The POWER of Storytelling in Captivating Audiences (Part 2)

The Power of Storytelling in Public Speaking: Enhance Your Presentation Skills

We discussed in part 1 how a well-written narrative framework, with an intriguing opening, a captivating middle, and a satisfying ending, may enthrall audiences while a speaker is giving a speech. You can assist listeners visualize and relate to your story by utilizing vivid language and imagery (especially by SHOWING and NOT TELLING), as well as by establishing conflict/ struggles to sustain your audience interest and finally conclude impactfully with the main lesson point which should be your main speech message.

Connect with Emotions: The Power of Pathos in Storytelling

Making an emotional connection, or using pathos, is essential while speaking in front of an audience. Emotions is umbilically linked to receptiveness to the message, and consequently the retention of the message in the mindshare of your audience. A speech that does not arouse some emotions or create rapport with the audience? It will likely be “Oh, that is just something I heard at the event, which I’m drawing a blank trying to recall what it was about.”. We don’t want that 😉

Using storytelling skills, you can arouse feelings in your audience, such as enthusiasm, or empathy or even anxiety. Using this element of storytelling can greatly improve your presentation impact because emotions strengthens memory retention and decision-making. If there’s any doubt as to how invoking emotions using stories can be helpful to a presentation or speech, emotions are the reasons why there are always people around us who espouses actions based on gut feeling, why there are always people who are more skewed towards being ideological than pragmatism/ rationality (this is a human condition that fortunately or unfortunately, is inevitable).

Consider the emotions you want your audience to feel in order to develop an emotional appeal. Do you want to encourage, inspire, or even question their assumptions? Make use of personal anecdotes that support these objectives. For example, telling a group of entrepreneurs about the modest origins of a well-known startup can be an effective way to motivate them (e.g. Amazon and Microsoft starting from the humble garage). For example, sharing stories about how providing access to infant vaccinations such as measles and polio could be giving hundreds of thousands of babies a possible future. Making an emotional connection increases the impact of your message and increases its likelihood of being remembered.

Keep It Concise and Relevant

Although storytelling can be an effective technique for holding an audience’s attention, it’s crucial to maintain the narrative’s focus and relevance to the subject of your presentation. Steer clear of side topics or extraneous details that take attention away from your main point.

For example, in my speech “I see red” that circles around the concept of changing the relationship with anger by seeing things from another angle or perspective, I shared this one out of three short anecdotes that I’ve personally encountered:

Short encounter #1:

I was just stepping out of my house in the morning dressed in typical business wear, when my neighbour blurted “Hey going to work?” (frustration #1 – isn’t it obvious?).

Short encounter#2:

And just when I reached for the car door at the porch, I noticed one of the tire was flat! And my neighbour yet again blurted “Oh, punctured tire huh?” (frustration #2 – no no, the other three are swollen!)

“However, if I just stop to see it from a different angle, my neighbour was trying to make small talk and building rapport with me. And he was concerned enough to ask about the flat tire. Must I be angry at what he said?” – short anecdotes that are relevant to the main concept of changing the relationship with anger, seeing things with a different perspective!

As such, please use short and succinct personal anecdotes/ stories that directly bolster your main ideas and improve the presentation’s overall coherence. Respect the time and attention of your audience by sharing stories that are succinct and direct!

Stay tune for part 3 where we share the usage of visual aids to augment the storytelling impact & the importance of authenticity and allowing vulnerabilities n storytelling!