Most recommendations on how to give interesting presentations or public speeches include story telling. People simply love to hear stories and learn from them. Neuroscience revealed that the human brain understands stories much better than traditional lectures. Let us therefore have a look at how to tell a great story.
Judy Carter is a coach and author of several books dealing with stories. She gives speeches at professional conferences and organizes workshops on the use of personal stories and humor to inspire others and reduce stress in the workplace. In a recent article on the Psychology Today website, she published several practical tips on how to engage the audience using stories. Get inspired and make your presentations more engaging and entertaining.
1. No need to talk about crucial issues
A good story does not have to cover a major event of your life, but it must satisfy two components. The first is to include a hero who wants to achieve something, the other involves internal or external obstacles the hero has to overcome.
2. Include some drama
Your story will be more dynamic and more memorable if you talk in the present, not the past tense. It will become even more exciting if you include more characters. These characters do not have to only be human, feel free to talk about animals or things. Try not to stand still when telling the story. Involve a little drama. Use direct speech and move your body. Dramatize your speech by highlighting emotionally strong moments using exclamations such as: What? Oh God! Oh no!
3. Connect the story to your past
A link to your past, such as childhood, makes your story more important. So use moments with strong emotional charge to ask rhetorical questions such as: When is the last time I felt this way?. This is a perfect way to show what you have learned in life and what your audience can take away as an example.
4. End with practical recommendations
A lesson should come at the end of your story. Your audience should hear specific ways to apply your experience in their own lives.
-kk-