- Don’t be afraid to show your vulnerable side.
Tell about your struggles or (mild) embarrassments. The audience will identify with a speaker who isn’t afraid to be self-deprecating. The audience will think you are more credible if they can relate to your failures. Ronald Reagan (see below) has told stories of walking down the street in a foreign country to explain to the audience what the people there are like. No one is perfect and the audience knows you aren’t either. As I stated in my previous post, the audience is rooting for you to succeed. If you portray yourself as an underdog, it will be even easier for them to like you because everyone likes rooting for an underdog.
Reagan’s Storytelling at its Finest
- Make the audience feel like they were there.
Most importantly, it is better if you are telling a story that is actually true or that is nearly true. The purpose of the story is to set the stage for what the experience was like. Before television and movies, humans told other humans what happened in their lives by describing it to each other as if the other person was there. Use a lot of descriptive words. Set the mood. What was going through your mind as the events unfolded? As social media and other forms of instant, abbreviated content fills our minds and worlds (think texting, BuzzFeed articles, Instagram, snapchats, etc.), it will become increasingly important to be able to tell another person or group of people about an experience in a genuine human way.
- Start with the end in mind.
The point of the story is not to entertain the audience. The purpose is for the audience to remember what you are trying to tell them. The medium of a story is easier for people to remember. It is ingrained in us from our prehistoric ancestors. They convinced people to do things based on stories and emotion, not with powerpoint slideshows or colorful charts and graphs. Make sure you the story brings you to the point and helps you drive it home. The story will make the audience much more likely to remember the presentation, and a good overall goal would have an audience member be able to convey it to someone who wasn’t even there by telling your story and relating it to the overall message. Of course practice is important. Professionals at the Advanced Publix Speaking Institute recommend practicing 30 times. TED presenter Dr. Jill Bolte-Taylor says she rehearsed her presentation 200 times before delivering it. What should I do if I don’t have time to practice it that many times? You should do the best you can and practice it as many times as you think you need to be successful. However, at some point you can sound over-rehearsed and you should just “do it live” for more authenticity.
Inspiration: http://www.gingerpublicspeaking.com/storytelling-public-speaking http://www.public-speaking.org/public-speaking-storydo-article.htm