As I sat at a workshop, the presenter decided to passionately tell the story of a child who almost died in an auto accident. He told the story almost perfectly, at a great pace, with awesome vocal inflections and intense body language. I loved his delivery, liked the story, but hated the moment. As show-stopping as his moment was, his story didn't have that much to do with our workshop. To be fair, his point was that the impossible is possible in life, but we were in a workshop that had nothing to do with parenting, odd auto accidents or Divine Intervention. It was a stretch.
It's important to tell relevant stories when speaking. A great story serves the purpose of wrapping your logic or philosophy in a neat package. This may be a "duh" point to some, but too often, I have heard speakers tell a story because of its dynamics or because they are simply outstanding storytellers.
Dynamics and delivery, as important as they are in public speaking, can be nothing more than temporary highs. What lasts is the point of the story. Even if the story is told poorly, the audience gets more out of the point. Even those who prefer dynamics over content later admit that the content means more than the bells and whistles.
So, how do you tell an effective story?
- Tell one that relates directly to your topic. 'Nuff said.
- Make sure it has a beginning, middle and end.
- Use your eyes, hands and voice when delivering it. I never said dynamics don't matter.
- Be concise. It's easy to get lost in sidebars and meaningless details. It only makes the story unnecessarily longer.
- The more dynamic or moving the story, the closer it should go toward the end of your speech.
- Try to avoid the lead-in "That reminds me of another story." Torture!
2 comments:
Hi, Eddie,
Thanks for your post about making stories relevant to a presentation. I think you're right to insist that not only the point of a story be relevant, but that the subject matter of the story fit with the nature of the event.
You say, "Make sure [your story] has a beginning, middle and end." I know that advice goes back to Aristotle.
But I have trouble following it: How do I know, for example, what's a "beginning" to a story? Is it setting the scene? (If so, does every story need to begin with setting a scene?) Is it the first event in the chronology my story covers? (If so, must every story start that way?)
Similar questions would apply to "middle" and "end."
Can you say more how you apply that time-honored advice? I would love to hear how it's been helpful for you.
Thanks!
Doug Lipman
Hi Doug, First let me apologize for taking SO long to respond! Bad Eddie.
The beginning of the story is setting the scene. Depending on the time you have in your presentation/speech, I say keep it to about a minute. All you're doing is giving your audience perspective and history (if needed). That perspective could be chronological or it could be another type of set-up.
The middle is the "meat". It is the point at which you describe to the audience a defining moment. It's a great feeling to pull the audience in with the dramatic details.
The end is either the result of event(s) you talk about, the punchline or the reaction that is a result of the action of the story.
Make sense?
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