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How to begin a presentation with a storyWe hear a lot about using stories in presentations. In fact, I’m sure I’ve talked about it here on PresentationExpressions. But how easy or hard is it to include a story? Well, this week I want to share with you a simple presentation expression for how to start a presentation with a story. More importantly, I’m also going to show you what type of story to use. Let’s get started!

Once upon a time…

Did you ever hear the story about the young boy who grew up not knowing who his parents were, but always felt like the world had more in store for him? Like he had some sort of destiny? Any idea which famous story I’m talking about? Well, “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away….” I’m sure you know what classic story begins with that line, so I’ll let you figure it out.

Watch the video or skip below to read the rest.

If YouTube is unavailable in your area, please click the following link to view or download the video: Presentation Expression: How to start a presentation with a story (Length 2:53)

Starting a presentation with a story?

Yep, you’re going to learn a simple expression to start a presentation with a story. I can hear you wondering aloud, “But Carl, why would I want to start my presentation with a story?”

The simple answer is that as humans, our brains are hardwired to be interested in stories. It’s something we can’t get away from, so why not take advantage of it when giving a presentation, right? If you’re giving a business presentation where you’re there to pitch something, then I’d suggest using the method I taught you to start a business presentation. But if the presentation is pretty much anything else, you can try starting your presentation with a little story.

Stories are great to start a presentation because…

What this will do is get the audience’s attention because their brain thinks it’s story time and not “this-is-so-boring-I-can-feel-my-brain-cells-dying-time.”

So, what you say right at the very beginning of your presentation is: “Did you ever hear the story about…?”

Here’s the catch

That’s pretty darn simple, but the key is what the story is about. For that, you’re gonna need to include three important elements:

  1. First, the story should be about a person who does something or has something happen to him or her. If something bad happens to him or her, then that’s even better.
  2. Second, make sure the person overcomes whatever happens to him or her.
  3. And third, and this is really important, it has to be a story that is not commonly known or that’s not super-easy to guess what the story is. The reason is because if the person knows what the story is, then their brain shuts down and they become bored. In other words, if they know the story, then they don’t pay attention.

So there you go…A simple presentation expression to start your presentation with a story and three important elements to include, as well.

Question time…

What would people want to improve more…Presentation skill or the ability to create presentation content? Or maybe something else?

Let me know by leaving your answer in the comments section below.

If you have any questions about this particular topic, write your question below and I’ll help you out as best I can.

As always, thank you and see you again next time.

Carl