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The most important element of a story, in fact, in an entire presentation, is the thinking that’s going on in the minds of the audience (are they interested, connected, emotionally and mentally engaged, or…………… totally zoned out?)
- Ensure your story is for the audience by ensuring it has a message for them
- Entice the audience at the start, by tapping into their minds, allowing them to reflect and/or arouse curiosity with a ‘you-focused’ question. When was the last time you…? Do you realize that…? How often do you…?
- Invite the audience into your story by subtly bringing them into your scene If you had seen me in July 2006, you would've seen…I wish you could've been there when we... If you're a parent, you know what happens when you...
- Hook them by escalating a conflict…as in a mall escalator…it goes upward and forward
- Make story come alive- by bringing in relatable, relevant characters and their dialogue
- Keep the audience with you- by touching base periodically throughout the story with rhetorical reflective questions; then pause and let them think. Can you relate to that? If something like that might happen to you, how would you react? Who in your life has helped you when…? Don't you sometimes get frustrated when..?
Are you using any or all of these keys to CONNECT?
Join me next month when we look at the letter “L” as it relates to storytelling skills.
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