What does the art of storytelling have to do with your presentation? Everything! As a matter of fact, if you can’t convey a story then your products won’t appeal to your audience. One should understand that the human brain values stories more than anything else. Great storytellers are the connoisseur of two things, one they tell stories, further they encourage people to take action.
Literally, anyone would like to enjoy a good story. In a nutshell, storytelling is more like a natural art which involves making people understand your background, experiences and beliefs in a connecting way.
When you tell your audience a great story, it certainly makes them engage more with you. It allows there brain to think about the subject and associate their emotions with the content. Thus, great orators are often successful when it comes to evoking empathy with the audience. The goal in hand is to make your audience imagine the scenario and story elements.
If you ace the art of storytelling, you can make your audience stay-tuned to know more about your journey as you unfold. Hence, you can control their imagination. If you want to have additional resources for story-telling you can check this post from SlideModel (professionals in the storytelling business)
Storytelling In Business
It’s worth noting that scientists believe storytelling is what the human brain is hardwired for. The brain activity of an average individual increases manifolds when a visual story is presented to them. Therefore, we can say storytelling holds significant potential as well as implications for the presenter. It is becoming a new fad to use the art of storytelling as a key tool while delivering business presentations these days.
Whether you’re pitching an idea to C-level executives, proposing a solution to potential prospects or delivering a lecture to trainees, brushing up your storytelling skills can do wonders for your goals. In this article, we will be talking about the useful tips that can help you garner limelight while you speak.
1. Know Your Audience
When you have insights about your audience’s likes and dislikes, it gets a little easy to associate with them. Know what values they believe in, find the hot topics on which they’d love to interact. Storytelling involves targetting segments of your audience to make it whole endeavour, a success. It’s all about finding the common ground with the people, the quicker you break the ice with them, better are the chances that they’ll hear you till the end. When you are able to generate empathy within your audience, they might start caring for you.
2. Know Your Message
Okay, so you know your audience, now you’d have to be careful with the message you’re about to convey. One should strive to understand the message before trying to convey to their listeners. In simpler terms, how do you want your audience to react after you pitch them your story? What call to action do you want them to take? How do you want your listeners to feel about all of it? Knowing what you want to pitch and how can help you make the presentation a memorable one. However, don’t forget to cover the key features of your product, keep a check on your sales cycle.
3. Be Real
Fiction is great for novels but not for business storytelling. When you’re on the stage interacting with your audience, the goal in hand is to make them relate the story with their real-life. Then only you can unlock your access to key success ingredients such as trust and connection with your audience, respectively.
Moreover, trust can help your brand establish its integrity across bounds. At the end of the day, anyone would like to associate with a reputed enterprise. If your listeners realize that the story isn’t authentic, it might be havoc for you and your business goals.
4. Structure Is Crucial
Your story must include relatable characters, timeframes and names of the characters as well. A proper beginning followed by the crux of the story with each character and object appearing in contrast and in the end, the key takeaways should be presented.
Always remember that current business frustrations or shortcomings can always be contrasted with the prosperous future ahead. What was wrong vs what can be done about it, can garner a lot of attention, support for your business objectives. Contrast can ignite the drama in any situation or story which is great for engagement.
5. Simple Words- Clear Message
One of the most important tasks which you’re required to execute while storytelling is making your audience comfortable as soon as you start speaking. By making use of common words, easy language as well as keeping the tone as conversational can do wonders for you. Putting your audience at ease is what is important. A story should always be kept simple regardless of the fact that how challenging or technical it is. In simpler terms, you can speak and connect with your audience better if you talk to them as if you’re speaking to your loved ones.
6. Visualization Is Important
A picture is worth a thousand words. Studies have proven that visually helps significantly when it comes to audience retention and engagement. When you break down the complex data into graspable and engaging fragments, your audience is then more likely to remember the chunks of information. You can easily give a new dimension to your storytelling endeavours by making use of relevant images, videos and gifs.
7. Pitch Your Story, Not The Product
Selling your story and not the product doesn’t mean that you can’t mention and relate to your product. At the end of the day, you’re expected to believe in what you’re selling. Drafting the storyline must be done in such a fashion that the outcome which the audience is expecting should be highlighted.
Mastering the art of storytelling can be regarded as an investment. Establishing individual identity is crucial when it comes to personal and business level. Effective storytelling can be your pick to differentiate your brand as well as the product you’re selling from the masses.
