Spoken Story Told Over and Over Again Through Verbal Storytelling

A skillful public speaker takes their audience on a journey, leaving them feeling inspired and motivated. But structuring your speech to get your ideas beyond and keep your audience engaged all the style through is tricky. Try these eight storytelling techniques for a presentation that wows.

You lot're doing a presentation, and then you outset with the facts you want to become across. Wrong! Humans are hardwired for stories. They honey heroes, journeys, surprises, layers and happy endings.

Evangelize a presentation that captures the hearts and heads of your audience past stealing i of these classic storytelling techniques. Starting time with the story – the rest will be history.

one. Monomyth

The monomyth (also called the hero's journey), is a story structure that'southward constitute in many folk tales, myths and religious writings from around the world.

In a monomyth, the hero is called to get out their home and sets out on a difficult journey. They movement from somewhere they know into a threatening unknown identify.

Later overcoming a nifty trial, they render home with a reward or newfound wisdom – something which will help their community. Lots of modernistic stories even so follow this structure, from the Lion King to Star Wars.

Using the monomyth to shape your presentation can help you lot explain what has brought you to the wisdom you lot want to share. Information technology can bring your message alive for your audience.

Practiced for:

• Taking the audience on a journeying
• Showing the benefit of taking risks
• Demonstrating how you learned some new found wisdom

See also: The Hero's Journey by Joseph Campbell

Japanese yo-yo-er BLACK tells the inspiring story of finding his life's passion, and the difficult path he took to become world champion. He closes by sharing his new found skills with the audition, bringing his journeying full circle.

2. The mount

The mountain construction is a manner of mapping the tension and drama in a story. Information technology's similar to the monomyth considering it helps us to plot when certain events occur in a story.

It'south different considering it doesn't necessarily accept a happy catastrophe. The first part of the story is given to setting the scene, and is followed by just a series of small challenges and rising action earlier a climactic conclusion.

Information technology's a bit like a Idiot box series – each episode has its ups and downs, all building up to a big finale at the end of the season.

Adept for:

• Showing how you overcame a serial of challenges
• Slowly building tension
• Delivering a satisfying determination

Aimee Mullins uses a mountain-structure speech to tell a personal story – from being born without fibula bones in her lower legs to becoming a famous athlete, actress and model.

3. Nested loops

Nested loops is a storytelling technique where yous layer three or more than narratives within each other.

You identify your most important story – the core of your message – in the eye, and use the stories around it to elaborate or explain that central principle. The first story you begin is the last story y'all finish, the second story y'all start is second to final, etc.

Nested loops works a bit similar a friend telling you about a wise person in their life, someone who taught them an important lesson. The starting time loops are your friend's story, the second loops are the wise person's story. At the centre is the important lesson.

Good for:

• Explaining the process of how y'all were inspired/ came to a determination
• Using analogies to explain a central concept
• Showing how a piece of wisdom was passed forth to you

See also:Simon Sinek's TED talk shows how successful organizations place the 'why?' of what they do at the centre, surrounded by the 'what?' and 'how?' of their business. Nested loops are an ideal way of framing this message, giving your audience a existent insight into your identity.

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie uses the framework of her experiences in university and the way that Africa is perceived in the Western world to drive abode her statement well-nigh stories.

4. Sparklines

Sparklines are a way of mapping presentation structures. Graphic designer Nancy Duarte uses sparklines to analyse famous speeches graphically in her book Resonate.

She argues that the very best speeches succeed because they contrast our ordinary world with an ideal, improved world. They comparewhat is withwhat could be.

By doing this the presenter draws attending to the bug we have in our social club, our personal lives, our businesses. The presenter creates and fuels a desire for change in the audience.

Information technology'south a highly emotional technique that is sure to motivate your audience to support you.

Skilful for:

• Inspiring the audience to action
• Creating promise and excitement
• Creating a post-obit

See also: Resonate past Nancy Duarte

Martin Luther Male monarch's speech is famous the world over considering it contrasts the racist, intolerant guild of the solar day with an ideal future society where all races are treated as.

five. In media res

In medias res storytelling is when you begin your narrative in the heat of the activeness, before starting over at the beginning to explain how you got at that place.

By dropping your audience right into the most exciting part of your story they'll be gripped from the beginning and volition stay engaged to observe out what happens.

Simply be careful – you don't want to requite away too much of the activity straight away. Attempt hinting at something baroque or unexpected – something that needs more explanation. Requite your audience just enough data to keep them hooked, every bit you lot go back and prepare the scene of your story.

This only works for shorter presentations though – if you string it out too long your audience volition get frustrated and lose involvement.

Adept for:

• Grabbing attention from the start
• Continue an audition craving resolution
• Focusing attention on a pivotal moment in your story

Zak Ebrahim begins his talk with the revelation that his begetter helped plan the 1993 World Trade Eye bombing. His audience is gripped from the beginning, equally he begins to recount the events of his babyhood and the path he took later on his father'south confidence.

half dozen. Converging ideas

Converging ideas is a speech structure that shows the audience how unlike strands of thinking came together to form one product or idea.

It can be used to show the nascence of a move. Or explain how a single idea was the culmination of several great minds working towards one goal.

Converging ideas is similar to the nested loops structure, simply rather than framing 1 story with complementary stories, it tin can prove how several equally of import stories came to a single potent conclusion.

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 plan in 1995, but they didn't like each other at first. They both had peachy ideas, but found working together difficult. Eventually they found themselves working on a research project together. A inquiry projection that became Google.

Skillful for:

• Showing how slap-up minds came together
• Demonstrating how a development occurred at a certain bespeak in history
• Showing how symbiotic relationships have formed

See also: Steven Johnson'southward TED talk, where he explains how collaboration has fuelled some of history's best ideas.

John Bohannon and the Black Label Move explain (verbally and through dance) how scientists and dancers came together to form an exciting, dynamic alternative to deadening presentations.

7. False kickoff

A 'false start' story is when you brainstorm to tell a seemingly anticipated story, before unexpectedly disrupting it and offset it over again. You lure your audience into a imitation sense of security, and and then shock them by turning the tables.

This format is great for talking about a time that you failed in something and were forced to 'go dorsum to the start' and reassess. Information technology's ideal for talking about the things that you learnt from that experience. Or the innovative style that yous solved your problem.

Merely best of all, it's a quick attending hack which volition disrupt your audience's expectations and surprise them into paying closer attention to your message.

Expert for:

• Disrupting audience expectations
• Showing the benefits of a flexible approach
• Keeping the audience engaged

J K Rowling begins her speech at Harvard in a typical mode. She talks near her time at university and the expectations of her parents. The audience expects her to talk almost 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.

8. Petal structure

The petal structure is a way of organising multiple speakers or stories around one central concept. It's useful if you have several unconnected stories you want to tell or things you want to reveal – that all relate back to a single message.

You tell your stories i by 1 earlier returning back to the heart. The petals can overlap as one story introduces the adjacent but each should be a complete narrative in itself.

In doing and so, you lot tin can weave a rich tapestry of bear witness effectually your central theory. Or strong emotional impressions around your thought.

Past showing your audience how all these key stories are related to 1 some other, you leave them feeling the true importance and weight of your message.

Good for:

• Demonstrating how strands of a story or process are interconnected
• Showing how several scenarios relate back to 1 idea
• Letting multiple speakers talk effectually a central theme

Run across likewise:Carnegie Mellon University'due south guide to story nodes

Simon Sinek again! His theory might lend itself perfectly to nested loops, but he himself chose to deliver his talk in a petal structure. He tells his audience a series a stories to help illustrate his ideas, each one strengthening his bulletin farther.

Start with a story

And so there you have it – 8 classic storytelling shapes to brighten up your talk and actually engage your audition.

Of course there are many other storytelling techniques out in that location that yous can use. What I hope this post has washed is testify you that stories are powerful. They are the language of your audience.

Your talk – however dry the field of study – can exist brought alive if you find the story at the middle of it all. If y'all'd like any aid developing your story and turning it into a winning blithe video, contact our friendly Sparkol Creative Services team here.

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Source: https://blog.sparkol.com/8-classic-storytelling-techniques-for-engaging-presentations

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