Stories Are Powerful:
Flashback to the period of 1998-2000. I was a student at Deakin University. Like a lot of us then, I used to hate early morning lectures. However there's 2 lectures and more specifically, lecturers, who I cannot forget
The first lecturer taught us Equities and Investment Analysis. His lectures ran from 7.30 am to 9.30 am and he had extremely neat handwriting. Why do I remember that? Well he used to prepare copies of handwritten notes for each of his lectures. Unfortunately his lectures were not half as enticing as his handwriting. He had a knack of boring and putting the majority of us to sleep, by simply putting up his notes on the slide projector and talking us through everything that was written on the notes. There was no logic given to the matter and definitely no explanation given behind the rationale of everything that was written. Safe to say after the first few lectures we would rock up at 8.45 am and just collect the notes and keep them with us. I got a C in this subject because as Indians we have a knack to learn by Rote, and thats what saw me through this subject.
On the other hand the second lecturer who taught us Business Law, took us through every topic with real life examples..Each precedent he explained to us was full of stories, and anecdotes. Through his sense of humour, he would regale us with examples of his neighbour, his wife, his children, the doctor, the butcher etc. He had made each of his topics so relatable and so full of stories and anecdotes that each one of us could literally visualise what was being explained. His style of lecturing, his energy and most importantly his storytelling skills, put a smile on all our faces and ensured we all attended each of his lectures. A 7.30 am lecture was full up by 7.35 am, because we all truly enjoyed hearing these fun stories, and in the bargain ended up retaining a lot of the subject matter. Its safe to say I got an A in this subject.
I learnt early on that Stories Are Powerful and I apply it even more today as a Public Speaking coach. Gone are the days when you can try and make pitches using a 150 slide presentation. Everyone's attention spans are waning and you need to pitch your offering in the first few minutes of any meeting, else you have lost the audience in the room. There is no better way to do this than through storytelling. The same goes for when making an address on stage to a live audience. Regale your audience with real life stories and anecdotes from your life which make them truly visualise what you are saying and in the bargain resonate with the message you are delivering.
When is the last time you tapped into your storytelling skills when delivering a message? Let me know in the comments and DM me if you wish to learn how to incorporate storytelling into your presentation or brand messaging. Lets work together to unlock the power of storytelling and make each of your presentations a magical affair.