A slide presentation (embedded at the bottom of this entry) that Lou Hoffman of The Hoffman Agency created has been generated huge buzz for a couple of weeks now, so chances are you’ve seen it. It’s about the power of storytelling in business, and Hoffman says he prepared it “after evangelizing SlideShare as an ideal platform for storytelling.”
From both SlideShare, where Hoffman published the slide deck, and his blog Ishmael’s Corner, Hoffman’s description of the presentation:
As product news continues to be commoditized, it becomes increasingly important for communication professionals to build feature stories. This slide deck examines the type of content that makes for compelling storytelling. … Taking a mix of pop culture, levity, science, and our experiences nudging clients out of the corporate-speak box, we’ve created the following as a primer for storytelling in business.
Before creating the power-of-storytelling presentation, Hoffman crafted a slideshow to tell the story of his agency.
There is no question that both of these decks are superb. Still, I have yet to see a slideshow about storytelling that truly tells a story. Hoffman offers some hints of story in it but neither deck is really a story in itself (in my opinion).
I also love the comment from Karen Chace under Hoffman’s introduction of the power-of storytelling slideshow. Chace is a professional storyteller, who in her comment tells the story of being asked to tell a company’s story for its 75th anniversary. After describing her preparation and delivery of the story, Chace writes:
What happened that night was magic. The room fell silent, the guests leaned forward, listening…not because of my skills but because it was their story, both the good and the bad, the triumphs and the challenges.
On her own site Chace offers a PDF that further details the story of telling this anniversary business story.
I wonder if someone could develop a slide deck on the power of storytelling that incorporates a story like Chace’s. As powerful as Hoffman’s presentation is, I can’t help thinking it would hit home even more if it were more of a story.
Kathy,
I admire your expertise and blog so appreciate you taking the time to share your perspective.
I think great storytelling touches the heart. That’s what made Karen Chace’s tale so compelling.
There’s no question that our slide deck doesn’t fall into the touch-the-heart category. Our aspirations were simply to shed some light on storytelling techniques for our fellow business communicators.
Like karate, there should be belts for storytelling. In such a scenario, I’d say we’re a blue belt not even to the half-way point of achieving black.
Back to Slideshare—
I find the platform appealing in business because I can combine words and visuals to communicate in a way that the reader can quickly consume.
This “quickness,” which is so important in business, can work in conflict with classic storytelling (pace, build up, etc.).
Like you, I’d love to see a Slideshare deck that reflects the true power of storyelling a la Chase.
Again, Lou, thanks so much for stopping by and sharing your thoughts on my entry about your slideshow. I don’t know the belt hierarchy in karate, but I think the deck is closer to black belt than you do.
I agree about SlideShare. One limitation is that the viewer can’t know what the presentation is like when actually delivered orally. The presenter could be integrating stories that are not reflected on the slides — and the viewer would never know it unless the presenter has included an audiotrack on SlideShare.
I think the ideal might be a deck like yours with a couple of slides inserted that are simply images that relate to a story the presenter tells as part of the presentation. Then the presenter includes an audiotrack so the viewer can hear the story(s).
Does that make sense?
In any case, your deck is superb. Thanks again for commenting.