

How to give a boring talk

The easiest way to bore a smart person is to figure everything out for them, isn’t it?

But it’s exactly what happens in many talks. The speaker shows up as the smart guy who’s got everything figured out, leaving no space for the audience to figure anything out.

But smart people love to do that.

Giving your audience something to figure out, even it’s just a brief moment to think about your statements before you present your conclusion, can have a profound influence on how they engage with your thoughts.

Of course, when there’s nothing else to figure out, people might turn their attention on the argument itself and try to figure out if something could be wrong with it.

Which means that if you don’t leave space for critical (or even just curious) thinking, it could be that this is exactly what triggers it.

So, here’s a thought for your next talk. What if you didn’t show up as the smartest guy in the room but allowed the audience to feel smarter?

The simple truth about storytelling

Contrary to what some storytelling coaches want you to believe, in the end there’s only one thing you need to understand about storytelling.

And it’s this question: “What happens next?”

I mean, of course, you can say a lot more about storytelling. The hero’s journey does work. “Show, don’t tell!” is useful advice. As is the three-act-structure and many other techniques …

But in the end, all of that is optional.

Because the only thing that matters is whether your audience is curious to learn more. If you nail that, it doesn’t matter whether it’s through the hero’s journey or some other fancy framework.

Storytelling really isn’t a mystical art locked behind gates of complexity. At its core, it’s simple, straightforward, and something anyone can absolutely do.

Just tap into your audience’s curiosity!

That’s it.

If your audience wants to know more, you’ve nailed it. Even if you’ve never heard of the hero’s journey or any other storytelling formula … when your story makes people sit up and wonder what’s next, you’re telling a great story.

“What happens next?” is the only questions you need to ask for that. The better you understand your audience’s needs, their desires, their questions, the easier it will become to find a compelling answer to that question.

If it’s using the hero’s journey, that’s totally fine (it means you’re using it right). But if you’ve never heard of it, don’t worry! The more important information is to know your audience.

So, what is your audience dying to know?

Curiosity has joined the party

Confusion’s best mate is Complexity.
Clarity’s best mate is Curiosity.

Luckily, Complexity and Curiosity are friends, too.

When you need to explain a complex idea with clarity, I’d suggest you invite Curiosity to the party, too, as she can help connect Complexity and Clarity.

Do not make the mistake of introducing All-at-once to Complexity, as the two will immediately start nerding so deeply about their expertise that it will lead others to quickly feel overwhelmed. Everyone else will get bored, roll their eyes, and tune out – except for Confusion, of course, who gets a kick out of it.

Curiosity, on the other hand, is a brilliant conversation starter that gets everyone involved. She has such a great intuition for what excites the others that it feels effortless for the group to dive from layer to layer of each and every detail. The deeper the conversation goes, the more Clarity will open up and engage in the discussion.

The best part: Curiosity just never gets tired of parties.

Why not invite her to your party, too? Curiosity would love to introduce Clarity to Complexity for you.

The Creator’s Adventure

Here’s a tightly packed conversation I had with Bryan McAnulty on his podcast “The Creator’s Adventure”.

We discussed

why it’s so hard to focus when you deeply care about something,
how you can gradually lead your audience to follow you deep down into that rabbit hole,
how an effective money-back guarantee can look like,
and so much more …

We also discovered that we share a passion for playing the guitar and found an important business lesson from the way you become better at playing an instrument.

If you’re a creator – or generally have an important story to share – this episode will very likely be worth a listen. You’ll find it on all major podcast platforms (e.g. Spotify or Apple Podcasts) and on YouTube:

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How to give a boring talk

The simple truth about storytelling

Curiosity has joined the party

The Creator’s Adventure

Spread the Word

Dr. Michael Gerharz