Tell A Story: Resource Guide: Presentation Skills
Tell A Story: Resource Guide: Presentation Skills
Aileen McNabb
PRESENTATION SKILLS
TELL A STORY :
RESOURCE GUIDE
Table of Contents
Why Tell a Story? .......................................................................................................................................... 2
Why not tell a story? ............................................................................................................................. 6
Types of Stories with Examples .................................................................................................................... 7
8 Classic storytelling techniques for engaging presentations................................................................... 7
Monomyth ............................................................................................................................................ 7
The Mountain........................................................................................................................................ 9
Sparklines ............................................................................................................................................ 10
Petal Structure .................................................................................................................................... 12
In medias res ....................................................................................................................................... 13
Converging ideas ................................................................................................................................. 14
Nested Loops....................................................................................................................................... 15
False start ............................................................................................................................................ 16
Books on Storytelling .................................................................................................................................. 18
The Science Underlying Storytelling ................................................................................................... 18
The Storytelling Animal: How Stories Make Us Human .................................................................. 18
Wired for Story: The Writer's Guide to Using Brain Science to Hook Readers from the Very First
Sentence ......................................................................................................................................... 18
Storytelling and the Sciences of Mind ............................................................................................ 19
Nested Loops Demystified: Revealing the Art of Multilevel Communication and Unconscious
Instillation in NLP ............................................................................................................................ 19
Storytelling How-to’s and Examples ................................................................................................... 20
Stories for Work: The Essential Guide to Business Storytelling ...................................................... 20
Business Storytelling For Dummies................................................................................................. 20
The Leader's Guide to Storytelling: Mastering the Art and Discipline of Business Narrative......... 21
Winning the Story Wars: Why Those Who Tell (and Live) the Best Stories Will Rule the Future... 21
TED Talks Storytelling: 23 Storytelling Techniques from the Best TED Talks.................................. 21
Hypnotic Storytelling: Spin Tales That Move Minds ....................................................................... 22
Why Tell a Story?
Budweiser’s 2014 Super Bowl ad, Puppy Love, is the most popular Super Bowl ad ever.
We may not associate Budweiser with Shakespeare; but, Research from Johns Hopkins University said
Shakespeare’s storytelling techniques featured prominently in the beer company’s Super Bowl
commercial. Specifically, researcher
Johns Hopkins professor, Keith Quesenberry, conducted a two-year content analysis of 108
commercials. He found significant association of dramatic form with consumer favourability in Super
Bowl advertising rating polls. Results demonstrated that average consumer ratings were higher for
commercials that followed a five-act dramatic form and a positive association of the number of acts in
commercials with consumer favourability ratings. In fact, Quesenberry predicted that Puppy Love would
be the most popular Super Bowl ad in 2014. And he was right.
Quesenberry and his research partner found that, regardless of the content of the ad, the structure of
that content predicted its success.
Click Arrow to play ad. ESC to End.
“People are attracted to stories,” Quesenberry is quoted as saying, “because we’re social creatures
and we relate to other people.” (Harvard Business Review, n.d.)
Why does the format of a story, where events unfold one after the other, have such a profound impact
on our learning?
The simple answer is this: We are wired that way. A story, if broken down into the simplest form, is a
connection of cause and effect. And that is exactly how we think. We think in narratives all day long, no
matter if it is about buying groceries, whether we think about work or our spouse at home. We make up
(short) stories in our heads for every action and conversation. In fact, Jeremy Hsu found [that] "personal
stories and gossip make up 65% of our conversations."
(Widrich, 2012)
Jennifer Aaker, Professor of Marketing at the Stanford Graduate School of Business tell us to learn to tell
stories that advocate your ideas and bring others along with you. And isn’t that what we aim to do in all
our business presentations?
According to Aaker, studies show that we are wired to remember stories much more than data, facts,
and figures. However, when data and story are used together, audiences are moved both emotionally
and intellectually. Aaker demonstrates the importance of stories in shaping how others see you and as a
tool to persuade. Harnessing the power of stories will enable you to be more persuasive, move people
to action, and progress into your career.
After the story of Rukia, people donated twice as much as after the ad giving statistics.
Rokia was among the first participants in Save the Children’s sponsorship-funded program in her
village. Since 2009, Rokia has benefitted from our education, health and nutrition programs. Each
year Save the Children provides vitamin A, iron, and deworming treatment to improve Rokia’s
health.
Rokia leads an active life. “I like to keep busy with my family and friends,” Rokia says with a smile,
happy to split her time between school, play and chores.
A big part of Rokia’s busy day is doing whatever she can to help her family. She gets up early to get
ready for school and do chores while it is still cool — temperatures often top 100 degrees by
midday.
Rokia likes helping to take care of her little brother while her mother makes breakfast. They often
eat a hearty porridge of sorghum — a grain they grow on the farm.
After breakfast, Rokia takes her younger brother to the early childhood development (ECD) center
and heads off to school where she has already reached the third grade. Both her school and her
little brother’s center are supported by Save the Children.
At noon, Rokia comes back home to have lunch. Her school doesn’t have a cafeteria. There aren’t
any restaurants or grocery stores in her village. Lunch and dinner are typically the same as
breakfast, but perhaps with peanuts or vegetables added to the porridge.
Rokia returns to school when it reopens from 3:00 to 5:00 in the afternoon. At night, she has dinner
and plays with her brothers and sisters before bed. It is a long day for a little girl, but as she gets
ready for bed, she looks forward to her next busy day.
Impact and Results
Sponsors’ support Rokia and thousands of children like her in Mali. In 2009, Save the Children:
Sponsor a Child
If any of these are your reasons, maybe you should reconsider? Based on the above comments and so
much more that’s been written on the power of storytelling.
I feel silly.
People don’t want me to tell them a story. They want FACTS!
I don’t know any stories.
It’s too much work.
I’m presenting to the C-Level. They don’t want to listen to a
story.
I’m in the financial world – numbers are the only things that
count.
What’s your excuse? Read on to learn how you can add this powerful persuader into your
presentations.
Types of Stories with Examples
You can find descriptions of types of stories commonly told, and usually effective. Much of this section
is taken from an from Sparkol .
Monomyth
The monomyth (also called the hero’s journey), is a
story structure that is found in many folk tales, myths
and religious writings from around the world.
There are twelve steps to the hero’s journey. According to the Oracle Education Foundation Library,
those steps are as follows.
1. Ordinary World: This step refers to the hero's normal life at the start of the story, before the adventure
begins.
2. Call to Adventure: The hero is faced with something that makes him begin his adventure. This might be
a problem or a challenge he needs to overcome.
3. Refusal of the Call: The hero attempts to refuse the adventure because he is afraid.
4. Meeting with the Mentor: The hero encounters someone who can give him advice and ready him for
the journey ahead.
5. Crossing the First Threshold: The hero leaves his ordinary world for the first time and crosses the
threshold into adventure.
6. Tests, Allies, Enemies: The hero learns the rules of his new world. During this time, he endures tests of
strength of will, meets friends, and comes face to face with foes.
7. Approach: Setbacks occur, sometimes causing the hero to try a new approach or adopt new ideas.
8. Ordeal: The hero experiences a major hurdle or obstacle, such as a life or death crisis.
9. Reward: After surviving death, the hero earns his reward or accomplishes his goal.
10. The Road Back: The hero begins his journey back to his ordinary life.
11. Resurrection Hero - The hero faces a final test where everything is at stake and he must use everything
he has learned.
12. Return with Elixir: The hero brings his knowledge or the "elixir" back to the ordinary world, where he
applies it to help all who remain there.
My notes:
When presenting in sales, be careful about the roles everyone is playing in your story. The audience,
and specifically the decision-maker, must be the hero. The wise mentor is your solution, or your
company.
Start with your audience’s current position and the need to change.
From your discovery – which is critical to a good sales presentation – you will have learned the
hardships the hero (company, employee…) has been going through.
Where appropriate present the quest for a solution as difficult. This makes it possible to portray the
decision maker(s) as people who work hard to do the right thing.
Your hero is now able to go back to his team and help everyone.
In your sales presentations, the company you’re selling to must be the her0. You just have to show that
you understand their ordeals and setbacks; and that you can provide the solution that will give them the
reward they seek – and make them a here.
The Mountain
The mountain structure is a way of mapping the
tension and drama in a story. It’s similar to the
monomyth because it helps us to plot when
certain events occur in a story.
My Notes:
This is a good story type to show how you overcame adversity. It might be used to discuss how your
company survived and grew. Or you could use it to describe how a customer struggled and then
overcome obstacles through the use of your solution. In an article I wrote, I tell about someone I
worked with who used this structure to great effect. Here’s the excerpt from that article that tells one
of the most effective mountain stories I’ve heard:
One of my favourite presales consultants had come to our presales team from
implementation consulting. She didn’t have any presentation experience; but, her
background meant she brought a unique and powerful strength. She had a wealth
of real-life stories about how our customers were successful with our product. I
watched her in one of her very first presentations. A little while into the
presentation, a member of the audience asked her a question about payroll,
which she was involved with from her implementation days. She told a simple
story that totally engaged the audience.
I just recently had the best phone call from a customer in the same situation
you’re describing. When I’d started the implementation, she had worked several
weekends in a row. When I asked her about that, she said, “That’s just this
job. It’s ruining my home life.” In order to process payroll, she had to do hours
and hours of repetitive, manual work. You know how that is. (Here the audience
enthusiastically agreed.)
We implemented the software and I went back to my job with other clients. Just
last week she called me and said, “I just had to call and say thank you. You gave
me my weekends back!”
Sparklines
Sparklines are a way of
mapping presentation structures. Graphic
designer Nancy Duarte uses sparklines to
analyse famous speeches graphically in her
book Resonate.
By doing this the presenter draws attention to the problems we have in our society, our personal lives,
our businesses. The presenter creates and fuels a desire for change in the audience.
It’s a highly emotional technique that is sure to motivate your audience to support you.
Technically we might not consider this speech a story. But Dr. King certainly took us on a journey and
used contrast to extreme effect. In the immortal “I Have a Dream” speech, Dr. King takes you on a
journey from despair to hope, from contempt to brotherhood. The journey is from one emotion to its
opposite emotion.
We can use this technique in many areas of our business presentations. From the simple technique of
‘What If’ or “Imagine” to a full story approach, we can use contrast to give the audience a clear view of
how we, through our solution, can take them from the struggles of their difficult past to a much better
future.
She contrasts that with where she is now and how people CAN
survive something like what she went through. It’s memorable.
You tell your stories one by one before returning back to the
centre. The petals can overlap as one story introduces the next but
each should be a complete narrative in itself.
In doing so, you can weave a rich tapestry of evidence around your central theory. Or strong emotional
impressions around your idea.
By showing your audience how all these key stories are related to one another, you leave them feeling
the true importance and weight of your message.
My Notes:
This is especially good in the typical software demonstration. By using a story with multiple parts you
can bring the various parts of your demonstrations, especially During a complex demonstration, there
are usually several presenters. The person managing the demonstration – often the sales rep – can use
the petal structure to summarize the various parts of the demonstration and to summarize the
presentation. The Petal Structure can be used without a story, but telling a story and then using that
consistently helps bring cohesion and memorability to a long presentation in which the audience could
become lost.
I used a story that was actually quite silly but resonated well with the audience. We won that deal!
My story told how I had just recently bought a suit for work. Which was very similar to the audience’s
current need to buy software.
Coincidentally (not), these were very similar to the prospect’s software requirements. I gave the
overview story at the beginning, including how happy I was at having bought the perfect suit. Then I
used each requirement as a section of my demonstration. And then, it was easy to summarize.
The Sparkol article I’ve been quoting a lot here gives Simon Sinek’s Ted Talk as a good example of the
Petal Structure.
In medias res
In medias res storytelling is when you begin your narrative
in the heat of the action, before starting over at the
beginning to explain how you got there.
Converging ideas
This technique could be used to tell the stories of some of the world’s greatest partnerships – for
example, web developers Larry Page and Sergey Brin.
Larry and Sergey met at Stanford’s PhD program in 1995, but they didn’t like each other at first. They
both had great ideas, but found working together hard. Eventually they found themselves working on a
research project together. A research project that became Google.
See also: Steven Johnson’s TED talk, where he explains how collaboration has fuelled some of history’s
best ideas
John Bohannon and the Black Label Movement
explain (verbally and through dance) how scientists
and dancers came together to form an exciting,
dynamic alternative to boring presentations.
Nested Loops
My Notes:
Nested Loops as a technique is not always easily understood. Not surprising, since it’s considered a
Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) tool and is often used in hypnosis. Done well, it keeps your
audience engaged throughout your presentation as they wait for the completion of the various ‘loops’.
The creators of successful TV shows such as House, Dexter, Lost, Mad Men, Homeland, Prison Break, Ray
Donovan, Game of Thrones etc employ the technique of nested loops advocated by Frank Chimero to
keep us glued and addicted to their shows.
Nested loops in shows tend to operate by introducing three or four concurrent plots within an episode.
The first plot is introduced at the beginning of the episode and then stopped at a point of high
emotional tension to start plot 2. There is another breakaway at crucial point in plot 2 to introduce plot
3 etc. The creators then proceed to resolve each plot and the choice of which plot to resolve depends on
what helps move the story forward. One plot is usually left unresolved at the end of the episode as a
cliff-hanger to keep you hooked for the next episode.
In this Ted Talk, Simon Sinek does a LOT of great things.
Including using Nested Loops effectively. Yes, this Ted Talk is
referenced already. But worth it.
He answers those questions quite late in his presentation, one by one. And we’re fascinated to learn the
answers.
False start
This format is great for talking about a time that you failed in
something and were forced to ‘go back to the start’ and reassess. It’s
ideal for talking about the things that you learnt from that experience.
Or the innovative way that you solved your problem.
But best of all, it’s a quick attention hack which will disrupt your audience’s expectations and surprise
them into paying closer attention to your message.
See also: Retroactive continuity is when a storyteller goes back and alters the ‘facts’ in their story. If you
are a character in the story you’re telling, you can use a false start to go back and retell your own story
in a surprising way.
J K Rowling begins her speech at Harvard in a typical fashion.
She talks about her time at university and the expectations of
her parents. The audience expects her to talk about
the growing success of her writing career – instead she
focuses on a time in her twenties where she felt she had
‘failed’ in life. What comes next is inspirational.
Books on Storytelling
These books are the result of searching for books mentioned most often in “Best Books on..” lists, books
referred to in conversations and many articles, and just books I’d like to read soon.
The list includes links to the title, usually on Amazon, and a picture of the star rating when available.
Jonathan Gottschall
As Gottschall shows in this remarkable book, stories can also change the world for
the better. Most successful stories are moral—they teach us how to live, whether
explicitly or implicitly, and bind us together around common values. We know we are
master shapers of story. The Storytelling Animalfinally reveals how stories
shape us. (goodreads, n.d.)
Wired for Story: The Writer's Guide to Using Brain Science to Hook Readers from the Very First Sentence
(Cron, n.d.)
(Herman, n.d.)
The book as a whole centers on two questions: How do people make sense of
stories? And: How do people use stories to make sense of the world? Examining
narratives from different periods and across multiple media and genres, Herman
shows how traditions of narrative research can help shape ways of formulating and
addressing questions about intelligent activity, and vice versa.
Nested Loops Demystified: Revealing the Art of Multilevel Communication and Unconscious
Instillation in NLP
(Caulfield, n.d.)
Do you want to develop engaging and powerful presentations, working shops and
training course? That will teach large amounts of information in a very short space
of time easily and effortlessly? This book reveals the art Nested Loops, Multilevel
Communication and Unconscious Instillation in NLP (Neuro-Linguistic
Programming). Nested loops and “unconscious instillation” have grown to almost
an mythical status in NLP but in reality are are very simple and exceptionally
powerful way of designing powerful and impactful training courses and one-to-one
sessions. For the first time in print, this book will give you a clear and concise
explanation of how to design and utilise Nested Loops in a variety of contexts for different outcomes.
PLEASE NOTE: This book assumes a basic and general understanding of NLP.
Storytelling How-to’s and Examples
(Dolan, n.d.)
Need to get your point across? Get staff on board with change? Foster
collaboration? Increase sales? Strengthen employee engagement? Build customer
loyalty? Drive innovation and creativity? Capture best practices? Align people
around a goal? Grow your business? Business Storytelling For Dummiescan help
you do this--and more.
The Leader's Guide to Storytelling: Mastering the Art and Discipline of Business Narrative
(Denning, n.d.)
How leaders can use the right story at the right time to inspire change and action
This revised and updated edition of the best-selling book A Leader's Guide to
Storytelling shows how storytelling is one of the few ways to handle the most
important and difficult challenges of leadership: sparking action, getting people to
work together, and leading people into the future. Using myriad illustrative examples
and filled with how-to techniques, this book clearly explains how you can learn to tell
the right story at the right time.
Winning the Story Wars: Why Those Who Tell (and Live) the Best Stories Will Rule the Future
(Sacks, n.d.)
• Social media tools are driving a return to the oral tradition, in which stories that matter rise above the
fray
• Marketers have become today’s mythmakers, providing society with explanation, meaning, and ritual
• Memorable stories based on timeless themes build legions of eager evangelists
TED Talks Storytelling: 23 Storytelling Techniques from the Best TED Talks
(Karia, n.d.)
For this book, the author studied 200 Ted Talks and discovered one thing was
common in the very best of them – the speakers told stories. This book presents
twenty-three principles on how to create stories that keep your audiences hooked
onto your every word. Whether you are giving a TED talk or a corporate presentation,
you’ll be able to apply the principles used in this guide to make your next talk a roaring success.
(Hutton, n.d.)
Learn the powerful storytelling technique that will spur anybody to action, install any
desire, or remove any fear. Uplift your friends, mesmerize entire rooms of strangers,
and have crowds hanging on your every word. Learn the deep secrets of storytelling,
the perfect structures for every situation, and how to get them to do and think
anything you want and think it was their own idea. Leverage the power of blurred
realities, nested loops, embedded commands and all of the most powerful yet
misunderstood techniques from Ericksonian hypnosis. All you need is the events from
your own life, this guide and you'll be getting strangers to fall in love with you and buy anything you've
got for sale. Perfect for sales professionals, seducers, relationship enhancers, or just those who want to
drop a few bliss bombs here and there and be remembered forever.