Category Archives: 07c-Telling stories

Creating a compelling vision, engaging an audience, stimulating creative thinking *beyond* the logic and evidence of problem/solution/recommendation type of communication

07c-Telling stories, 07d-Delivering a presentation

Master Presenter

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Since having reviewed my own end of the semester presentation and since having to think critically about how I can be a better presenter, I turned to an article in the Harvard Business review for assistance and found that it summarizes the MP process perfectly.  In the article, “How to Give a Killer Presentation” the author, Chris Anderson, outlines five measures that will accomplish creating a great presentation; he suggests speakers should frame their story, plan their delivery, develop their stage presence, design their medium, and play to their strengths.  All of which sounds familiar and commonsensical but when dissected it resonates intensely.  The article clarifies:

Frame your story (Figure out where to start and end)

o    All people are wired to tell and listen to stories so telling a story will best engage an audience.

o    Determine what the audience already knows and don’t waste time restating information that will prove to bore your audience.

o    Quickly introduce why you care/interested and don’t waste time trying to convince your audience to care/interested.

Plan your delivery (Decide to memorize, rehearse, or simply converse)

o    Use presentation to map out the direction of the presentation but do not use as talking points.

o    Memorizing scripted presentations are best but ONLY when antiquate preparation has been given.

o    A conversational tone works best over passionate or authoritative tones.

Develop your stage presence (No matter how well you deliver a presentation content is always more important)

o    Keeping your lower body still is the most successful way to appear more commanding.

o    Eye contact is the most important physical hallmark of a good presenter.

o    Introduce yourself to as many of the audience members before your presentation because doing so will ease your nerves, make you present, and lifts the veil of a unfamiliar audience.

Design your medium (Enhance your presentation and not distract)

o    In order to avoid being repetitive and to be found interesting by the audience do not read out bullet points on your slides.

o    Stop relying on Power Point as your only medium when so many new relevant options are at your disposal.

o    Enlist the help of an artist, ARCHITECT, photographer, or graphic designer to help develop visual communications.

Play to your strengths (Be authentic)

o    Prepare presentations well in advance to allow for proper rehearsal time.

o    Be choosey about who you select to rehearse in front of because not all criticism should be considered or is valuable.

o    Substance over style.  It is fairly easy to coach out problems with delivery but almost impossible to coach in substance to a subject or story.

Concurrently, the author points out that it may be hard to give a good presentation but it is easy to ruin a good presentation and warns us from doing these 10 things:

  1. Make a really long introduction
  2. Speak too slowly and dramatically
  3. Inform the audience how important you are
  4. Refer to your note cards or TV monitor too often
  5. Cram your slides with numerous fonts, bullet points, or illustrations
  6. Use technical jargon to impress the audience
  7. Speak at length about you and your organization
  8. Remain unaware of how much time you have or used
  9. Don’t bother rehearsing
  10. Don’t make eye contact with anyone and just look at the tops of their heads

Finally, to further summarize, let go of being perfect and really know your material well.   This allows you to conduct a conversational dialog by being present with the audience and to evolve your presentation in real time by reacting to the audience’s response.

 

Anderson, Chris. “How to Give a Killer Presentation.” Harvard Business Review: Magazine June 2013: n. pag. Print.

06-Building a case, 07c-Telling stories

FILM CRITIC HULK: Screenwriting 101 (The Art of Story-Telling)

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FILM CRITIC HULK is a unique writer who uses all caps and “Hulk speak” to analyze movies, filmmaking and the way we consume movies. He allegedly works in the film industry with his real name, and he uses the comic book influenced pseudonym for all of his critical writing. He put together a book length treatise on the art of screenwriting that offers keen insight on story telling in general. Beware, getting past the CAPS LOCK WALL takes some practice.

Instead of giving a book report, recapping all of Hulk’s points, I’d like to highlight a few points that are clearly applicable to story-telling outside of the screenplay medium.  The full post has seven parts:

  1. What is a Story?
  2. Where to Find Inspiration?
  3. 6 General Stuffs You Need to Know Beforehand
  4. How to Tell a Story – Conceptually
  5. How to Tell a Story – Structurally
  6. How to Tell a Story – Screenplay-Specific Instruction
  7. Now Here Comes the Hard Part

Hulk points out that, ” A GOOD NARRATIVE IS COMPELLING TO THE AUDIENCE, ECONOMICALLY TOLD, FEELS REAL EITHER IN TERMS OF EMOTION, DETAIL, OR TEXTURE, AND SPEAKS TO SOME THEMATIC TRUTH THAT YOU RECOGNIZE IN YOURSELF OR THE WORLD AT LARGE.” In the business world, this translates to making sure your audience is engaged in your subject and explaining it in a way with which the audience can identify. We all need to make persuasive arguments in the office, often to diverse audiences. The narrative that wins over a colleague to your point of view may not speak to your boss in the same way.

Hulk also points out that the most important force in telling a story is empathy. This is especially true when making a persuasive argument to a coworker over who you have no direct authority. Framing an argument as a story that the other party can relate to goes a long way toward getting your point across.

Hulk repeatedly derides constrictive structural rules when telling a story. Professors Noonan and Smith have mentioned the same point in regards to presentations. We covered the basic structure that would make a successful slide deck, but it’s important to bend the guidelines if it adds to the story or presentation.

I highly recommend all of Hulk’s writing, although it can get pretty long winded. Now I’ll just leave this right here:

07a-Crafting an effective formal presentation, 07c-Telling stories, 07d-Delivering a presentation, clearing slides, metaphors, questions, slide-craft

Presentation Tips From One Of The Masters: Steve Jobs

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I used to love watching Steve Jobs unveil the new Apple products every year. I usually volunteered to cover the story at work, just so I could watch the announcement! He was always so passionate about what he did — and it certainly showed. I hope I can develop my presenting skills enough to convey the same excitement and conviction he did. I thought this article from Forbes was a great summary of his techniques he used: http://www.forbes.com/sites/carminegallo/2012/10/04/11-presentation-lessons-you-can-still-learn-from-steve-jobs/

One thing he always did so well was tell stories. He didn’t just explain why the iPod or iPhone was great; he wove a tale to make you understand why it was so great and want to buy it! You really felt like he was inspired by the product, and that you should be too.

He was also a master at keeping it simple. Jobs always managed to describe these complicated devices with simple, beautiful language that didn’t talk down to the audience. His slides were simple too: never cluttered with too many words or graphics. He let the images speak for themselves.

I also liked the way he stayed focused on his message. He never highlighted more than 3 things at a time. The human brain is only trained to process so much at once, so this enabled viewers to comprehend what he was saying in small, easily remembered parts.

If you have time, watch the video on the website of Jobs’ 2007 Apple talk. It’s worth it!

07c-Telling stories, 07d-Delivering a presentation

Tricks to Giving Phone Presentations

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conference-phone

Being a great presenter is a great skill to have in front of a live audience.  However, the reality of large national and international corporations is that creating a live in-person audience is often impractical and costly. Technology has been making speaking to a physically absent audience more realistic with teleconferencing, video conferencing, and the like. However, an effective presenter also needs to have a great presence over the phone and through video conferencing equipment. The skill set is obviously similar, but here are some tips for nailing that presentation on your next conference call or video conference (which I have filtered and summarized below).

  • Check in to solicit comments or verbal acknowledgement that the audience is still with you. You may have lost the audience 10 minutes ago, and you don’t even know it.
  • Master the silence. Silence can be okay as long as it is not too long. Over the phone, it can still be used for dramatic effect.
  • Go around the horn to check in on different audience members to see that they are still following along. For instance, call someone out who you know should be listening, i.e. “Are there any questions from the Atlanta office?”
  • Don’t over answer questions. It is possible that a large portion of the audience already knows the answer and has decided to tune you out because you spent 5 minutes answering the question from the new guy who needs individual attention later.
  • Send out visuals beforehand. The addendum to the call should be sent in advance of the call to all attendees. Don’t forget page numbers and reference them in your call so the audience knows where you are.
  • Don’t read off the slides. Unlike a live presentation, the audience already has your slide deck and has probably looked ahead because you were supposed to send them the slides and exhibits before the call. Add color. Make it lively. Add value to the listeners. Keep the audience awake with a funny anecdote or an example that they couldn’t find using Google.
  • Remember to practice. Depending on the format, you may be tempted to write down what you are going to say and read it on the call. The audience can tell when something is scripted. Instead of sounding polished, you sound like an actor reading over his lines in a read-through. This is not a dress rehearsal – this is the real thing!

BIG cell phone

Inspiration:

http://blog.teamthinklabs.com/index.php/2011/12/21/7-tips-for-presenting-over-the-phone/

http://www.threetraining.com/three-tricks-to-powerful-phone-presenting/

http://brainzooming.com/7-tips-to-improve-conference-call-presentations/952/

07a-Crafting an effective formal presentation, 07b-Using good information design, 07c-Telling stories, 07d-Delivering a presentation, charts & graphs, creativity methods, PowerPoint resources, slide-craft, story-boarding, storyline structure, tables

Alternatives to PowerPoint

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PowerPoint Alternatives: Will PowerPoint Ever be Obsolete?

Will PowerPoint ever be replaced?  It has become commonly accepted in the business world that ‘PowerPoint’ is synonymous with ‘Presentation’. However, when is the last time that you (or me, or anyone for that matter) questioned the validity of that accepted standard, or even gave fleeting consideration to using a different presentation platform or software program?

So, that leads to the question of whether or not PowerPoint will ever become obsolete, outdated, or replaced by something newer and shinier. In researching thoughts on this topic by folks smarter than myself (such as Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon, in this article), I discovered a few things.

First of all, there are already many of alternatives to PowerPoint, and while they might not be household names, they can arguably match the functionality of PowerPoint, and perhaps even be more targeted towards your audience depending on the nature of the presentation. Some of the more popular alternatives to PowerPoint include Apple’s Keynote (which Steve Jobs popularized by using when rolling out new products), Google docs (free, ‘quick and dirty”), SlideRocket (great for folks in a sales environment), and perhaps most notably, Prezi (Intuitive, sophisticated, puts ‘slides in motion’, great for storytelling).

I am personally considering giving Prezi a try based on the positive reviews and feedback that I have read and would love to hear from anyone in our class who has tried the software first-hand. It does seem that one day PowerPoint might be replaced as the gold standard for delivering presentations, but that day is likely not going to come anytime soon, and we are likely better off improving our delivery method rather than changing the platform all-together.

So, what are your thoughts??

 

Articles for Reference:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/carminegallo/2012/09/07/jeff-bezos-and-the-end-of-powerpoint-as-we-know-it/

http://lifehacker.com/5888189/five-best-powerpoint-alternatives

http://www.customshow.com/best-powerpoint-alternatives-presentation-programs/

http://www.powtoon.com/blog/10-best-powerpoint-alternatives/

 

 

07c-Telling stories, 07d-Delivering a presentation, Uncategorized

Art of Persuasion: Tell a story

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Persuasion: /pər-ˈswā-zhən/ The act of causing people to do or believe something.

Persuasion is the centerpiece of any  business activity. Customers must be convinced to buy your company’s products or services, employees and colleagues to go along with a new strategic plan or reorganization, investors to buy (or not to sell) your stock, and partners to sign the next deal.  Persuasion, despite being so critically important, history has shown that  many leaders, business executives  struggle to communicate , too often, the message  gets lost in the accoutrements of companyspeak: PowerPoint slides, dry memos, and hyperbolic missives from the corporate communications department.

Robert McKee , leading screenwriting instructor in his recent article on Harvard business review  suggests that   speakers can engage listeners on a whole new level if they toss their PowerPoint slides and learn to tell good stories instead. According to Mckee, there are two ways to persuade people. First, Using conventional Rhetoric  and second, through Uniting an Idea with emotion.Out of two the latter being the most powerful, and is best accomplished by telling a story.

Storytelling That Moves People

 

07c-Telling stories

Tell Your Digital Story (or someone will do it for you)

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The value of a story is timeless, but the medium in which stories are disseminated has changed dramatically in just the last decade.  Tom Cochran, chief technology officer at Atlantic Media, said, “If you don’t have a digital presence today, you don’t exist.” The fastest way to influence a group of followers is through a digital story, whether it be through a short tweet or through a well-crafted blog post.  And the thing is, even if you don’t create a digital presence for yourself or your company, someone else will do it for you.

The advice given by Word of Mouth Marketing author Andy Sernovitz is to embrace digital and join the conversation.   It’s more important to be responsive than to be right.  Below are four digital recommendations offered by Sernovitz:

  1. Build credibility before you need it: Build a community that knows you and knows your brand.  If any negative PR does occur, you’ll already have a support team of fans and a platform in which to respond.
  2. Bring it inside the tent:  You are better off if criticism happens on your own blog or website because you will be able respond more quickly and contrast the negative comment with positive comments from all of your other fans.  Do not remove criticism, but use your forum to respond in a helpful and caring way.
  3. Let your fans do it:  If possible, have your fans respond to negative comments.  A defense from a fan is more valuable than a defense from within the company.
  4. Never get caught by surprise: Stay plugged in to what your fans are saying and respond immediately.  Conversations move quickly in the digital world.  If you want to have an influence, participate in the moment.

A Dell customer service disaster gone viral via social media by Jeff Jervis in 2005 points succinctly to the power of the internet, the influence of customers, and the customer’s expectation of engagement and response.  Dell had a hard lesson to learn about the power of the consumer voice in digital media, but in the end, they have strengthened their relationships with their customers and created a forum in which customers can interact.

You have a choice, an opportunity, to participate in digital platforms.  Join conversations, offer helpful insights, maybe even defend and rectify every once in a while.  What do you have to lose?  The only way that you will find out what people are saying and what people are waiting for you to say is by engaging in the digital story.

07a-Crafting an effective formal presentation, 07c-Telling stories, story-boarding, storyline structure

Telling A Great Story

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This past Thursday I, along with the rest of my classmates, had the opportunity to hear our professor, Professor Noonan, tell his story. I thought bout how would I tell a story, in a way that is purposeful and powerful.

I stumbled upon this article describing how to tell a great story. One who can tell a great story holds the power of influence. The good thing is the article tells us that the art of story telling is not something innate, but it is something that can be learned. I know that story telling is something that I would love to improve on. I am pretty loquacious myself so I would prefer to give an interesting story while talking. So what does it take to tell a great story. Well the article explains that you want to ensure that you:

Start With A Message

Know who your audience is and begin with a message that speaks to them or the problem you want to acknowledge

Mine Your Own Experiences

Use personal and life experience to express your message so that the audience can relate to what you’re saying

Don’t Make Yourself The Hero

Let the details of the story be the essence of the story and not yourself.

Highlight A Struggle

The author of the blog describes it best that “A story without a challenge simply isn’t very interesting”

Keep It Simple

Don’t let unnecessary details overshadow the true message

Practice Makes Perfect

Storytelling is an art and like any art it requires practice

Check out the full article below.

http://blogs.hbr.org/2014/07/how-to-tell-a-great-story/

 

07c-Telling stories

Need a Story to Tell?

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By now, most of us realize what a powerful tool storytelling can be when conveying a message to an audience.  An idea can go from barely being understood to fully conceptualized given the right context a story can provide. Just knowing what stories can do is not enough though. One has to pick the right story at the right time to give ideas life. Couple this hard truth with the sometimes uncreative atmosphere of a business meeting and many are hard-pressed to come up with a relevant story to match up both with the idea and the environment. I found a great resource to help find a story to match the message: http://www.businessballs.com/stories.htm.

I was surprised to find one story listed that a previous manager of mine used to help defuse some tension in a cross-functional meeting with members of our IT department present:

A man in a hot air balloon is lost. He sees a man on the ground and reduces height to speak to him.

“Excuse me, can you tell me where I am?”

“You’re in a hot air balloon hovering thirty feet above this field,” comes the reply.

“You must work in Information Technology,” says the balloonist.

“I do,” says the man, “How did you know?”

“Well,” says the balloonist, “Everything you told me is technically correct, but it’s no use to anyone.”

“You must be in business,” says the man.

“I am,” says the balloonist, “How did you know?”

“Well,” says the man, “You don’t know where you are, you don’t know where you’re going, but you expect me to be able to help. You’re in the same position you were before we met, but now it’s my fault.”

Although some of the best stories can be gleaned from personal experience,  sometimes it can be hard to recall  one for every situation.  Having a few anecdotal stories in your repertoire can be extremely useful, and may just be enough to win your audience over.

blamegame

07c-Telling stories

Importance of storytelling in business and effect of interactive media in this process

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This article discusses the importance of storytelling in communications and its effect on creating strong bonds between people, consumers, and businesses. The article also talks about the effect of technology and interactive media on business and consumer interactions. http://adage.com/article/guest-columnists/storytelling-apple-google-chevy-led-success/229814/

Throughout ages storytelling has been used as a tool to convey our thoughts, educate ourselves and help others to shape their opinion about us. The article uses “journalists”, “teachers”, “athletic coaches” and even “moms and dads” and “little kids playing with dolls and fire engines” as examples of storytellers that each have their own tale to talk to others about.

Storytelling is also essential to the success of many businesses: how effective they interact with consumers and how well they build value with them. The article points out a creative method used by successful companies to build upon their stories; “creation myths: Jobs and Wozniak toiling away in a garage; Page and Brin penning plans for Google at Stanford; Coca-Cola’s secret formula locked in a vault”; these tales convey company cultures to consumers and help businesses to shape consumers view about the company and build value with them.

The importance of storytelling can specially be appreciated in the advertising industry as it plays a key role in creating bonds between consumers and the brands. The article uses Chevrolet and Pepsi as examples: “Chevrolet has been associated with “baseball,” “hot dogs,” “apple pie” and the American ethic for almost 100 years. Pepsi has been “the choice of a new generation” in one way, shape or form for more than half a century.”; I think diligent communication and well-crafted storytelling techniques helped these to companies to build special bonds with their consumers.

Thanks to today’s advanced technology, consumers and business are able to communicate more effectively via interactive media. Just like this very blog that we are using, consumers can leave their comments about a particular product and the feedback can then be expanded by other people’s comments. I think this type of storytelling benefits both sides as producers can improve their products based on the collective feedback ‘story’ received from consumers.

While interactive media provides a communication channel between businesses and consumers, it may have some shortcomings as well. Focusing only on boosting their efficiency, some advertising and distribution companies have missed on building ‘deep relationships’ with their consumers and instead focused on how many ‘likes’ or ‘clicks’ they are receiving; I believe that by using such techniques, not only the companies do not receive in-depth product feedbacks, but also they weaken their relationship with the users! This is a limiting factor for interactive media and needs to get improved over time.