I’ve seen all kinds of corporate presentations, and I’ve watched presenters struggle in the room, trying to explain complicated diagrams and metaphors, their confidence and credibility draining as they show stock-photo slides to a bored audience. The problem? Their storytelling method was working against them. A typical first move is to fill our slides with charts and bullets, but there’s a more effective way that’s both built on what works in a conference room––being simple, visual, and powerful––and comes from a medium that’s universally loved: movies. Just like a movie engages an audience for hours, our presentations can have the same effect on stakeholders, and often, you don’t even need video.
Establish credibility with your stakeholders by using movie-style storytelling, so your ideas and strategies are implemented.
- Find the three key points that matter most
Movie screenwriters write so quickly and powerfully because they start with three key scenes, then build the rest of the movie around those moments. You can do the same thing: decide which three things in your presentation are the most important and emphasize those. It makes it easier to write your narration, and you get to choose what people remember. - Cutting for clarity and recall
Now that you’ve got three key points, take another cue from movies and cut out what you don’t need. Screenwriters cut down a novel to 150-or-so pages, the director cuts down the script, and the editor cuts it all down to the story we see onscreen. Usually, we don’t miss those cuts one bit. Because seeing less detail helps us absorb and remember the important parts of the story. So grab a colleague and tell him or her the three key points you want to establish, then ask them to cut out anything that gets in the way. - Show your points through examples
It’s easier to understand and remember a concept when it’s seen or heard through an example. It helps us wrap our heads around it. What makes it even more meaningful is capping it off with the opportunity your point presents to your stakeholders. Put the example and the opportunity together and give them a story they can relate to and use. - Make it visual
Just like an example helps us grab hold of it, seeing that example makes it even clearer. It puts everyone on the same page while seeing the same visual. A drawing or animation can work, but an actual photo is more effective because it depicts a real thing that stakeholders can relate to and believe. - Speak to the emotions
Whether it’s laughter, tears, anger, or exhilaration, you’ve felt the compelling pull of emotions in movies. But when we create our PowerPoint, we often neglect this powerful tool. Speaking to the rational side and simply informing can only take you so far. If you want people to get behind you, inspire them and make them believe by engaging their emotional side. - Stand up for what you believe
One of the most profound ways people can raise the level of their presentations and establish authenticity is to get up from behind the projector and stand in front of the screen. Do that and you’re already way more engaging—they see the words coming from you, increasing your credibility and showing that you believe in your message enough to stand for it.
Ted Frank is the principal story strategist at Backstories Studio. His book, Get to the Heart, shows professionals how movie-style storytelling can make their presentations clear, compelling, and c-suite ready.
