Two Counter Intuitive Ways to Get Someone’s Attention
At networking events, people assume I write children’s books upon hearing that “I’m in storytelling.” Or, they imagine me wearing a funny hat, playing a banjo and performing stories under tents.
However, as soon as I explain that I teach quantitatively oriented clients how to weave narrative with data, everything seems to make intuitive sense. Most people have sat through a boring PowerPoint presentation after which they couldn’t recall one piece of information. But they can easily recall “random” stories they heard years ago.
It turns out, memory research shows that something is 20 times more likely to be remembered if presented in the context of narrative.[1]
However, in order to effectively tell stories, most of us have to forget what we learned in business school about business communication.
Make your audience work for it
When you are sitting through a presentation, what do you typically hear in the beginning? When you interview for a job, what do you usually say in the beginning? When you read a business report, what comes up first?
Most likely, the presenter clears her throat, thanks the meeting organizer, and enumerates her impressive credentials. Most likely, you regurgitate all of your career highlights in chronological order. Most likely, the report opens with the executive summary.
Why not? After all, that is how we are taught to communicate in business. Summary goes first, deliberate each major point next, and then close with another summary.
There is nothing wrong with this approach except that it is also very boring. It is boring because when audiences think they know what you’re going to say, they stop paying attention. And that might be why you can’t recall very much information from the last presentation you sat through.
Andrew Stanton, one of the founding screenwriters at Pixar Studio whose long list of accolades include Toy Story 1, 2 & 3, explores this in his fascinating TED Talk about story. In it, Stanton reminds everyone that “Audiences loves working for their meals. They just don’t like to know that they’re doing it!”
Indeed, we are natural born problem solvers. So help your audience stay engaged (and awake) by presenting a story with a problem, dilemma or challenge where the solution is not yet 100% clear. When audiences see an unresolved problem, they can’t help but lean in and get involved. All engaging stories start this way. All blockbuster movies make their money this way. You can captivate your audiences this way too!
When you have just a little time, slow down
A common problem that we all face in business is a lack of time. (A worse problem is a lack of attention. For this, see above). Our natural tendency when we are told we only have thirty seconds for our elevator pitch, or ten minutes for our presentation, is to hurry up, talk faster and jam as much information in as possible.
Don’t fall into this trap!
Here’s a much better strategy:
Cut down the content that has to do with process. If for example, your presentation starts with A, goes through B and then lands on C, focus on A and C. Audiences tend to remember the first thing and last thing they hear. What goes in the middle inevitably becomes fuzzy. Your time is much better spent on what is most likely to be remembered.
There is a time to intrigue and delight, and there is a time to data dump. When you face time constraints, intriguing and delighting your audiences will create the thirst for more. And when your audiences want to know more, they will come after you, not the other way around.
Pause … Pausing in storytelling is like the white space in print. The more “white space” given, the more likely audiences will actually see, listen and remember what you share.
With just a little effort and these two counter intuitive steps, you can turn uninterested listeners into engaging audiences!
If you need helping figuring out how to strategically and authentically tell leadership stories, join our free Open Story Lab sessions. And sign up for our resources newsletter packed with information on free events, tips and coaching sessions.
Photo credit by Michelle Tribe.
[1] As noted in multiple sources including “Neuroscience Proves Stories Trump Facts,” Insight Demand, November 1, 2012, http://insightdemand.com/business-storytelling/neuroscience-stories-trump-facts/ (accessed April 15, 2015).
