Professional Storytelling In Presentations

Hello Friends,

Hope you had a great week!!

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Last week, I hosted two workshops on mastering professional presentation skills. One of the core topics in my workshops is professional storytelling.

If you are asking what professional storytelling is, then rest assured it is not a "once upon a time in a faraway place" approach. Professional storytelling is providing relevant information in an interesting manner.

It's important to note that professional storytelling has difference scenarios:

• Networking & Interviews: In this scenario, professional storytelling is about standing out by speaking about yourself and what you offer in an interesting way.
• Corporate Presentations: In this scenario, professional storytelling is about pitching a solution, strategy or idea that intrigues, persuades and influences the audience towards your intended end-goal.
• Professional Mixers: In this scenario, professional storytelling is using personal stories that are funny and/or emotional and that are appropriate for a corporate audience to keep a social setting engaging and interesting.
• Keynote Speeches: In this scenario, professional storytelling is using real worlds examples and stories, whether personal or anecdotal, to make a motivating or thought-provoking point.

During my workshops last week, I spoke about professional storytelling's place in corporate presentations.

Corporate Presentations 

We all know that corporate presentations are despised by so many professionals. It takes hours of putting the deck together, doing the research, making countless changes (due to input and feedback from team members or bosses) and finally making it a finished product that lands the delivery in the allotted time.

While many of those issues, if not all, are par for the course, there are things that can be done to make these presentations much more impactful. Areas that can be improved on are:

• Slide Design: Less is more
• Chronology: Make it easy for the audience to follow
• Content: Only relevant information on the slides
• Aesthetics: Make it look pleasing

I could write a book how one can make a killer corporate presentation, however the biggest area to me is storytelling.

Storytelling In Presentations

In a corporate presentation, your goal is to synthesize and deliver important information. The end-goal of this information can vary (i.e. solution to a problem, strategic initiatives, industry / competitor analysis, sales pitch to a client, fund-raising pitch to an investor, etc.).

An area that many professionals struggle is the storytelling aspect of a corporate presentation. The way to do this effectively is incorporate three main areas into your content: 

Anecdotes: Anecdotes are personal experiences or stories that can be used to make a relevant point.

• For Example: Your company is looking to host a conference in Portland, Oregon and your presentation is highlighting the pros and cons.
• Non-Anecdotal Point: Having a conference in Portland, Oregon has many benefits, but we must implement safety procedures due to the number of displaced individuals in the city.
• Anecdotal Point: There are a lot of benefits to hosting this year's conference in Portland, Oregon, but the most important point we must discuss is safety. Last year, Anne from Accounting was visiting Portland with her family, and was viciously attacked by a displaced individual who smashed a glass bottle over her head. This happened in broad daylight, and in the middle of the city. The attack was unprovoked, and Anne needed stiches to treat the injury. We must implement safety procedures so that this does not happen to anyone else.

In this scenario, the anecdotal point is descriptive and takes the audience on a journey of an incident, which further highlights the importance of safety parameters.

Analogies: Analogies are using comparative cases or examples to highlight a specific point.

• For Example: Your company was levied a $100 Million regulatory fine and wants to fight it. You are asked to present the reasons the company should not fight it.
• Non-Analogous Point: If we put our efforts towards fighting this regulatory fine, we could lose market share to our competitors.
• Analogous Point: Google became a powerhouse because Microsoft made a mistake, the same mistake we might make. When Microsoft decided to fight the antitrust case against them 25+ years ago, they took their eye off the ball, specifically on Google. As a result, Microsoft lost out on many lucrative opportunities that propelled Google to where they are today. We cannot make that same mistake. 

In this scenario, using a real-life example of another company can help clarify in a more meaningful way why the company should rethink their decision to fight the regulatory fine.

Possibilities: Possibilities is a storytelling technique that highlights how taking an action (or not taking one) can help or hurt the company in various ways.

• For Example: A technology company is looking for $100 Million to put towards their AI division, but does not want to raise the capital externally. The company wants to find the money internally. You are tasked to present a solution on this.
• Non-Possibilities Point: Software Alpha is expensive, however it can solve our productivity issue. Our current process is inefficient, and implementing Software Alpha will reduce the time spent on task X by 30%.
• Possibilities Point: We have a productivity issue. What if I told you I have a solution? A solution that not only solves our productivity problem, but it can save costs, allocate resources to R&D, improve employee morale, elevate our customer's experience, and is scalable which will curb technology costs in the future. Let me introduce you to Software Alpha, which will reduce time spent on task X by 30%.

In this scenario, the possibilities point is showcasing how one solution can in-fact offer additional solutions to address other pain points.

Conclusion

In a corporate presentation, simply stating statistical figures won't necessarily move the needle. There needs to be weight behind the data points so that it influences the audiences decision, while also keeping them interested. When using the anecdotal, analogous or possibilities techniques, you are making it easier to state your case, while also keeping the audience's attention because they will relate to each point you make. You do not have to use these techniques on each point in your presentation, but they are a must on your most relevant points.

Thank you and have a great week ahead.

If you are interested in improving your speaking, communication skills and confidence, schedule a call with me or learn more about communication coaching here.

Thought Of The Week

A weekly thought to meditate, ruminate, and/or ponder on:

“Maybe stories are just data with a soul.”

- Brene Brown