"The most powerful person in the world is the story teller."
There is an interesting episode of Steve Jobs. It’s about the storyteller.
I worked at NeXT the summer of 94. I was in the break room with 2 colleagues when Jobs walked in and started making a bagel. We were sitting at a table eating ours when he out of the blue asked us “Who is the most powerful person in the world?” I said Mandela since I had just been there as an international observer for the elections. In his confident fashion he stated “NO!…you are all wrong…the most powerful person in the world is the story teller.” At this point I was thinking to myself “Steve, I love you but there is a fine line between genius and loco..and I think I am witnessing this right now”. Steve continued, “The storyteller sets the vision, values and agenda of an entire generation that is to come and Disney has a monopoly on the storyteller business. You know what? I am tired of that bullshit, I am going to be the next storyteller” and he walked out with his bagel.
The keys of presentation to be a good storyteller are two;
- What is the message in a nutshell?
- What is the story to convey it?
You should iterate these questions to improve your presentation.
The most important things are logic and empathy in the story. There are some ways to create a story in each concept.
- Does it offer a logical explanation?
- Are the words defined clearly?
- Is the logic based on the facts?
- Can the audience keep it in perspective?
- Does it generate audience empathy?
- Is it derived from your experience?
- Does it include an effective analogy?
- Is there any quote from great people?
The slides show a lot of examples to answer the questions. Check it out!