Stories are a great way to start a presentation. However, many people don’t have enough confidence in their story-telling skills to do it. If you follow the classic story-telling template and a few simple tips, your stories will get better without a doubt.

1. Tell your story in about 30 to 60 seconds. An attention-grabber should not be long-winded. For shorter presentations, stick to around 30 seconds but you’ll have leeway for longer presentations. To make sure you’re concise, I recommend practicing any attention-grabber a few extra times to make them crisp.

2. Follow the story template. Most stories have a beginning, middle and ending. A clear structure will help you touch on the essential elements of the story without sharing nonessential details. Each part has specific parts. If you do it right, the attention-grabber story has a nice arc that brings listeners on a mini-journey they can picture in their minds.

See the video for the rest of the advice.

Originally posted at: https://youtu.be/Ujw_21AuU5k