The Power of Story

Once upon a time, about 1950 actually, a 65-year-old man living in a tiny house, with a beat-up car was struggling to live off his $99 a month pension. He knew things had to change and took stock of what he had to offer. The only thing he could think of was his chicken recipe – one his family and friends raved about. He packed up his car and began travelling first the state, and then the country looking for a restaurant who would be interested in a deal – a free recipe for a percentage of sales. He heard the word “no” 1009 times before he finally got a bite (pun very much intended). It became so popular that Colonel Hartland Sanders ended up with his own restaurant chain, which he named Kentucky Fried Chicken, and changed the way Americans ate chicken. Inspiring story, isn’t it? We feel a little better for hearing it.

Let’s face it, we all love a good story.  Studies on the brain show that while you are listening to a story your cerebral cortex activates. Something about hearing a narrative rather than simply taking in pieces of information puts the whole brain to work. We think in narratives most of the time, anyway, playing out scenarios in our heads before and after we encounter the actual experiences. It is the way our minds prefer to see the world. It follows that the best presentations will incorporate stories. If you want your audience to visual your ideas, to see a future for them and to connect with, telling a story is your best bet. Storytelling does four valuable things for your presentation:

1. Stories humanise the presenter and the subject matter which makes a business and an idea seem more relatable and approachable.
2. Stories increase engagement because they create an emotional connection and emotions drive action and commitment from an audience.
3. Stories are easier for the mind to remember than data. Stories have a narrative structure that makes information easier to recall so if you want your ideas to be remembered by your audience, sharing them via story is the best way to do this.
4. Stories simplify; they can take complex ideas or concepts and present them in a way that is easy to understand and can be immediately connected with the human experience. This is particularly valuable if the information you are sharing is extremely complicated.

Incorporating storytelling into business presentations can significantly enhance the effectiveness and impact of the message being delivered and anything that makes a presentation memorable, engaging and relatable is a valuable addition to your presentation arsenal.

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