Came across an idea that’s not new to me but is worth sharing.
Karl Kapp suggested in a blog entry that to force presenters to tell stories instead of reading dry facts, stats, and bullet points from slides, use slides with no words — just images.
I did that with students in my entrepreneurship seminars. I assigned them to tell an entrepreneurial story as part of their final “exam.” The story could be about their own entrepreneurial exploits, the entrepreneurial ventures of a friend or family member, or a well-known entrepreneur. But if they used slides, the slides could contain no text.
This technique definitely results in a different presenting experience for both presenter and audience — and may just yield some storytelling.
[Image credit: Garr Reynolds, from http://www.presentationzen.com/presentationzen/2006/08/fromdesignto_.html. Reynolds used images from iStockphoto and did some extra editing on them, and he adapted the content from Daniel Pink’s A Whole New Mind.]
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Right on target. In our workshops, we teach "that the more esoteric your work, the more you need to use storytelling to talk about it." IT(information tech), "code monkeys", accounting- all need to harness the power of story to teach about and advocate for their work.
For example, people don't fund new servers down in the basement or "flood floors." They do fund the fact that Susie story in HR talks about better efficiency because of new IT. The do fund after hearing the well-crafted "story of the company down the road who skimped on the raised flood flooring and the three days lost productivity" by not building what seems kinda useless at first.
Stories connect. All the time.
By the way, tech guys and gals sometimes are the best storytellers as many of them have powerful insights to share but never had the tools to say them. One of the many reasons I love training storytelling for business.
Excellent post. Here's another thought. Try using nothing but your voice to convey the message. No visual aids of any kind. I did this ten years ago when I started keynoting and voila. Two things happened. I was forced to start using stories and I had to cut out a lot of content. I figured if I could not recall it, how could I expect my audience to do the same?
Thanks for the excellent comments, Sean and Lori.
Lori, your suggestion of no visual aids is superb. I do worry a bit that certain audiences expect visual aids. But your last line really hits home. When I first started teaching, I needed slides as a memory aid. Later when I'd really learned the material, I no longer needed the slides. But as you point out, the goal should be to make the presentation memorable without slides or any other visual aids. Thanks again for sharing your thoughts.
Lori- your comment about recall is right on target. Well said.