Storytelling Archive - Page 7 of 12

Thou shalt not bore thy audience

You shouldn’t. But as a goal, that’s unambitious. And misleading.

Not being boring is relatively easy (though not necessarily cheap).

Make a speech during a rollercoaster ride and it won’t be boring.

Only that it’s not the point.

The point is to change minds. And have your message stick rather than the rollercoaster ride.

When we hear a speech that’s super exciting, it’s tempting to think that this is because of some talent of the communicator to make it exciting, or because the marketing was so great.

What’s easily overlooked is that it’s the other way around. Stories that touch us deeply are never boring – while stories that aren’t boring can still leave us largely unaffected. A story that challenges my thinking can’t be boring – while stories that aren’t boring can still be irrelevant.

Great communicators start with relevance. That’s what creates resonance. And when something resonates it’s not boring.

Not being boring is a consequence rather than a prerequisite of telling a meaningful story. (And telling it on a rollercoaster will only make it more exciting … if that’s your thing.)

Just sayin’

If you could just let go of the judgement of others and tell your story just like you feel it, what would you say?

If you could just say what you mean without worrying whether that sounds cool or clever, what would you say?

If you could just skip the superficial and get right to the heart of the matter, what would you say?

Why don’t you?

History vs. Story

It’s spelled “story” – without the “hi” at the beginning. Still, many people approach telling stories as recounting historical events. In a chronological order. Even if their audience couldn’t care less about how it all began.

It’s much more interesting to ask yourself what gets your audience most excited. What’s most surprising to them? Or most interesting. And then work from there. Once you tell them, what do they want to know next? And next. And so on.

For example, sometimes it’s more interesting to work backwards by asking “How was that possible?” or “What led to this?” Just like some of the most exciting detective stories start with knowing who the murderer was but leave the audience dying to learn why she did it.

The guiding star is our audience’s curiosity. What are they dying to know? More often than not this is different from the chronological order of events.

Don’t make your story a history lesson, make it an interesting story!

New podcast: Leaders Light The Path

I’ve started a new podcast called “Leaders Light The Path”. It’s two minutes, twice a week that get you the influence and impact you deserve.

It’s a podcast about a more human way of communicating. One that skips the superficial and instead is grounded in work that matters. It’s in stark contrast to the default mode of the selfish communicators who care more for themselves than anything.

But if your work really changes things for the better, then it’s by definition not about you but about your audience. And because it is, you don’t need to persuade because they will be dying to know more. Instead make them see by telling true stories, saying words you truly believe in about the things you truly believe in.

This is what great leaders do. By making their audience see, by lighting them the path, they incite action and create movements.

I believe that this is in reach for you. If you truly believe in what you do. If what you do truly changes things for the better. Then, all you need to do is tell the truth. Make your audience see by lighting them the path.

If that’s important to you, please subscribe to this podcast and share it with a friend.

We tell stories on behalf of our audience

The power of stories is that it’s us who re-live the life of the story’s hero.

That’s true even in a business context. A story is a great story when it makes us feel: “That’s me! That’s exactly what I struggle with.”

A good story provide us with a new perspective on our own lives. It lets us imagine actions that we wouldn’t take without the story. It lets us feel feelings that we wouldn’t feel without the story. It lets us visualise outcomes that we would consider out of reach without the story.

Great stories lead to action.

And that’s why we tell stories on behalf of our audience.

A short story

Think of a room somewhere in a house. Maybe there’s a sofa inside. Someone’s reading a book.

What do you see?
How does her hair look like?
How old is she?
What’s her name?
What book does she read?
Does she look over as you enter the room?
What does she say?
How do you reply?
What time of day is it?

I just don’t buy that you don’t know how to tell a good story. Because you just started a good story. Everything you see now is coming right out of you. It’s not my story. It’s yours. Go on. What happens next?

Sure, there’s a lot of literature on how to tell stories. But all those rules are secondary. First comes imagination. And imagination you have.

You have all you need to tell a story when you have a life.

The house is on fire

Think of a great book you enjoyed lately.

How did it begin? Mine started with a burning house.

Great authors know that once the reader is drawn into the story, there will be plenty of time to introduce all the details.

Great authors also know that when they fail to draw a reader into the story quickly, they will just put the book aside after a few pages.

Now think about the last presentation you listened to.

How did it begin? Mine started with the presenter introducing his CV … and it continued with milestones of his company’s history.

Not only didn’t he draw me into the story right from the beginning … he just never bothered to draw me in at all. He delivered all the details but never provided me with a single reason to care. He told me everything but failed to make me curious for anything.

Great stories draw me in because they make me care. They make me curious. They give me a reason to want to know what’s next.

Right from the very first sentence.

Once the audience is drawn into the story, they will want to know more. They will want to know all the details.

Regular presentations dump info. Great presentation make me care for the info. Regular presentation start somewhere. Great presentations start by making me curious.

How does your presentation begin?

The magical question to increase tension and suspense

In a great movie or book, the question “What happens next” is basically the definition of tension and suspense. Whenever there’s suspense in a movie, we want to know what’s next. When there’s tension in a conversation, we want to relieve the tension.

“What’s next?” is also the magical question that keeps a speech in the flow. If you want to increase tension in your speech, the most important question to ask yourself is “What will my audience be dying to know right at this point in my speech?”

Leaving aside all the theoretical frameworks that teach us how to structure a compelling speech, this one question gets right to the heart of the matter. When you get that question right, you’ll end up at exactly the right structure without ever having to worry about any rhetorical theory.

To bring you on track to finding the appropriate question, here are a few variations for what your audience might be dying to know next:

“How is that possible?”
“Why is that?”
“What can we do about it?”
“How does this relate to our experience from that other project?”
“How did you manage to overcome that?”
“What does it cost?”

So, what’s your audience dying to hear next?

If your product changes things for the better

If your product truly changes things for the better then all you need to do is to speak the truth.

I’m amazed by how often people just don’t trust in that truth. They will look for all sorts of fluff and stuff to decorate the truth to make it look more appealing.

Fascinated by the breathtaking shows of the competition, people will go to great lengths to hunt down an even more breathtaking wow factor – looking for fancier titles, more bang in the visuals, and of course expensive tech equipment.

Don‘t get me wrong, all of this can be very useful. Make things sound and look as good as you can.

But in the end, it’s not about how great things look but how well they resonate. Audiences enjoy a great show, no doubt about that. But would you rather care about “what a great show” or about “what a great idea”?

If your product is actually amazing, then what you need most is clarity. And empathy. These two are the prerequisites for a great story.

Start there. Focus on the truth not the decoration. Work on making your story resonate as strong as possible. And when you’ve got that kind of aha, the wow will take care of itself.

What you spend your time on

There’s a golden rule in screenwriting: Anything you spend much time on will amount to something in the story.

The problem with many presentations is that the presenter spends an enormous amount of time on an enormous amount of details that don’t amount to anything in the end. Well, actually, the biggest problem is that often there isn’t even a story in the first place.

A much better approach is this: Start by asking yourself what your story is and then include exactly those details that are required to tell the story. If a detail doesn’t amount to anything of significance in your story, leave it out. If, on the other hand, it’s highly important for a key part of your story then treat it that way.

Posts in Tag: Storytelling